Choosing the Date

Before selecting vendors and sending out your Save The Dates, you have to pick your wedding date. There are several different factors you should consider when choosing a date for your big day. If you want to have a Winter Wonderland theme, you probably don't want to schedule your wedding for the middle of August! If you have a specific venue in mind, you may want to choose a date based on what they have available. You also might want to consider your bridal party's or guests availability. (You most likely won't be able to find a date that works for everyone, but you also don't want to schedule your wedding for the same day as your cousin's.)

I always envisioned getting married in the fall. I dreamed of fall foliage, pumpkin centerpieces and the crisp fall air. I had it all planned out...then my fiance proposed Dec. 30. When we (I) began planning the wedding, I tried to find some way to make a fall wedding possible. I didn't have an issue with planning a wedding in nine or ten months, but I couldn't sell Matt on this idea. He will be graduating from his Master's program in May of 2013 and didn't believe that we would be financially stable in September or October, so a fall wedding in 2013 was out.

I then considered having the wedding in fall 2014, but didn't like the thought of waiting almost two years. After 23 years of being impatient, I was not about to discover that patience is a virtue, so a fall wedding was out.

After seeing fake snow decor and blue uplighting on Pinterest (Follow me on Pinterest!), I decided we would have a Winter Wonderland themed wedding. With a year between the engagement and wedding, it seemed like good timing. Then, my fiance reminded me that most of our guests would be traveling to the wedding from out of state. Ohio weather is unpredictable, and we didn't want icy and snow-covered roads to prevent our guests from making the trip or arriving safely. A winter wedding was out.

I was left with two seasons. Thinking of my impatience, I decided that May or June of 2014 was our best bet. Thankfully, no one gave me any reasons why this wouldn't work out! 

After looking at a calendar, there were only a couple weekends that would work for both of us. My birthday is May 10, which happens to fall on a Saturday in 2014. I take birthdays really seriously and  didn't want to combine the two celebrations. Think of the gifts or dinners I'd miss out on in the future! 

My next thought was to have the wedding on Memorial Day weekend that way our out-of-town guests would have a long weekend to travel. It seemed perfect. I called Matt and proclaimed, "We're getting married Memorial Day 2014!" His response: "That's the same weekend as the Indianapolis 500." (His family goes to the race every year). I let him know that I was not at all happy about planning my wedding around a car race, but in the end, I decided to start off on the right foot with my future in-laws, and begrudgingly agreed that Memorial Day was out.

We both settled on May 31, 2014. There were no conflicts for either of us or our families, I would only be forced to wait a year and a half, the weather shouldn't be an issue for traveling guests and the date was still available at our reception venue. 

I never imagined myself having anything besides a fall wedding, but now that we have a date set, I'm not disappointed. My dreams of rich oranges and reds have changed to pastel pinks and neutrals and the pumpkin centerpieces have transformed into beautiful bouquets of spring flowers. 456 days to go!