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How to Choose Your Best Wedding Month

  • Bridal Basics • Last updated Jan. 25, 2018
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First of all, we would like to say congratulations on being engaged and starting to plan your wedding. If you are not already engaged, you are probably expecting that it is just around the corner, and you and your significant other may already be into exploring the details of your dream wedding. One thing that we can all be sure of is that weddings take a ton of mental fortitude, decision making and planning to make sure that everything goes just the way that you want it to.

In general, the more time that you take to plan your wedding, the lower stress levels that you are going to have. You may end up saving a lot more money that way too because you have more time to explore all of your possible options. That is what makes planning the absolute perfect day for your wedding so critical. You may have a date or a month in mind right now that has some significance to the history of your relationship, or maybe you don’t have an idea of what dates you want to explore yet.

In either case, you should keep in mind that the season, month and day that you decide to get married on is going to have a potentially dramatic impact on major pieces of your wedding. The date and season that you pick to get married can affect:

  • The price of the venue you are choosing

  • The cost of travel and accommodations

  • The availability of the venue or venues of your choosing

  • The availability of your friends and family members to travel

  • The amount of disposable income that you and your family have to spend on having or going to a wedding

Today, we are going to explore some of the finer details that you and your partner should be thinking about when you are planning your wedding. We are going to give you an overview of what it looks like to get married in every season, and some of the advantages and disadvantages that come with getting married during any time of the year.

Getting Married In Any Season

Choosing the right season for you for your wedding is absolutely critical for a variety of different reasons, which can affect everything from the pictures that you take to the attendance that you have and the price of your venue. Let’s take a look at some of the advantages and disadvantages that you are going to have with getting married in every season, so that you can weigh out which dates may be best for your wedding.

Advantages

  • Temperature Purely for temperature and weather, spring can be one of the best times of year to get married. With moderate temperatures that can be perfect for short sleeves or long sleeves, the temperatures of spring weather gives the bride flexibility and versatility when it comes to choosing the right style of dress. You can have a cool, spring evening wedding that would be perfect for a dress with sleeves, or you can choose to have your wedding during a warm day so that you can go sleeveless.With moderate temperatures, the groom and his wedding party won’t have to worry about sweating through their shirts and suits during the pictures, like they would in summer. It will give the bride and her bridal party more control over their hair and makeup, which summer heat and humidity can be a disaster for.
  • Photos Another aspect of spring that makes it one of the most popular times of the year to get married is the foliage. After a cold winter has blown through and killed all of the beautiful plants and trees, the warmth and rain of spring brings life back to the environment that is around you. Your pictures can stand out so much on your special day by having your wedding with surrounding scenery bursting back into new life. The beautiful pastel colors of the trees and flowers that you can use for your wedding make for perfect photos and gorgeous lasting memories of your wedding.In spring, the lighting can be perfect for photos. Depending on where you are getting married, springs can often be overcast with the potential of rain. Where rain may cause a damper on your wedding, overcast and cloudy skies create the perfect natural lighting for your wedding pictures.With those moderate temperatures too, the bride isn’t going to have to worry about sweating through her makeup or ruining her hair. This is a problem that is common with summer weddings.
  • Travel Arrangements and Attendance Spring is a great time of year to make travel plans. The holidays and summer can be a difficult time to plan your wedding because your guests can have prior plans. Going to see their families for the holidays and taking time off for vacation in summer can trump your wedding plans. The spring is great for planning a wedding because your friends and family members will probably be more available to come to your wedding. So if attendance and people are one of the most important parts of your wedding, you may want to have it during the spring months.

Disadvantages

  • Expensive Venues For so many reasons, spring is one of the most ideal times to plan your wedding, which unfortunately makes this one of the most expensive times to get married. Since the demand for wedding venues is so high during the spring, these venues can easily command higher prices. You may even end up paying more for other things like flowers, food, amenities and all of the bells and whistles that you want for your wedding.
  • Hard to Find Dates If you are planning on getting married during the spring, there is a good chance that venues that you like may be booked up. So if you are dead-set on a date or a weekend to get married, you need to make sure that you are planning your wedding up to a couple of years ahead of time so that you can lock in your date and venue.
  • Unpredictable Weather Conditions Spring weather can be cool and beautiful, but you may also have to deal with the unpredictability of the weather. With spring can come rain, thunderstorms and tornado warnings, depending on what part of the country that you are in. You can even have cold snaps and snow come out of nowhere, if you are getting married in early spring. This can become a huge letdown and planning disaster if you are having an outdoor wedding and/or an outdoor reception.
  • Seasonal Allergies This may sound like a trivial piece of information, but if you or your partner have spring allergies, that could make the best day of your life pretty miserable. Health and allergens are something that you should definitely take into consideration when you are planning your wedding.

Advantages

  • Weather and Daylight One of the biggest advantages to having your wedding in summer is the weather. You may think that having a summer wedding could be ridiculously hot, and during the day it can be. This is what makes summer perfect for having your wedding during the evening. If you are planning on having your wedding running late into the evening, you can count on having the most hours of daylight during this wonderful time of the year. Summer nights can be significantly cooler than the day, which can make summer great for having outdoor wedding ceremonies at sundown, so that you can keep the celebration going late into the night. Weather can be clearer in the summer than the spring, giving you lots of sunshine and a lower likelihood that your outdoor wedding gets rained out.
  • Travel Many people are already making travel plans during the summer. Why couldn’t your guests budget or plan their vacation as a part of your wedding. If you are planning on having a destination wedding, your guests can make their summer vacation plans as an extension or appetizer to your wedding.
  • Food Summer opens you up to a variety of fun foods and arrangements that can fit perfectly for the season. You can cater in foods that are hot off of the grill, or you can do something fun like roast hot dogs and smores outdoors, around an open fire, making them both a great post-ceremony dessert or snack.
  • Flowers In terms of floral arrangements for your wedding, summer is right up there with spring in the availability of beautiful flowers. By the time summer rolls around, everything is in bloom, which gives you a massive variety of gorgeous flowers that you can choose from to set the perfect backdrop for your ceremony, photos and reception.
  • Natural Lighting As we mentioned before, summer has a huge advantage for your wedding in that it is the season that has the most hours of daylight to share. With sunsets that can go up to nine or even 10pm, you have the entire day at your disposal for taking pictures. This also mean that you have more time during sundown to capture your photos in the perfect lighting.

Disadvantages

  • Sweating in Pictures The heat during summer can be hugely problematic for a number of reasons at your wedding, namely for your pictures. The last thing that a bride wants on her special day is runny makeup and disheveled, sweaty hair in the pictures that immortalize the greatest day of her life. Heat and sweat can not only be really uncomfortable for the bridal and groom parties, but it can also be a huge disaster when it comes to taking photos, especially if you are photographing in the middle of a hot summer day.
  • Heat for your Guests The heat can be detrimental to your wedding photos, it can also be really distracting for your guests. If you are having an outdoor wedding under the hot summer sun, the constant fanning, sweating and UV exposure can be really discomforting for your guests. It can heavily inhibit their attention span and their ability to actually enjoy your ceremony and wedding.
  • Your Guests Travel Plans Even though summertime can be seen as an advantage for helping your guests plan their vacations, it can also be huge disadvantage. There is a good chance that some of your guests have already planned their vacations, which means that they could be missing out on your wedding. If having high attendance and all of the people that you love with you is high on your priority list, it may be really difficult to be able to plan your wedding around everyones travel schedules.

Advantages

  • Weather If weather is one of the most important factors in getting married, it is hard to beat spring and fall. After the hot summer has past, we can soak in how nice it is to have cooler weather. The early fall is great for having weddings because the weather is starting to stabilize with cool days and cooler evenings, and you won’t have to worry as much about crazy moisture, rain, storms or snowfall.
  • Foliage The foliage in fall makes it awesome for taking photos and provides a beautiful backdrop for your wedding. You may even be able to save money on flowers by simply taking advantage of all of the natural beauty that is around you during your wedding. If you have a pension for a deeper or darker color pallet for your wedding, the fall is a great time of year for your tastes. You can enhance the reds, purples, orange and yellow of what you are wearing or decorating with, with the environment that you are surrounded by.
  • Engagement vs. Wedding If you get engaged in the winter, you are most likely going to have plenty of time to plan your wedding in the fall. That is also lots of time to let your guests know to make travel arrangements for your upcoming fall wedding.
  • Cheaper Travel Costs If you plan your fall wedding before or between the holidays, you may find cheaper flights and travel accommodations, than during other times of the year. Since the fall before the holidays and the time between the holidays is a downtime for travel, you and your guests may be able to find much cheaper flights during this time of the year.

Disadvantages

  • Guests and Travel Planning It can also be more difficult for your guests to make travel arrangements during the fall. If may be hard for them to get more time off from work after already taking time off for summer vacation and with taking more time off for the upcoming holidays.
  • Budgeting In terms of finances, It may also be tougher with your guests to make it to your wedding. The last thing that you want when you are getting married is to miss out on having the people that you love they ar on a tight budget getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
  • Fall Weddings Can Be Expensive October is one of the most popular months of the year to get married, and it is no wonder why. October is usually when all of the leaves are changing and the weather is perfect for having an outdoor wedding or reception. Because of the high demands on weddings in October and that a lot of wedding venues are getting booked up, the industry can command higher prices which can make your wedding much more expensive.

Advantages

  • Consistent Weather A huge advantage for planning your wedding in winter is that you can expect the weather to be pretty consistent. If you are having your wedding somewhere with lots of snow, you can probably expect lots of snow. If you are having a wedding in a place that is cold and doesn’t get a lot of snow, that is probably what you are going to get. That makes it way easier to plan for your venue, pictures, color pallet, dress, clothes and much more.
  • Snow If you are into the idea of making your wedding look like a winter wonderland, then winter is the perfect time of year for you. Snowy mountains and snow on the ground can make a beautiful scene for your wedding. It is the perfect setting to take pictures outdoors or next to a barn, and also makes a great time for bringing out the horse and carriage.
  • Photos As we just mentioned, winter can be a beautiful time of year to take photos. If you are hiring a photographer who is local to your venue and is used to photographing in winter weather, they are going to be able to lock in all of the right settings for taking pictures on that white, reflective snow to make them look just perfect. Snow makes for gorgeous outdoor photos that you can enjoy for a lifetime.
  • Cheaper Travel Planning your wedding in the winter between the holidays or right after the new year can be incredibly advantageous for keeping your travel prices low. People aren’t traveling as much in between or after the holiday, which keeps plane flights and car rentals lower than other times of the year.
  • More Affordable Venues As beautiful as it can be, winter just isn’t one of the most popular times of year to get married. If you are budgeting and trying to keep your wedding costs low, it would not be the worst idea to look into venue prices during the winter.

Disadvantages

  • Competing with The Holidays One of the biggest downsides to planning a winter wedding is that your time is going to be competing with all of the holidays. People are planning their biggest vacations and traveling times of the year between thanksgiving and the new year. That can make it difficult for your guests to find the time of the budget to plan for your wedding in the midst of the busiest times of the year.
  • Planning Early If you are planning to have your wedding amidst the holidays, you are going to have to start planning and sending out invitations as soon as possible. Giving your guests quick notice and ample amounts of time for planning out their holiday season is essential for making sure your loved ones can make it to your wedding.
  • Less Daylight Winter can also be tough for photos and planning the day because of the limited amount of daylight that you have during that time of year. This could totally change your plans in terms of when and how you want to have the ceremony and the reception.
  • Inclement Weather Having your wedding in the winter can spell disaster if you are choosing a venue located in an area that is known for snow and blizzards. This can be a challenge for flights and can even be an issue for your guests getting to the venue safely if they are facing heavy snow and ice.

Final Thoughts

You may already have an idea of what time a year you would like to get married. Hopefully you have a little bit better of an idea of some of the advantages and disadvantages that each season holds for your wedding.

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