He – or she – proposed, and you answered in affirmative! Now's time to bask in romance, and enjoy first phase of your new life together. But soon, you'll need a response for that timeless question: "when's wedding?" For some couples, it's easy – they know just when they want to tie knot. For others, it's less clear. After all, you have a lot of options. Even more than you might think, since it's really not necessary to get married on a Saturday. Friday and Sunday afternoons are good choices too, and less expensive.
So if you're looking at calendar ahead and seeing a hundred alternatives, all about equally attractive, here's how to narrow them down.
Must-have venues
No matter how flexible you are, there's bound to be things you won't compromise on. Maybe it's a particular church, temple and officiant for your ceremony. Maybe it's a special venue for your reception. And there are certain indispensable guests, like your parents.
Luckily for you, putting just these three things together is bound to reduce your choices. Once you call on church/temple, ceremony venue or reception hall, you'll probably find many dates already filled, especially if you call less than nine months in advance. Good. That makes things easier!
Must-have ambiance
But maybe you don't have a must-have venue. Maybe you just have an image in your mind of perfect wedding. Maybe it involves falling snow, ermine mantles, a horse-drawn carriage, and a crackling fireplace. Maybe it involves stacks of shiny apples, heaped pumpkins, a scattering of leaves and scent of cranberry-apple cider. Or delicate pastels, gossamer pashminas for bridesmaids, and a dove release. In this case your time of year is set: all that's needed it to work out logistics of venue, local climate and availability of your most important guests.
Must-have flowers
Some people know exactly what floral arrangements they want at their wedding. Flowers are such an enormous part of wedding budget, if particular ones are important to you, you might want to arrange your date around them. Unless you're an heiress, for example, you'll want to avoid buying roses for your Valentine's Day wedding. On other hand, December and January are great months to buy calla lilies. To study flower availability charts, Google for "flower availability by month."
Must-have honeymoons