Time is Ticking

Focus on these details if your wedding planning is on the fast track

By Anna Sachse
CTW Features

Standard wedding timelines dictate a year or more for planning, but sometimes life dictates otherwise. Here’s what to prioritize if your big day is six months (or less!) away.

To simplify every aspect of planning a wedding on a tight timeline, consider having a smaller event, suggests Christina Friedrichsen, author of “Intimate Weddings: Planning a Small Wedding that Fits Your Budget and Style” (North Light Books, 2004). “Fewer guests mean more options when it comes to choosing a venue, from bed-and-breakfasts and inns to restaurants and galleries,” she says.

Being flexible with the day of the week you choose to get married also is helpful, as Fridays and Saturdays tend to book up fast. Planning a Thursday evening or Sunday afternoon wedding may open up more venue options, says Friedrichsen, and, as an added perk, there’s a good chance both your venue and vendors will offer discounts on these off-days. Or, for complete control over your wedding date, opt for an at-home affair.

“I always tell my clients there are three things you have to nail down as soon as possible: the venue, the photographer and the band,” says Melissa Haggerty, owner and principle planner for SpectacularSpectacular, a special events company in Toronto, Canada. “Everything else can fall into place later because vendors like caterers and florists have the ability to do more than one wedding in a day. But a photographer or band, for example, can only commit to one.”

From there, Haggerty suggests making a list of five things that are important to you, such as memorable food, a meaningful playlist or quality time with your guests, and then concentrating on making those five things spectacular. “Be realistic and don’t take on too many projects,” she warns. “It’s better to make sure you do a few things well.”

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