9 Timing Mistakes Couples Make When Wedding Planning

Planning a wedding is actually quite a feat of organisation. You don’t just choose the wedding vendors you like and give them the address of your wedding venue. You need to make sure that you’ve structured your whole wedding planning timeline so that everything works together seamlessly, and so you don't end up missing out on things you love or losing money. 

There are some common timing mistakes that couples make when planning their wedding, but we’ve listed them here to make sure you avoid them - take note!

9 Timing Mistakes Couples Make When Wedding Planning

1. Focusing on the Little Details First

We blame Instagram for this one - we see so many beautiful details all the time, and it can be easy to think ‘I must have that neon sign, and that personalised aisle runner’, but then if you buy details like that first you need to find a venue that suits them. 

It’s way easier to book your venue first, then start looking for the details to dress it up with, once you know the space you’re working with. You also can’t decide on your table decor until you know what kind of food you’re planning on serving - decide the big stuff, then work from there.

READ MORE: The 13 Foods You Should *Never* Serve at a Wedding

2. Picking Your Outfits Too Soon

This goes for you and your whole wedding party - it’s so tempting as soon as you’re engaged to zip off and try on dresses or work on a plan for a custom suit, but until you know more about your wedding, it’s best to wait.

You need to think about the season you’re marrying in, the setting of your venue and the feel of your day when deciding what to wear. 

It also makes sense to choose the outfits for your wedding party later on in the process - a lot can change in the time it takes to plan a wedding, so by choosing them six to nine months before you’re allowing for any dramatic changes (such as a bridesmaid falling pregnant), and you’re likely to have most of your details decided so you can make sure the outfits you pick coordinate with everything else.

3. Deciding on Your Suppliers Too Soon

Trust us, we know what it’s like. You can very easily fall in love with a cake maker or photographer before you’ve even got engaged, and know that they’ll be part of your wedding team. 

However, resist the urge to get in touch with them as soon as you’re engaged (or before, you keeno), because until you know where and when you’re going to get married, you won’t know how plausible it is to actually book them. 

If you decide to marry in your partner’s hometown to allow for his elderly nan to be at your wedding, will the vendor from your hometown easily be able to work your wedding? It’s not fair on the businesses if you get in touch when you don’t have concrete details to work with. 

4. Leaving it Too Late to Book Vendors

Don’t be too keen, but also, don’t be too laid-back! Once you have your wedding date sorted, you can start booking your suppliers. Don’t just assume you can leave it and they’ll be waiting for you, especially if you’re getting married in the peak wedding season. 

5. Booking a Registrar & Giving Notice

You need to book a registrar if you’re marrying in a civil ceremony, and you should speak to your local council about when you’re able to do this. You might think you want to get married at 2pm, but it’s going to depend on if there’s a registrar available - book one as soon as you can to avoid disappointment.

You also need to make sure that you remember to give notice with enough time to spare to allow your wedding to go ahead - find out more about what giving notice means here.

6. Sending Your Invitations at the Wrong Times

You need to consider when to send your wedding invitations carefully. If you’re planning on sending out save-the-dates, make sure you send these a year or so in advance. You would then need to send your invitations with around three months to go. If you’re skipping the save-the-dates, make sure you send your invitations out six months ahead of your wedding so people know not to make plans. 

If you send them too far in advance, you run the risk of slipping your guests’ minds nearer the time, whereas if it’s too late in the day, people may already have plans. If you’re planning a destination wedding give your guests as much notice as possible so they can book leave and make travel plans!

7. Leaving Your Accommodation to the Last Minute

Whether your wedding venue has accommodation or not, you need to get on and sort this as soon as possible. If it comes with accommodation, block-book it (if you need to) and then decide who will get the rooms and give them first refusal. 

If you don’t have accommodation at your wedding venue, consider looking at local options and asking them if you can block out that date for your wedding guests. If you can’t make sure you send the info to your guests as soon as possible so they can book somewhere to stay independently should they need to. Your wedding website is a great place to publish this info!

8. Failing to Get Recommendations

Whether you’re going to hire a wedding planner or on the day coordinator, or plan the whole thing yourself, don’t lay down any money on deposits until you’ve seen some reviews or read recommendations. If you are considering a vendor without any reviews, as your planner, coordinator or venue if they know of them. If you’re still deciding on hiring a planner, make that decision before you proceed with anything else - it will be much easier to work with them from scratch!

READ MORE: 12 Things Married Couples Want You to Know About Your Wedding Day

9. Last Minute Mind-Changes

This one is hard to avoid, we know, but try and make decisions you’re confident in and stick to them. If you decide at the last minute that you would actually like a videographer, or a band as well as a DJ or a photo booth, it’s going to mean reworking plans, laying out more money and of course, running the risk that you can’t get what you now have decided you want.

Determined to plan your wedding to the best of your ability? Make sure you read up on the 25 wedding planning mistakes couples make!