Pick the Best Season for Your Wedding Day
Have you set a date yet? As soon as you announce your engagement, this is the most common question asked by friends and family.
Setting a date is one of the most important first steps in planning a wedding. The sooner you do this, the better. This gives you and your loved ones time to get organised before the big day.
But it’s not an easy decision to make. There are tons of things to consider, such as:
- Cost some times of year are more expensive
- Weather this can be very unpredictable in Britain
- Style of wedding – e.g. indoor or outdoor, day or night
- When people are free to attend
Seasons might be the last thing on your mind when you’re stressing about booking venues, caterers and the 101 other things you need to take care of. However, narrowing down to a season can help get you focused so you can start enquiring about dates.
In this post, we’ll go through each season of the year and lay out the pros and cons to each in terms of cost, weather, ceremony options and guest attendance.
Spring
What better time of year to celebrate the beginning of your marriage than spring? This is a season associated with new beginnings making it perfect for weddings. Flowers have just started to bloom which could mean more choices for decorations and of course the bouquet.
The weather is a nice balance between not too hot or too cold. However, there’s unpredictability with those April showers. So, an outdoor wedding might be off the cards and it’ll be too early to tell when you book it all. You might want to go for a venue that offers both indoor and outdoor receptions to keep it a bit flexible if the forecasts look good.
If you do go for a wedding in the spring, don’t leave it too late if you want to save money. The wedding season can start pretty early from late spring to early autumn and with it, comes the hefty summer price tag.
Summer
Summer is an incredibly popular time of year to get married for the good weather alone. In the summer sunshine, you’ve got the option for outdoor ceremonies and the potential to get some beautifully lit photos. It’s also a time of year when people, particularly parents, are likely to have time off, so it could be handy for your guests (but check they don’t have holidays booked).
However, all these advantages come with some real downsides. As it’s a really popular time to get married, all those venues, florists and caterers are booked up early so you might struggle to get the ones you want. This also means that they can and do charge premium rates.
One potential way around the high prices is to choose a wedding midweek as opposed to the weekend. Saturday is the most popular day because it’s more convenient. Most people are off then anyway so it’s easier to round up the guests. However, if you’re having a small wedding and can give people plenty of notice, try a midweek wedding and potentially save some money if your heart’s set on summer.
Autumn
When everything has cooled down a bit, autumn is a great option before the winter sets in. The good thing about booking for this time of year is that it’s going to be a bit cheaper than summer and winter. There’s still the potential for good photographs and it won’t be unbearably cold yet.
The downsides are that there’s plenty of rain and mud to contend with which could very well rule out outdoor celebrations or photos. Autumn often suffers the same fate as spring, having very unpredictable weather.
Winter
Nothing quite goes with a white wedding gown like freshly fallen snow. A lot of people dream of a magical Christmas-themed wedding and you can see why. Just take a look through Instagram and Pinterest for inspiration.
If you take a honeymoon in winter, it’ll be cheaper to travel and you could also escape the worst of the cold weather during your celebrations.
However, while winter might be cheaper than summer, there are a couple of times during this season where the popularity and price shoots up. We’re talking of course about Christmas time and Valentine’s Day.
Another important thing to consider is that everyone’s wallets will be looking a little bare around Christmas time. Travelling, gifts and buying wedding outfits might be a bit difficult. If you do go for a winter wedding, make sure you’ve given your guests plenty of notice so that they’ve got time to prepare.
Also, if you live in certain places in the north, bear in mind that bad weather could potentially shut down public transport making it hard for guests to attend. If you plan your wedding somewhere like the Scottish highlands, perhaps winter won’t be the best choice.
Which is right for you?
Overall, if you’re looking for the cheaper months, then go for January, March, April, November or early December. Just be aware of the weather limitations and do your research.
If you want to save even more money, go for a mid-week wedding, just give everyone enough notice to get time off work to attend.
On the other hand, if you’ve got the cash to splash and want to make it a summer to remember, then go for a date between May and October.
While there are some pros and cons listed above, the decision is down to you and your priorities. Try writing down a list of your top priorities or must-haves and compare them to the pros and cons listed above.
If you are looking for a wedding celebrant to make your big day truly special and unique, get in touch with Jeanette today.
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