Yeah Weddings
when to book wedding venue

When to Book Your Wedding Venue

Now that you’re engaged, it’s time to plan the wedding! But where should you begin? Booking a venue is the right place to start. Depending on how long you want your engagement to last, you may find yourself wondering when to book a wedding venue.

Finding and booking a venue is one of the biggest tasks, and tackling this early on will make the wedding planning process easier.

When To Book a Wedding Venue

Booking your venue should be your first priority when you’re planning your wedding. You’ll need to book a wedding venue in order to confirm your wedding date and to begin booking other vendors. 

Book your wedding venue about a year before the wedding, or nine months before the wedding at the latest. Although booking a year in advance might seem like a long way off, this is actually how early you should be booking your venue. 

To give you and your partner enough time to research, start looking at venues two months ahead of time. This way, you have time to see what you like before making a final decision. 

wedding venue

How Early is Too Early to Book a Wedding Venue? 

If you’re newly engaged, you may be excited to start wedding planning right away. Your venue is the first thing you should book in the wedding planning process, other than perhaps a wedding planner if you’d like to work with a professional. 

You can’t really book your wedding venue too early. That being said, booking three years in advance may be a bit unnecessary, unless your venue is highly competitive to get into. 

Before you start looking for venues the minute you have a ring on your finger, consider your larger wedding timeline.

How long do you want to be engaged? How much time will you need to plan your wedding? During what year and season do you want to get married? 

Once you have a general idea of when your wedding will take place, plan to start visiting venues as early as two years before your wedding. As we said before, however, booking around the one year mark is fairly standard. 

It can’t hurt to start researching venues early so that you can see what’s in your area and what you like and dislike. Doing online research will make it easier to figure out which venues you want to see in person. 

wedding venue

Why Book Your Wedding Venue Early? 

Reserving a wedding venue nine months to a year ahead of time gives you enough time to plan for other vendors, like a photographer or caterer. Some venues come with these services, so choosing your venue first will make planning other aspects of your wedding a smooth process.

By reserving your wedding venue early, you can also start planning the theme and tone of your wedding. If your wedding is outdoors, you might have a more rustic vibe, while a reception in a banquet hall is more upscale and formal.

For a more unusual or innovative wedding venue, searching for locations well in advance – this will be beneficial when it comes to booking.

Are you planning to tie the knot during peak wedding season? In this case, it’s even more important to book a venue in advance. Venues fill up more quickly for dates during the summer or early fall. 

With gorgeous, warm weather, wedding season peaks in June, September, and October. If you plan to get married around this time, strive to book your wedding venue a year before your wedding date, if not a couple months earlier.

However, you can also book a venue too early. Unless your dream venue is in high demand, you probably don’t need to book two or three years in advance. 

If you have your heart set on a specific wedding venue, however, it doesn’t hurt to book early. This gives you more options in terms of dates, and if you wait too long you may not get your ideal day. 

 

Why Wait to Book? 

While you shouldn’t wait too long to book your wedding venue if you’re looking for a large or popular event space, you don’t have to rush if your wedding is a long way away. Many couples choose to enjoy their engagement for a bit before diving into wedding planning.

While the average engagement is about 15 months, you can wait as long as you want for the wedding. Some couples get engaged but choose a longer engagement so that they can save more money to put towards their dream wedding. 

We don’t advise waiting longer than 9 months before your wedding day, but don’t feel the need to rush into booking a venue if you have time! Take your time considering your ideal date, researching venues, and making visits before you book. Don’t forget to ask important questions for your wedding venue before putting down your deposit!

This page may contain affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, we'll earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

Sophia Lo

Add comment