What should you start planning 3 years before your wedding?

Question

The weddings not for atleast 3 years. Is there anything I should start to plan now?

Answer 1

YAY! Someone else that has got 3 years till their wedding! Now, I have got a date set of 25th June 2011, and I keep getting people telling me that I am planning too early but I just want to be prepared!

So far, me and the FH have started saving (got an ISA bank account for high interest on our money)

We have quite a few people who have hay fever in our families, so I have already looked at fake flowers and I love calla lillies so I have been looking at bouquets online for possible flowers.

He has a fabulous photographer in his family so we have asked him if he will take our wedding photos - so that is booked too!

We have had a chat with our vicar and been booked in for that date for our wedding.

We have also had a look around the hotels in Southport (my home town) for where we want the reception. We have got info for all of them and have been comparing.

You need to look around your family and see who can do what and help you out and make the whole thing cheaper for you :)

We have (ish) got a budget ready and know what we want to spend on what.

I have got my bridesmaids dresses already because I got an absolute bargain of 4 dresses for £60 (meant to be over £300 EACH!!) and I am having 3 anyways, so I have no worries about sizes.

We have also been looking around for wedding rings because we know what style we want and we are checking out prices.

Oh and I have found what dress I want! Have been to a few bridal fayres and fell in love with it. Am going to try it on in September and will book it if I like it because then that is another worry out of the way :)

Thats pretty much it for now, and we are quite set! Plan to book the hotel in December when I go home for Christmas (I am away at uni) and then we can chill for a while!

Edit - Ooh, one more thing! We have brief guest lists (we needed them for numbers for our hotels, so we knew what we were going for)

Answer 2

Three years is really far in advance to start planning, per se, but you can start to think about what type of wedding you want, where it will be, your budget, etc.  And you can start reading bridal books and magazines.

Answer 3

Not one simple thing. Don't do anything til a year before. Too many things can change over such an extremely long engagement.

Answer 4

i don't care what anyone says!  you can start planning!  

mine is 2 years away!

i have picked my bridal bunch (lol) 9 on each side

the colors i'm 95% on

the dresses i have picked but we wont get them untill a year prior or so!

starting to find my dress

start my guest list

working on budget plans

and typing out how i want it to go down that's my outline!

looking for the best deals and meeting the right people that can give me the best deals!

Starting to compile how i want center peices and all that decorations stuff!

the good part is i can change my mind or do something else if i want! i mean it is my day!

get the main part done!

however most places only book 1 year in advance so the venue you want call and get the information on when you can book for your date!

you can call and get cost on most things and see how much you need to save!

It's great to plan early!

Congrates!!  

Answer 5

It's pretty limited what you can plan that far out, but you can at least start going through wedding magazines to get ideas of possible themes, motifs, and even dress styles.  Save clippings of all the things you like in a notebook or binder, so when the date draws nearer you'll have a ready-reference guide to what you want your wedding to look like.

Also, you can start hammering out a rough-draft guest list, just to get a general idea of the size of your wedding.  It won't be exact, of course, but it gives you a basic idea of how big (or small) your wedding's going to be.  

Most importantly, it's never too early to open a savings account specifically for your wedding.  Put about 5% of each paycheck (or whatever amount you can afford) in there every time you get paid.  To make things easier, set up a direct deposit with your employer, so a certain amount goes right into the savings account each payday and you don't even have to think about it!  This will be a great way to ensure that you have all the money you need when you get closer and can actually start booking venues, etc.

Answer 6

When i first got engaged, these are the things i planned:

a) Budget/finance:

You cant get anywhere without a good budget of how ur wedding's gonna be like, and how many ppl you're inviting. And of course, whether you're planning for a simple or grand wedding. For me, my fiance & i have always wanted a simple wedding, so the budget is rather small on this.

b) Your future family:

Start planning how you're going to manage a family of your own. Start thinking about your in-laws, whether or not you'd like to include them into planning your family because they can be of great help (if you prefer). This boils down not only on the size, but your career as well, whether you'd like to be a stay-at-home mom, or a working mom.

c) Jobs:

Whether your current job will suit your marriage life, i suggest you consider and pick the ones that you think fits best into your preference. Both career and marriage should work together. No point spending more than 12hours at work when your partner and kids need you most at home. Start thinking back if this job will suit you after you're married.

d) Marriage counselling:

Many couples actually consider this before they tie the knot. It depends on your belief, but if you're a Christian and believe in God, i propose you to start going for one. Many churches nowadays encourage couples to understand God's love before taking a deeper step of commitment. Trust me, it's very confusing yet challenging because it brings you to re-consider your whole marriage option.

e) Your future together:

Have a sit down table talk with your partner if that's what you both really want....marriage. It's a big step and i definitely wont wish you both made a wrong decision of getting married. You're lucky as you're sure of marrying each other. I did not have the slightest idea of getting married until he proposed. But if you're sure to take this road, start reading books that encourage love and marriage rather than taking the wrong turn. Many brides wanna get married for the dress and the grandiosity of the wedding environment, but remember...that's only a day. The rest is the beginning.

Hope this helps.  

Answer 7

3 years? Is there a reason why you are waiting so long to get married? I think a proper engagement length is 6 months to 12 months, anything longer than that and usually there are issues. There is no point in being "engaged" for that long but hey if it is working for you both than more power to you.

I wouldnt start planning until 12 months out, pick the month you want to marry and the year and then 12 months prior pick where you want your wedding to be held. If you chose now, in 2 years you could be in another state, country, etc.

Good Luck.

Answer 8

If the wedding is not until "at least" three years, you have plenty of time.  The main thing here to plan is your budget.  The main intense planning doesn't need to start until about a year or so before.

Other than that, look around and get ideas on venues, dress ideas and such, but don't go overboard.  A lot can change in that time, including your tastes.

Good luck!

Answer 9

While it is too early to buy/book anything, it's never too early to start thinking about it.

Talk with your fiance, make sure you want the same things:

Size, and you can plan your guest lists.

Formality, and you can plan (or narrow down) where to have it.

Time, both day and year - as in, afternoon in the spring or night in the fall, etc.

Budget, it's never too early to think about how much you can save and how much is too much to spend.  If you have any help in this department, ask them what their plans are.  (Yep, that's always going to be an uncomfortable conversation.  But it won't get any easier with time.)

The other poster's idea for a binder of all things you see and like is a good idea, too. ;-)

Answer 10

No, I wouldn't plan anything.  A lot could change in the next couple years as far as what exactly you want.  If you are paying for the wedding yourself, you might want to think about how much you want to spend and start saving.  But everything else doesn't really need to start until about a year before the wedding.  And even at that point, all you really need to do is decide on your location and date to make sure its available.

Answer 11

Not really but my wedding is in just 2 years away, we have just booked our hotel reception (date) and put in our deposite as sometimes a hotel could be fully booked a year in advance if its known for having good weddings.

looking for the right hotel/reception location is very time consuming so i suppose you could pay visits and view arounds to all hotels in your area and discuss which is the best one for location, food, reputation and price (taking note prices do rise so make sure to ask a staff member to give approximate figures for 2 years or in  your case 3 years)

For now you could browse wedding planning books and keep a note of all the things you would love at your wedding e.g. seat covers, centrepieces, photographer

(I wouldnt think about colours and themes until you have your dress and searching for bridesmaid dresses) - i know its very hard

when you have an idea of all the things you want in list form, try to add up or work out approx how much your dream wedding will cost so you know your objectives are when it comes to saving

Saving I think is most important at your stage, start a savings account now, I have opened a joint account with my partner which all engagement money etc are going into this for after weddingt hings e.g. home stuff

I also have opened a separate account for myself at the postoffice which all money will go towards maids dresses, decorations, photographer etc which I have a set budget for each of these

to do this I am collecting £2 coins and adding a certain amount in a month from my wages

theres not much to plan now but you have time to become organised over three years and that cuts out stress, just dont annoy your man constantly about it :) its a girl thing

good luck

Answer 12

Nothing.  In 3 years a lot of things can change (not to be a fatalist, but hey, reality can bite).  If you start booking things like venue and such, this will require deposits that are not refundable.  If you want to tinker with the guest list and scout possible venues, that is fine, but let's get real.  What if you and the groom decide to elope instead of having a big wedding 2 and a half years from now?  Just plan on getting married and building a healthy relationship.  The rest will take care of itself.

Answer 13

Right now, just think it terms of money.  Think about the size and think about the type.  Get that idea in your head.  Figure out how much you want to spend.   Start a savings account and start putting money into it.  

Then, don't think about the wedding for another 1-2 years.  But, remember to keep saving.  When you get to be about 1-1.5 years away from the wedding, start thinking details.

But, other then saving, don't plan anything.  It'll be a waste of time.  Things can change so rapidly over time.   So, you never know what you'll want in 3 years or where life is going to take you.  But, it never hurts to have money saved.  So, do that and don't worry about the other stuff yet.  

Answer 14

Start saving, start to think about what kind of wedding you'd like, start thinking about your budget. Basically start building the foundation right now. Oh, and if there's a venue that is normally hard to get into (booked solid for the next 2 years) this is a great chance to be able to reserve it early and get the date that you want.

Other than those things you should hold of on any serious planning until a year/year and a half before the wedding.

EDIT:

Like mentioned above I disagree with HoundLover if your dream venue is incredibly popular. I've heard numerous stories about venues being booked up for 2 years in advance so the bride has either needed to push the date of the wedding back or she's had to find a new venue. In other cases, they had open dates  but it was for weekends that weren't as desirable. Of course don't hire any of the vendors yet, but in cases of super popular venues you might want to consider booking it now.

Answer 15

Yes.

A budget and save money for the wedding and life afterwards. Open a savings account and have the money withdrawn automatically every month.

For fun stuff, you can start a binder of pictures you like (bouquets, dresses, etc) or save them in a folder on your desktop.

All the best.

Answer 16

Nope, you're good.  Start saving your pennies and start buying a lot of magazines.  Keep a folder of the things you like.  Then as you get closer, you can review your folder to see if your tastes have changed.  I used a three ring binder with those clear plastic sheets to keep stuff in and it was really helpful.  Everything I liked, even if it was unrealistic I tore out and put it in my folder.  

I would start booking a venue about a year and a half out.  Three years is too far out for most vendors to accept and frankly, with this economy, you never know who will be out of business.  Which means, if you gave them a deposit, you are out that $$$.

Answer 17

The venue

The ceremony style

The guest list

The rings

The wedding photographer

http://www.brentpennington.com

Answer 18

You really only need to start planning in earnest about a year or so before the wedding.  You can start collecting pictures of dresses, hairstyles, flowers, and things like that that you like, so that when you are ready to start planning you have some ideas of what you might like to have.  Also pay attention when you go to other people's weddings to see what you like and don't like about what they've done.

If you life in an area where reception sites book up quickly, that I could see booking a year and half ahead.  I couldn't get the hall we really wanted because they book up so fast, and we got engaged about five months later than anticipated (not to say my reception site that I got isn't going to be lovely, because it will be and I'm happy with it - don't have a big choice where I live, there's like three places).

Answer 19

Size of wedding (number of guests).

Budget.