The question ‘how long does it take to plan a wedding?’ cannot be answered with one simple number, and varies greatly at Elegante by Michelle from as little as two months all the way up to almost two years. The main thing you should know is that, from our perspective, any of these timeframes are perfectly doable and we are happy to work within any of them – so, if you’re beginning to panic that you have left it ‘too late’ or haven’t got everything booked yet, you don’t need to. We’ll guide you through everything you need to know about short notice weddings and planning over longer time spans, so you know exactly what to expect on your wedding planning journey.
How long does it take to plan a wedding? What you need to consider.
Now, having said it’s perfectly plausible to plan a wedding in just a couple of months (we’ve even done it in six weeks in the past!), there are some caveats to keep in mind. It’s important to remember that popular months, days and dates will always get booked first, so flexibility is key when working with a short timeframe. Some of these dates are;
- Saturdays, year-round and in all countries (Sundays if you’re planning a Jewish wedding)
- June and September, particularly for destination weddings in Italy
- Full weekend buyouts of venues in the UK and overseas
This means that, if you want to get married on one of these premium dates, you’ll need a longer time span for your planning. If you’re prepared and able to be flexible on when you get married, including the day of the week, we can work with much shorter notice.
The same logic applies when thinking about where you want to get married, and may sometimes need to work out whether it’s more important to have your first choice of venue or your first choice of date. Let’s get into how we plan short-notice weddings…
Planning a short notice wedding (6 months or less)
If you’re asking ‘how long does it take to plan a wedding?’ because you’re thinking of getting married in the next 6 months, I want to start by saying that this is absolutely no problem – we can still deliver a magical, memorable celebration with all the creativity, show-stopping design and beautiful, personal details of one planned over a year or more. We’ll still find you the most wonderful suppliers to deliver the dream, you’ll still have our signature ‘hug, not a handshake’ experience, and you’ll thoroughly enjoy the whole process.
We’d also like to let you in on a little secret…we actually love short notice weddings! Sometimes, the longer you give yourselves to plan, the more you can begin to question and doubt your decisions over time. It can often be better to make a decision and then have to stick with it, rather than having time to wonder if you should have chosen something else. A little bit of time pressure works wonders for decision making! In this way, short notice weddings are a gift because decisiveness is key. So, if you’re reading this and thinking of planning your wedding over just a few months or less, here’s what you need to know:
- It will only work if you’re prepared to make decisions, stick with them, and act quickly
- You’ll need to dedicate a good portion of time to your wedding planning during this expedited process, because we have the same amount of decisions to make but compressed into less days
- It is eminently doable to plan your wedding this way, providing you can be flexible; on your date, with your suppliers, and with each other
It’s good to be aware that we may not always be able to secure your first choice of supplier in any of the categories (e.g. florist, stationery designer, photographer…) but we will find you a fabulous alternative – our aim is to ensure it never feels like an alternative! Many wedding suppliers get booked up a long time in advance or close their books for new bookings after a certain point, so if you’re absolutely dead-set on a certain someone then you may need to compromise on your location, venue or date.
You’ll also need to make quick decisions when it comes to booking your suppliers. We can’t afford to lose them, and because it’s short notice they are likely to accept bookings more quickly and not hold dates open for as long. This means that, even if you’ve enquired, someone else may snap up your date simply by deciding more quickly that they want to go ahead. We don’t say this to pressure you into making panicked decisions, rather to encourage clear-headedness and a steady vision that you’re willing to work with us to pull off.
We’re also very conscious that planning in a shorter time frame has connotations of being rushed or cutting corners – but we’re dedicated to planning weddings that aren’t just generic Elegante by Michelle J celebrations. We can still achieve a highly bespoke, creatively designed, detail oriented experience by working quickly and with our signature flair and receiving snappy, concise feedback from you.
So, if you’re considering getting married in the next 6 months or so, we’re more than happy to help. Get in touch sooner rather than later and we can get this show on the road!
How long does it take to plan a wedding far in advance?
Many Elegante by Michelle J couples are with us for more than a year, from the time of booking to the wedding date. Our main piece of advice is to remember that it’s a marathon, not a sprint – if you come to us with more than a year until your wedding, you shouldn’t expect to be full-steam-ahead working on it to get everything planned inside the first month. We intentionally phase your planning journey, based on our years of experience working with couples like you, ensuring that we plan in a way that isn’t overwhelming and addresses each task at the appropriate time. It’s almost like a funnel, beginning with the big picture and then working down to the granular details.
We’ll begin with the ‘macro’ tasks such as securing your perfect venue, finding a caterer and working on putting together your dream team of suppliers. At this point, we don’t need to worry about the finer details – you shouldn’t get hung up on the fact that you haven’t decided what you want for your main course yet when saying ‘yes’ to your caterer, for example. We often liken our role as wedding planner to being the director of a play, which will come to life with no rehearsal! Just like the director we begin with the basics such as set design and who’s involved, and gradually work through every minute stage direction, cue and additional detail.
The fine tuning of your wedding will take place once we’ve finished with our previous season’s weddings. We know our couples appreciate this because, when it’s your wedding year, you’ll want our undivided attention too. For this reason you should be aware that we’ll aim to lock in your key suppliers fairly early in your planning journey (for example your venue, photographer, caterer and any others of great importance to you) and then there will be a lull in proceedings. At this point, be prepared to take a little pause from your wedding planning while we focus on our more immediate weddings. Remember that, once we’ve booked your suppliers, they’ll also take a pause in communications with you until closer to your date. For example, for each of our 2026 weddings their suppliers are currently absolutely and totally immersed in 2025 – they’re unlikely to want to engage in detailed conversations about the finer points of their 2026 bookings at this stage, and will revisit this in the autumn.
Be aware, then, that if you’re looking to plan further in advance you’ll need to factor in this ‘break’ in planning. Be assured that it’s not because we or they don’t care; it’s the opposite. Great wedding planners and suppliers know where to allocate their time and attention throughout each of their clients’ journeys, ensuring the experience feels seamless and enjoyable at every stage.
What else is there to plan once suppliers are booked?
Sometimes couples come to us having already booked all their suppliers, believing that this means they don’t need our full planning service and want to book something ‘lighter’. In some cases our premium wedding day coordination service, Elegante Piccolo, is the right choice for them, but more often than not we respond that they still require a ‘full plan’. This is because, honestly speaking, booking your suppliers is only the beginning – probably about 5% of the overall wedding planning journey, whether we’re talking about a 2 month or 18 month plan.
What takes most of the time, the hundreds of hours, is all the meticulous and detailed logistical planning. This is the part that begins in earnest once our previous wedding season is over, where every detail is pored over and the personal touches are infused into every corner.
Hopefully now you can see that ‘how long does it take to plan a wedding?’ has many varied answers, but the takeaway is that almost anything is possible if you’re prepared for it. Get in touch to enquire about our availability for your date, and to have us lay out exactly how we can make your wedding vision a reality in whatever time frame you have for us.
Explore: how to plan a wedding in 6 weeks.
Images by 515 Photo Co.