Long Engagements vs. Shorter Engagements Regarding Wedding Planning

I will be up front about this. I have never been a fan of long engagements solely for the purpose of planning a wedding. In some cases, it is like prolonging agony. Agony as in money spent and time invested. Just like a small budget, a shortened period of time can help keep your focus on what is most important to you and help you sweat genius!

There are so many hidden costs to having a long engagement financially and emotionally. A short engagement will decrease the amount of unsolicited advice, dinners out after exhausting shopping trips for something you probably didn't really need, transportation costs and blisters on your feet. It would equal a very long tape coming from a cash register!

Shorter engagements can fall in line beautifully with "less is more" and "going green". Shorter engagements are those that need precision cut planning. Focus, focus, focus. Longer engagements can resemble trips to the grocery store on an empty stomach which usually end up with a bigger bill and more junk food and stuff that just looks good to everything but your wallet. It can almost be guaranteed that a bride and her family will be saying, "What do I do with all of this?" That's another blog unto itself!

I don't believe that more money spent equates to a more beautiful, meaningful wedding. Creativity, in my mind, is the key. Creativity = Less Stress + Less Money Spent. Being open- minded and flexible should probably be added to that equation as well. I think that this equation is applicable for a DIY bride or the bride who hires a Wedding Coordinator.

Every bride should do what is comfortable for her. There are no 'You must take 12-16 months to plan your wedding!" police out there. Let's get real, a bride has been planning her wedding for years, if not decades before she even got engaged. Every bride is different. Shorter engagements would probably serve the bride very well who screams or cries when she sees that 12-16 months in print! One thing that is almost certain, many a groom will be much happier with a shorter engagement. Just ask ten of them and see how many say yes!

There will always be circumstances where a couple has to wait for a longer period of time for their wedding and I'm not saying that long engagements should be done away with. Not at all. The most important thing is stop making brides think that they have to go by the book to get the wedding of their dreams. Talk about pressure! I would even be so brazen and recommend throwing some of those crazy checklists out! Every wedding is custom and it might just be a good idea if that checklist was completely customized, too!

Here's to happy brides and grooms with short or long engagements!