Wedding Date: July versus September

Hello all,

I'm a newbie here, hello! Got engaged about a month ago and my fiance and I have been looking at venues etc this week. All very exciting. We're pretty decided on the reception venue and we are having our ceremony in a church. Dates have been snapped up for when we are aiming for (Summer 2010) and we are left with either 3rd July or 4th September........

July is a little better for planning as we work in the NHS as do lots of our friends and the changeover for jobs is at the beginning of August... so hopefully everyone will be sorted rota wise for July and be able to RSVP efficiently...whereas if we opt for September, people may not know if they can come till the start of August and not have much time to swap out of weekend shifts etc.

Obviously, though, July is a good two months before Sept and I haven't organised anything at all for the wedding except for venue - so time wise it could be a bit tougher?

I'm well aware that summer weather is unpredictable, but I would imagine chances are that it would be better in July than September?

Want to decide ASAP to finalise things, but really not sure what to do!

Any thoughts welcome.

Based purely on the nightmare of trying to organise NHS workers' rotas, I would say July.

Hi,

You've got plenty of time to get things organised, even if you go for July. You might have to start thinking about some of the bigger things now, like the dress, as this can take 6 months to come in to the shop. It's certainly do-able though.

With regard to the weather, seriously it doesn't matter when you get married, the weather is so unpredictable. And I don't think there's a huge difference between the two months. In recent years we've had rubbish July's and lovely September's but you just never know. This year we had a mini heatwave in October!

If you think July would be better work wise, i'd go with that. Less stress to add on to the wedding stress. x

Hi and Welcome! 

July would be fine - gives you 9 months which is about what I've had.

However, I would probably chose based on potential honeymoon destinations so my vote would probably be for September...

I'd choose 4th September . . . but only because thats when im getting married and I want another wedding twinnie lol

Seriously though if July would suit you and your guests better, don't worry about having less time to plan everything.  As long as you're organised and not after a specific popular venue which gets booked up years ahead then it can be done.

Speaking from a wedding supplier's angle - September is a mega, mega busy time for us.  May and September are the busiest of the wedding year.  The general opinion as to why is that May is not too hot and doesn't interefere much with peoples annual holidays and September is not too cold, avoids annual holidays (again) and far enough away from Christmas expense wise.  

Obviously, it's what suits you and your plans best but if you go for September (I got married in Sept by the way!) do start to book your other wedding suppliers as soon as - I'm already full for next Sept and a lot of my colleagues in the wedding industry (Photographers, cake makers etc) are also full so it's a good idea to start shopping around.

Weatherwise, for the last 3 years, we seem to have been blessed with floods etc during July!  September always seems to have a few nice weeks :) Hope that helps. 

Hi and welcome!!!!

It seems that it will be a lot easier work-wise for your wedding to be in July.  Its totally do-able to arrange everything for then - you've still got time.

Also, you can't rely on the weather no matter when you get married in this country so I wouldn't worry about that too much.

GeordieBarbie:

July would be fine - gives you 9 months which is about what I've had.

No it doesn't! September gives you 9 a half months! July gives you 7 and a half!

I would go for which ever you think would be easiest.  Both are do-able!

For the last couple of years the weather in NI has been the best in September (just when the children go back to school)......... so our busiest month is starting to be September rather than July. Saying that....forget about the weather as someone so rightly said, its so unpredictable.

I say September 4th.... but I'm bias as it's my date

Mrs Spink to be!:

GeordieBarbie:

July would be fine - gives you 9 months which is about what I've had.

No it doesn't! September gives you 9 a half months! July gives you 7 and a half!

I would go for which ever you think would be easiest.  Both are do-able!

From getting engaged in November to getting married in July...  OK so about 8 months 

hi ya and welcome to hitched!

I'm a wedding planner and have weddings throughout the year and I have to say that over the last few years, the September dates have been a lot better weather wise. If you have a lot of guests from the NHS then I would go for July though. it will be a lot less stressful for you, rather than having  to chase people a few weeks before your wedding.  You are coming to the end of the wedding show season, but you may be lucky enough to catch a couple of lates ones, get  to  them if you can but it starts again in January. However by January you should be looking to have your venue, ceremony, photographer, dress, band/disco booked. Then if not already done,  in the new year choose your florist and cake maker if needed and think about what stationery you are going to have whether you make it or order it. Think about getting your invites out 12 weeks/3 months before the wedding with an RSVP date about 6 weeks before the wedding.

GeordieBarbie did make a very good point about the honeymoon, July is summer holidays so could be more expensive, September the prices obvioulsy come down.

If you do choose July you will find that you get so much help and advice on here that you will be able to plan it in no time!

HTH (Hope that helps)

Ruth

x

Sounds like July would be more suitable for you. Don't worry about time. I know a couple who got engaged on Valentines Day and married at the beginning of August!! As long as you are organised it's really do-able

Congratulations and welcome to Hitched!!

Itseems there are lots of pros and cons to both dates! I would personally base it on ease, cost and honeymoon.

We chose our date as the end of August insteadof the earlier date we originally wanted (begining of June) as it gave us more time to save, our honeymoon would be cheaper and it also fell on a bank holiday sunday so we knew everyone would be off the day before and also the day after.

If you can afford to do it a few months earlier, its easier for the guests and it fits around your honeymoon plans then I would say def go for july. If leaving it until Sept would make any of those a little easier then I would leave it until then.

As others have said, I would discount the weather out of the equations as you just never know!!(my friend got married in April a few years ago and got her back sunburnt during the meal as she had the side ofthe marquee open - my other friend got married in August the year after and it poured down all day!!)

HTH

x

Hello all,

Thanks for all your extremely helpful replies.... definitely points to think about which we hadn't considered.

Anyway, we are aiming for 11th September now (so we can have the Priest that we want - though if he can't do that date it will be the 4th). Will have to confirm with church/reception venue on Monday. Gives us a bit more time to save and hopefully a cheaper honeymoon. We are getting married in central London so any way we can help the budget is worth it!

Will definitely be asking lots more questions as am pretty clueless - none of my closest girlfriends are married yet - !

Thanks again! xx