We’re less than one month away from the first day of spring and you know what that means, don’t you, friends? Wedding season is coming!! Can’t you smell it in the air already? To help us get in the mood and figure out how to pick the perfect wedding date, I give you the experts at Orla James, the London-based company specializing in wedding jewelry. Read on for their top four tips, like why getting married during wedding season might not be such a good idea… xoxo

So you’ve finally popped the question? But have you thought about when the big day will be? Are you looking to tie the knot as quickly as possible, or do you want to give yourself time to prepare? The fact is that, emotions aside, there are practical reasons for picking the right wedding date. Don’t jump into making the decision quickly or you could end up regretting it.

Having a wedding is not a spur-of-the-moment thing. It requires time and effort. Most of the time, the bride has the scenario of the perfect wedding in mind — the venue, the dress, the cake, etc. All of these things take time to arrange. Plus, all of these things might not be available when you need them.

“There’s so much planning that goes into a wedding and none of this can really get started until a date is set, but finding a suitable date can be a battle in itself!” says Katie of Orla James.

Availability Of Friends And Family

Your wedding is your special day. But it wouldn’t really be all that special if all of those people you consider special to you were not there. While picking a date for your wedding, you need to consider the availability of your close friends and family. This doesn’t mean just anyone, but your nearest and dearest friends, people without whom you would feel your wedding is incomplete.

Talk to these people and find out if there are any major events happening around them. Ask them if there are dates when they are busy. Give them your preferred dates, a month or a weekend that you like and have them give you their feedback. See what they come back with. Use this information to decide a few different date choices — choices that don’t include the ones when these people are not available.

Do this once and once only, and like we’ve said, only with your nearest and dearest. The more people you involves, the more complicated it gets. If you know of someone else who may be planning a wedding, it would be advisable to ensure that there are no date conflicts with them either.

Picking The Venue

Another important factor while setting your wedding date involves the venue. Most people do not think of checking out their desired venue before setting a date, but this is essential. If you start looking for a venue after picking your wedding date, you are basically decreasing your options right away. With a number of potential dates in hand, you can look at and decide on a number of different suitable venues. Once you’ve found the perfect venue, you can decide which date works for you.

The Importance Of An Important Date

There are some people who get married on specific days because of religious or cultural reasons. If you are one of those, then picking your wedding date could be out of your hands. But if you aren’t one of those, you should consider marrying on a date with special significance.

See if the date of your first meeting or first kiss works for you. Maybe the date on which you proposed. You might want to honor your dead parents by having a wedding on the date of their anniversary. Picking an important date will add that extra bit of significance to your wedding, making it even more memorable. Just make sure that this date is feasible.

Consider Your Budget

Most people don’t know this, but there is a wedding season during the summers leading into October. During this time, everything is expensive since a lot of weddings are taking place. Things may cost up to 2 to 3 times higher than what they do during off-season. This is due to supply and demand, and not something you can help.

Only get married during the wedding season if you really have to. Also consider not getting married on weekends. For the same reason as above, everything is more expensive during the weekends. You can really have your pick of venues and catering if you do this.

Days To Avoid At All Costs

Then there are days that you just can’t get married on. There are specific days when it would be impossible for you to get off from work. Days like the end of the year when the accounts are closed. You don’t want to get married with the burden of work hanging over you. Plus, your honeymoon could be adversely affected. Public holidays like Christmas and Easter are out as well.

(This post is sponsored by Orla James. Thanks so much for continuing to support So About What I Said’s wonderful sponsors!)

[Photos via We Heart It]