Tip #4: The Long...and Short of it...

The Five-Year Engagement

So...you just got engaged.  First, people will grab your hand and gawk at your ring finger.  Next, people will ask you, "So when is the big day?"  An average engagement in the United States is 10-18 months.  Living in Utah, the thought of that is just way out of the question for most people.  But sometimes there are extenuating circumstances, as we all watched in the movie The Five-Year Engagement.  With career changes, location changes, and family changes, sometimes the engagement is longer than initially planned, but does that make it all the less special?  I would certainly hope not.  So when you and your significant other are stressing over a wedding date to make grandma happy, consider this list.  Both the long...and short of it.

Long Engagement Positives

• Long engagements typically have a purpose behind the day selected.
• Long engagement allow for careful selection and having the upper-hand when negotiating vendors, dress, flowers, and venues.
• Long engagements allow for cheaper rates when booking your vendors.
• Once you have picked your vendors, date availability is not competitive.
• Long engagements allow for more out-of-state friends and family to attend.
• Long engagements enable the wedding to be paid over the entire engagement period, not just one big sum thrown on the credit card at the end.
• Long engagements allow for a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and Plan D.
• Your wedding plans won't consume your life;  you can still work, play, and have fun.

Short Engagement Positives

• Short engagements keep the interest of both the couple and those attending the big day.
• Short engagements lead to the end result faster and the couple can start on the next big thing...together.
• In Utah specifically, vendors are used to shorter engagements and can seamlessly accommodate a smaller time frame.

Long Engagement Negatives

• People will forget you are engaged/not take it as seriously.
• People will not want to listen to your plans for a year.
• You have to stay in constant contact with your vendors so they don't forget that you booked with them months ago.
• Long engagements allow for the couple to change their minds about certain wedding details, and in some cases, you start over again and again.

Short Engagement Negatives

• Your choices are limited on dates, venues, dresses, vendors etc.
• You will pay more for your vendors since it's a shortened time frame.
• You will be planning your wedding nearly everyday.  There is no time for a break.
• You will only have a Plan A, so hopefully it's a good one.