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I recently got a call from a bride-to-be who wanted a 2014 wedding, on a Saturday in September no less. (As I write this, we are heading into late October 2013, less than a year away from their preferred wedding date.)
So what’s the problem? Surely there is plenty of time to start planning for their wedding! In fact, the groom in this case stated it was absolutely ridiculous that I would suggest that they hurry up and lock down their venue ASAP. How could places possibly be booked up so far in advance? Well, I’m afraid so!
Folks, I can tell you with confidence that if you are looking for one of the better venues in the Greater Toronto Area, and you are looking for a Saturday wedding between May – October… you may find yourself disappointed with their availability. You may even be asked to consider a Friday or a Sunday wedding.
June and September continue to be, by far, the busiest months of the year for weddings with the remainder of the summer filling in and then May and October on the ends.
So let’s talk about timing. First, there is a natural order to wedding planning. Obviously, if you are having the ceremony in a separate place of worship, this is the first date to confirm… because there is no point in booking the reception when you don’t know for sure when you will be getting married! Once that is done, or if the ceremony will be in the same place as the reception, then next you need to book a venue. The truth is that if you are looking for unique venues with a certain amount of character, such as Casa Loma for example, this might be booked two years in advance! Then venues that offer not only elegant reception rooms but also beautiful gardens in which to have a wedding ceremony are also in high demand; I would say that a good 50% of my couples choose to have their wedding ceremony and reception in the same place. And especially for 2014 – apparently a lot of couples chose to postpone their weddings a year and not get married in 2013 for fears of “bad luck”; I’ve seen estimates as high as 30%! This means that a whole lot of couples are vying for not too many places in the GTA for their 2014 celebrations. For these popular “gardenesque” venues, for a Saturday summer wedding, you probably need to be booking about 16 months in advance to get the wedding date that you want.
So what if you are now starting your planning and have a year or less to go? For the popular spots, you may only have a handful of dates to choose from, which will likely be offerings in May and October. You may be lucky and get the last weekend in your preferred month (or really lucky and the exact date) but don’t wait a moment more to start the search!
All is not lost of course. If you have hired a wedding planner to help you, she would know many more venues in Toronto that you might not have considered. Right now I have over 300 GTA venues that I go through when looking for that “right place” for a couple. Often when couples call me they have already considered a handful (maybe two handfuls) of places but are amazed that there are so many more out there that they didn’t even know existed! This can simplify the search and make for a better outcome. There are a number of lesser-known venues in the Toronto area that don’t really advertise and are mainly known through word of mouth.
So if 2014 is what you have in mind for your wedding, and you have not yet booked your venue…. Don’t delay to avoid disappointment! And if you’re really having trouble, call a wedding planner to give you that extra edge. Good luck!
