Long Engagements vs a Race to the Altar

The average length of time that most couples choose to be engaged from is usually 12 to 18 months. This is typically the length of time it takes for people to plan a wedding. Many churches in fact are often impossible to book with short notice and finding a reception is one of the biggest jobs on your wedding planning ‘to do’ list. Spring and summer months are the most sought after and some places can be booked up at least a year in advance.

Furthermore, many brides often spend months trying to find their dream dress, whereas others often choose to have theirs especially designed and then handmade. A year and half should be enough time to allow for this.

The very organised couples amongst you are likely to be engaged for this length of time as they will want to adhere to the general routine wedding practices that have been previously tried and tested such as organising the venue, church, dress, flowers, men’s attire, photographers, cake and accommodation and the list goes on!

There are other couples however that get engaged but with no intention of setting a date. For example, some couples get engaged in their 20s but do not even begin their wedding planning until their 30s. There is nothing wrong with this of course, and every couple is completely different and will have a different way of doing things. For engagements that last this length of time however, it is not the wedding planning that is necessarily the issue. Some brides a just not ready to take the next step at such a young age and for others, finance could be a big problem.

The average wedding now cost around €15,000 and so it is just not viable for everybody to come up with that kind of cash in a short period of time. Furthermore, due to today’s economic climate, the very last thing any couple will want to do is take out a loan in order to be able to fund their big day. No newlyweds should have to start out their married life in debt- besides having a mortgage.

Heavy work commitments could be another factor in a couples lives that mean that they do not actually have the time to plan a big wedding. Other life problems such as plans to have children can furthermore affect a couple’s engagement. Some people may decide that they would prefer to wait until they are ready to have kids before marrying.

The polar opposite of the couples mentioned above are those who decide to say their vows after an extremely short engagement. This may prove very difficult but it is possible to plan a wedding in the space of just a few short months. It is the common joke that couples who decide to wed shortly after their engagement do so because of pregnancy, but mostly, romance simply spurs them on.

The length of an engagement is completely dependant upon each couple and ultimately, when the vows have been said and the knot has been tied, the end goal of marriage has been the same.