Summary

• Engagement season is simply when a lot of engagements take place. The most popular month for proposals is December.
• Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, and Valentine’s Day are the most popular days to pop the question!
• During engagement season, wedding venues book up fast! Set a budget and start planning early, especially if you’re hoping for a short engagement.
• Be open to a range of potential dates rather than a single day. It also helps to consider getting married on a day other than Saturday. The more availability you have, the better your odds of booking that dream venue!

It’s that time of year again… engagement season!

As the holiday season kicks off, these months are also prime time for popping the question. If you’ve been dropping hints or dreaming about the kind of ring you want, now’s the season when marriage proposals—and bookings—start happening fast.

With all these newly engaged couples rushing to secure their venues, competition can be intense, especially if you’ve got your heart set on a particular location.

We know it sounds overwhelming, but don’t worry! Here are our top tips for surviving engagement season so you can enjoy every moment and plan the wedding of your dreams.

Here are our top tips for surviving the engagement season so you can have the wedding of your dreams!

When Is Engagement Season?

“Engagement season” is simply the time of year when most couples get engaged. Throughout most of the country, the most popular months for engagements are November (starting with Thanksgiving) through February (Valentine’s Day).

While it should come as no surprise that Christmas Day is the most popular day to get engaged, the whole month of December sees a lot of proposals (Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve are great choices as well). However, Thanksgiving, New Year’s Day, and Valentine’s Day are also proposal favorites.

Between the festive cheer and cozy nights with friends and family, we couldn’t think of a better time to get engaged…and apparently everyone else thinks so too!

Wedding dates might be flying off the shelves, but don’t panic! We’ve put together our top list of dos and don’ts for surviving engagement season with your sanity (and your relationship) intact.

What to Do After You Get Engaged

While there’s no “right” way to plan a wedding, you should be aware of the wedding season trends before you start.

This will give you a better idea of what to expect so you can manage your expectations and fully enjoy your big day.

Celebrate Your Engagement

Engagement parties are a great way to have a fun event to look forward to whether it’s a short engagement or 18 months away. Invite your closest friends and family and show off that engagement ring!  And don’t forget to carve out some time for engagement photos while you’re at it.

But if a full engagement party is just too much fuss for you, at least take some time to celebrate being engaged with just your partner. Take a weekend trip, have a full day where you pamper each other, do something that’s just for you! Also, this is the time you’ll want to get your ring properly sized and make sure you have insurance on it.

Talk Wedding Budget

Before you know what kind of venue you can book, what dates you might want, what vendors you can afford, you need to set your wedding budget. Talk about how large or small you want your guest list to be, whether you want an evening or daytime affair, how formal or informal you want it to be and write down some numbers. 

Before going on venue tours and booking vendors, you need to know what you’re willing and able to spend.

Book That Venue!

If you’re getting engaged during engagement season, move fast! Saturdays will fill up first and fast! Especially if you’re hoping for a summer or early fall wedding that same year. 

Once you have booked your venue, you can take your time with other vendors. Typically, you can’t get vendor proposals or vendors booked until you have a date and a location!

You can even book your wedding venue before you get engaged. Yes! Book a wedding venue before the engagement sounds crazy but we see it happen. All. The. Time.

Brides put down a deposit to hold their date because they know the proposal is imminent. Weird? Maybe. But Early Ellie over there got the date she wanted, the venue she wanted, and is now winning at life because she’s one step ahead of the rest.

Think About a Range of Potential Wedding Dates

It will be infinitely more difficult to book a date if you have your heart set on a specific one.

At the end of the day, any date you pick will be special…it will become your anniversary!

When picking a wedding date, don’t limit yourself. Choosing more than one ideal wedding date will make it much easier to find a venue with availability. Choose a month or even a season over a specific date. And DON’T limit yourself to Saturdays. Y’all, seriously, there are 6 other days in the week.

Saturdays are the most popular day to get married, which means that they are the first day of the week to get booked. If you’re dead set on a Saturday wedding, you could be in for a loooooooong engagement! If you’re looking at planning a wedding in less than a year, consider having a Sunday or Friday wedding. 

For one, Fridays and Sundays typically have a much lower rate. Here at Kendall Point, you will pay roughly $2,000 less for a Friday/Sunday wedding vs. a Saturday date. And Monday through Thursday prices are even better!

At the end of the day, you want to fall in love with the venue, not a date. And once you have that date, start sending out those save-the-date cards so your guests can mark their calendars!

Think About the Logistics

Weather can throw a wrench into any wedding plans, but at this stage in the game, it’s way too early to predict the weather! So don’t choose your date because of what the weather “might” do.  Besides, that’s what wedding insurance is for!

Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t start thinking about how to keep your guests comfortable in the summer heat. 

While it doesn’t make sense to plan around the thermometer, it does make sense to have a contingency plan in the event of inclement weather. For example, a San Antonio venue with no indoor wedding options will not be able to accommodate you if it rains. So, when on your venue tours, ask what happens if the weather suddenly turns nasty. 

More logistics to consider:

• How easy will it be for your family and friends to travel at certain times of the year?
• Is there already a major event on the schedule in your city of choice (meaning hotel rooms will be scarce)? 
• Are you thinking of getting married over a holiday weekend when some of your intended guests might already have travel plans?

Build a Wedding Website & Start Planning!

Once you have your venue and date booked, the wedding planning fun can REALLY  begin.

Choose your wedding party, send out a digital save-the-date with a link to your wedding website, scour Pinterest and Instagram for wedding inspiration, start dress shopping, and more!

This is also the time when you can set a realistic wedding planning timeline and get organized with researching and hiring your vendors. And once you’ve got all that squared, start thinking about your bachelor and bachelorette parties!

Happy Engagement Season! On Your Mark, Get Set, Book!

Kendall Point is always preparing for engagement season and we want to make sure you’re prepared, too.

If you’re planning on popping the question (or you think a proposal is on the horizon), there’s no harm in touring venues now! We’re happy to give you the lay of the land and show you all the amazing things our Texas Hill Country wedding venue has to offer.

Contact us today to schedule a visit—virtual or in-person. We can’t wait to meet you!