So you’re getting married. Congrats! After the Instagram hype around your engagement ring selfie has died down, get ready for the question everyone’s going to ask: have you set a date yet? This question can be daunting if you haven’t given it any thought. The first step is deciding on a time of year.

So, will it be Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter? These tips will help you weigh up the pros and cons of each wedding season.  
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Spring

Symbolism-wise, you can’t go wrong with a Spring wedding. Spring is the time for new beginnings and fresh growth—not to mention the birds and the bees—so there’s something really special about marking the start of your marriage during this time of year. Spring punches above its weight in the floral department, too. If flowers are a priority for you, it’s worth picking a date in this season of abundant bloom. 

If you’re thinking of an outdoor wedding, Spring offers the tantalising potential of a warm sunny day, but you will need to bear in mind that the weather can be very temperamental. If you’re planning your wedding a year ahead, don’t think that you can base predictions for next Spring on how this Spring has been. A part-indoor part-outdoor wedding is ideal, so you’ll always have the option of enjoying the sun or taking shelter. 

Summer

Summertime is about long lazy days and warm nights with friends and family. It’s no wonder that this season is the most popular for weddings. The weather is more reliable than in Spring, so you’re more likely to pull off an outdoor wedding. If you’d like to invite children to your wedding, Summer is a good time because of the school holidays. However, if you’re not going to have children at the ceremony, bear in mind that during the school holidays, your guests might not be able to attend your wedding without help with childcare. Speak to your wedding venue about potential childcare options either at the location or in the area. 

Autumn

The most striking thing about this season of mists and mellow fruitfulness is the colour. Depending on the trees that grow around your wedding venue, your Autumn wedding could be graced with a spectacular show of reds, oranges, rusts and browns. Even if you’re having an indoor wedding—which would probably make sense if you hold your wedding late in the season once it’s started to get a little chilly—don’t be afraid to bring the glorious colours of the outside into your décor. If you like a rustic look for your wedding, you don’t get better than Autumn. And your photographer will thank you. Not only will you enjoy the benefit of beautiful light on the day, but the all-important wedding album will be filled with rich, sun-bathed snaps.

Winter

Though winter isn’t everyone’s first thought when it comes time to decide on a wedding date, this season can have its charm. The winter holiday season is already imbued with a festive atmosphere. Inserting your own celebration into a series of celebrations means your guests will bring that festive mood to your winter wedding.

When people start asking if you’ve set a date yet, don’t panic! The first thing you need to decide on is which time of year will suit you best. If you simply can’t decide, remember you don’t have to limit your wedding celebrations to the big day. Whether it’s a bridal brunch or an engagement party, you’re free to spread your other key dates throughout the year to make the most of all the seasons.

On this throw back trip to Provence (Part 1 Here) we visited our wedding venue Chateau de Massillan for a menu tasting and to agree on some of the wedding plans. 

We first discovered this gorgeous Chateau when we did our first road trip around the south of France. It will forever be one of our favourite vacations, for so many reasons. Finding the chateau was one of them. 
We feel in love with its quirky design, its beautiful antique furniture and its twinkling chandelier's. It was so very my style. No garish colours to contend with, no carpets with bold designs to clash with, it was the preferably aesthetic canvas to create a vision. We loved that it felt like someone's beautiful home, rather than a hotel.  And we loved that it has bucket loads of Character. 

When my husband proposed, we both immediately wanted to get married here. We didn't even look at anything else, and that made it all the more special because it felt totally organic and almost like the venue choose us. 

We wanted something that we could hire exclusively for our entire wedding weekend, so we could celebrate in complete privacy with our friend and massillan was perfect for this. The fact that it wasn't a wedding venue also had great appeal as it only made itself available for a handful of dates over the year. This was a big selling point to us as it felt a little bit more natural and unique.     

It also had an amazing gastronomic restaurant, with absolutely incredible chef (Frédéric de Bourlout) and its own organic kitchen garden meaning all of the catering could be achieved in house (wedding cake aside) and would make this relatively stress free. The only difficult we did have was making the final choices...

As its coming up to our 5th wedding anniversary I will be sharing more from our wedding in Provence, so stayed tuned!

Belle 
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A wedding is an event that often takes over a year of planning. This is because there are just so many factors involved such as hiring a venue that could be booked for well over a year, ensuring that the catering services are up to your standards and even giving your guests plenty of time to book off the dates so that they can make it.

However, not everyone wants to get involved with the wedding planning process and some people don’t want to make a huge deal out of their big day. Others just want to save on their wedding planning and would prefer for the process to be quicker, so there is some appeal to planning a wedding in a shorter amount of time.

Whether you’re looking to get married as soon as possible or if you want to quickly plan your big day so that you and your partner can get back to work as soon as possible, we’ve put together a couple of tips to help you put together a fantastic wedding in just a few short months.

​Start with the simple things

There are a couple of important things that you need to consider first such as the wedding date and your budget. Once you’ve got these down, you’ll have a much easier time planning the event and also writing up invitations to friends and family members.

Get in touch with a wedding organiser

Whether it’s a planner that can handle the entire thing or a leading wedding show organiser to help you plan your entertainment, it’s vital that you rely on outside services to help you out. You don’t need to hire a dozen or more people to give you a hand, but it certainly does help to have a few helping hands. If you have relatives or friends that have planning experience then you can also ask them for help as well.

Don’t plan your wedding to last the entire day

The less you have to plan, the less time it will take. If your wedding doesn’t last the entire day then it’s more likely that your guests will be able to come if they treat it like a day out instead of a huge occasion that they need to prepare in advance for.

Don’t pick a venue that’s in the middle of nowhere

Although there are plenty of fantastic venues that you can book last minute, you ideally don’t want to book a venue that’s difficult to reach because it’s less likely that all of your guests will come. If you book a location in a city or on the outskirts then it’s far more accessible and travel arrangements will be much easier to make.

Consider what venues and services you want to include

Since you won’t be able to include some of the top venues and restaurants, you may need to think outside of the box. This includes asking restaurants if they can serve large buffet-style meals or considering a church as your wedding venue if they have availability. You want to write down a list of all the places that you want to include and then contact them one by one to see if they’re available.

Belle 
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