Congratulations! You’ve popped the question, and are now officially hitched. You and your partner have agreed to do your best not to stress over wedding planning, and want to give yourselves ample time to really plan and budget your big day. Some engagements last quite short, while other engagements may be a little too long for comfort. But how long is too long in the first place? Is having a relatively long engagement something that brings more complications than benefits? What is the average length of an engagement period anyway? Here are some insights to help you figure things out!

Many wedding planner experts in the US claim that the average engagement length for a couple is around 13-18 months, with most couples getting married shortly after a year or a year and a half of getting engaged. This may not be the same all over the world as couples in the UK usually wed 22-23 months after their engagements! While it is uncommon to have a prolonged engagement, it is definitely reasonable for couples to stay engaged for up to three years–which is more than enough time to save up or perfectly execute your dream wedding visions.

The length of an engagement is at the end of the day entirely up to you and your significant other, as we understand that each couple has their own circumstances and factors that can definitely affect wedding planning dates–having a specific date, season, or festival in mind may certainly require some waiting, as well as saving up for the perfect wedding day, ring, or honeymoon! 

While you may have more time to go over your wedding plans, sometimes having a long engagement may mean being a bit too finicky regarding the smaller details. Deciding on one thing only for someone to change their minds later may cause some planning disagreements. In some cases, long engagements may bring out the inner perfectionists in people, focusing a bit too much on minor wedding details that may just result in indecisiveness.

Deciding and re-deciding on certain details may come off a little more expensive than you think! Your new choices may certainly be the nicer option, but also might just be the slightly more expensive one. It may not look like much in the beginning, but a little too much re-decision may end up with a wedding that’s way over budget. Let’s not forget that you also may get bombarded with either cancellation or alteration fees!

Figuring out when to take your relationship to that next level is also not an easy task, and many couples tend to wonder just how long one should wait before popping the question. A lot of couples tend to date a minimum of 2 years before getting engaged, most couples range from 2-5 years of dating! Some couples definitely date for both longer and shorter, and that’s totally okay! Every relationship in the world is unique!

Like we’ve said before, there isn’t a strictly set length of time for the ideal engagement –getting engaged is a serious life-changing event. The idea of being engaged and marriage in general is something that requires lots of communication, and being in the right mental and emotional state to seriously consider being engaged will help tremendously.