The engagement celebrations have come to an end, friends and family have given their congratulations and the bottles of toasting champagne are empty. Now, it’s time to plan the big day.
Many couples spend months and even years planning their wedding, laboring over every detail that can, for some, shadow the excitement of the upcoming nuptials. But those who want to avoid the hoopla of event planning, have schedule constraints or are just plain eager to get to the altar may opt for a rapid wedding—some in under six months.
Why people plan weddings in under six months
Anyone who has planned a wedding, been in one or been around someone getting married knows how dauntingly brief a six-month window of time is. Yet many couples make it a reality—often supported by industry professionals who take on the brunt of labor and decision making.
This is the case for Megan Chin and Chris Connor, who are set to say “I do” Aug. 2 at Oak Grove at Jorgensen Farms in Westerville.
Chin, a pediatric dentist and owner of Playhouse Dental, and Connor, a founder and managing partner at Ardmore Road Asset Management, currently live in Manhattan but will be relocating to Bexley—Connor’s hometown—in June ahead of their wedding. The pair have been together for seven years and have two sons—Lucas, 4, and Matthew, 1. The family took a vacation at the end of the year, and it was Dec. 30 at a rooftop restaurant at 1 Hotel in Miami Beach where Connor popped the question.
“It all felt like part of the same chapter,” Chin says when asked why the couple decided to move and get married on such a short turnaround. “We’re building our house and our family. We want to celebrate.”
Corie Schweikert, the wedding and event manager at Jorgensen Farms, says this is not an uncommon trend among couples. “They’re sick of waiting,” she says. “Back in 2020, people had to wait so long to have their wedding, and now people are wanting to wrap it up within six months.”
There are also circumstantial reasons, like job schedule restrictions. Jayne Roberts, a sales partner at Together & Co., says one of the catering company’s recent quick turnaround brides was a teacher who didn’t want to wait until the following summer to tie the knot. “Teachers, grad students, medical students—whoever. If that means waiting four to six months, they’d rather do that than wait a year and a half.”
Potential drawbacks of a quick wedding
While a short engagement is appealing for many couples, especially to avoid the hassle and stress of prolonged wedding planning, it isn’t without its own compromises. For example, while the cost may be the same for a short-turnaround wedding, the payments will be significantly less spread out, so you need to prepare to shell out the money much quicker, Schweikert cautions. On the flip side, for quick weddings that trend smaller and less elaborate, you may not have as much to pay for.
There are also scheduling issues to consider, like limited availability. This may mean your preferred venue or vendors already are booked for your wedding date. Also, guests may not be able to book the time off they need to attend—especially if you plan the wedding for a weekday, which Schweikert says is a way that many couples snag their dream venue on short notice.
In some cases, quick decisions will have to be made blindly. At Jorgensen, for example, couples booking in six months or less usually won’t get a catering tasting. Chin and Connor did a virtual tour of the venue, and being in Manhattan are unable to do a taste test anyway. “I asked [our event coordinator] to just tell me the most popular, standout entrées to help me decide,” says Chin.
Tips and tricks for planning a wedding in under six months
Schweikert has some advice for couples eager to get married quickly without as many drawbacks. For one, she recommends booking during off-seasons, like fall going into winter. Roberts also adds January through March to that list, and April as a cusp season. “You can get a prime Saturday in February, and we would love to give you a deal on it,” Roberts says.
For those who have schedule constraints, Schweikert says many couples who are planning on short notice opt to have the ceremony at Jorgensen and go out to dinner elsewhere for their reception. “I think a lot of them want beautiful photos and a space to officially make it happen,” she says.
Since Together & Co. venues have a food and beverage minimum, not many opt for the ceremony only. Many couples do choose a church ceremony, however, and then host their receptions at Together & Co. venues (The Fives and High Line Car House).
Of course, full-service wedding venues like Jorgensen make the process a little easier. “Everything is in-house, and we’re a well-oiled machine. There’s a lot more reliability and trust,” says Schweikert. “Big-ticket items, like day-of-coordination, venue, food and floral are all taken care of.”
When booking individual vendors for the various aspects of a wedding, her primary advice is to make sure they’re trusted and aligned with the couple’s vision and needs.
Since Together & Co. venues include rentals, linens, food and beverage, and they have a “friends in the business list” for additional vendors, like DJs, a band, photographers, florists and decor. While they welcome new vendors into the space, Roberts says the list is particularly useful for quick weddings, since the Together & Co. team may have a good idea who will be available—or a good backup—for your given timeframe.
Roberts says a hidden perk of short-term engagements, especially among couples who are comfortable getting married on off-seasons or weekdays, is the potential for savings. She’s offering one future bride “a good discount because at this point, my chances are a lot slimmer that I’ll fill that Saturday in August. The venue may just sit there, and we may not get another inquiry.”
Roberts says most quick weddings have a guest list averaging around 50 people—a number echoed by Schweikert—but that it’s not a hard and fast rule. Chin and Connor, for example, are anticipating 150 to 175 guests at their wedding.
Of course, especially eager couples can do away with guests entirely, like Sara Stacy and Cameron Titus. The elementary school mental health counselor and bicycle mechanic got engaged in June 2024 but didn’t set a wedding date until November 2025—for April 8, 2026.
Instead of booking a venue, Stacy and Titus booked a flight to Las Vegas to get married at Valley of Fire State Park. Since Stacy works in a school, they had limited months to get married. “I knew that would be the best time of year to do it, and I didn’t want to wait until 2027,” she says.
Besides the flight, the couple booked a few more key vendors: their photographer, Katelyn Faye Photography; their officiant (who was recommended by Faye and also helped them book their permits and even picked up Stacy’s flowers); and a dress shop.
How to find a wedding dress on a tight schedule
Sheila Salemme is a Columbus-based designer and the owner of Delana Muse, a luxury wedding dress shop on South Third Street. She is also a friend of Stacy and Titus and helped get Stacy into a dress perfect for the occasion (and one that was easy to travel with). Their first fitting was at the end of January—only a few months out from the big date.
Since dresses can take a while to make and alter, she has two suggestions. One, shop sample sales. “You can just walk in, grab a dress and be out. The only downside to that would be that you’re at the mercy of what’s available. You may have maybe less options for sizing, or you might have to do more alterations to get it to your size,” says Salemme.
The second option is to work with a designer, which has the benefit of dealing “directly with the source, so the length [of time] is workable.” The downside, she says, is the potential for expedited fees. “It really just depends on the volume of orders at the time. You may not have to spend any more than you usually would, but you might.” She also adds that your design options likely will be limited to more classic and simple designs over gowns with lots of detailed beadwork, for example.
Realistic expectations, relaxed decision making, an open mind and trust in your vendors are all the ingredients you need to plan a great wedding in a short time frame. That, and a great partner, family and friends to share the day with.
This story is from the Fall 2026 issue of Columbus Weddings. Sign up for our newsletter here.
This article originally appeared on Columbus Monthly: How to Plan a Wedding in Under Six Months
Reporting by Lucy Clark, Columbus Monthly / Columbus Monthly
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Lucy Clark, Columbus Monthly | USA TODAY Network
