If your man proposes on Valentine’s Day, you will have just enough time for a respectable engagement and planning next year’s big spring wedding.

Looking at your wedding romantically and symbolically, you surely can see the perfection of a spring wedding. Spring naturally associates with fertility and growth. Your wedding symbolizes how your love has burst into full bloom, and how you feel more than ready to begin a family. Spring represents rebirth, fresh starts, and renewal, so that it seems the perfect time to launch life’s greatest adventure. Your wedding tells your family and closest friends you feel eager for your own life to begin. Spring suggests piquant, poignant romance, which you can weave into every detail of your wedding plans.

Looking at your wedding from the standpoint of practicality and life in the real world, you still ought to see the perfection of a spring wedding. Coming out of winter seclusion your family and close personal friends welcome the excuse for a big, happy get-together, and none of them is too busy to attend. Guests from out of town can take advantage of reduced airfares and accommodations, and they can enjoy the scenic attractions around town without battling huge summer crowds. Choose from all of Nature’s palette as you select your flowers, and choose from the freshest, hottest spring styles as you select your gown and the bridesmaids’ dresses. A spring wedding gives you all kinds of opportunities for maximizing the beauty and romance while you minimize the cost.

The advantages of a spring wedding:

You beat the June rush. June remains the most popular month for weddings, and the most popular florists, caterers, venues, and musicians book up to a year in advance of each June wedding. In April and May, they are not nearly so busy. Still no excuse to wait until the last minute, but a great chance to get your city’s greatest talents at pre-season rates.

Flowers are in season. Unromantic as it sounds, flowers are produce—bought and sold like lettuce and avocados. They cost less in season and field-grown than out of season and hot-house grown. Adorn your church and reception venue with all the biggest and brightest blooms at the very lowest prices of the year.

The timing is right for a sunset wedding. You know the romance of soft sunset and candlelight, and you easily can imagine them as the soft backdrop for your ceremony. During late April and early May, the sun sets between 5 and 6 p.m., the perfect time for your sacrament and a delicious dinner for your guests. Make the most of a great opportunity.

You can adorn your bridesmaids in pretty spring colors. Thoughtfully give the girls dresses they can wear more than once, outfitting them in spring’s high-fashion colors, but refusing to make them look like confections from the wedding cake. Always go with simple, classic lines that flatter the bridesmaids’ figures, choosing colors that coordinate with your flowers. If you do it right, guests will comment on how beautiful your flowers look in pictures of the wedding party.

Honeymoon destinations cruises go into their off-seasons. After spring break and before Memorial Day, the entire world goes on sale, and the weather is nice practically everywhere. Hotels, restaurants, and clubs remain uncrowded from Puerto Vallarta to Madrid, and everything goes on your new husband’s credit card at about half price. Go ahead and extend your stay a few extra days.

As you plan a spring wedding, however, show a healthy respect for all that can go wrong. In the upper Midwest, Memorial Day blizzards may drive your garden wedding indoors. In southern California, "June gloom" may obscure your ocean view. Develop back-up plans for all of Nature’s whims.