Jody Watkins and Nicholas Brucculeri didn’t mean to have a two-year engagement before their September 2026 wedding in Jackson, Wyo. “It happened because of our schedules and our family,” said Ms. Watkins, 35, who lives in Los Angeles and is head of brand for a fine jewelry company. “It ended up being longer than anticipated.”
So on Sept. 10, 2025, when they reached the one-year-out date, they knew they had to mark the occasion.
The couple happened to be in Europe for two weddings at the time. They peeled off from friends to spend the day in Milan, where Mr. Brucculeri, 37, a founder of a company that makes custom merchandise and apparel, had studied abroad in college.
The two talked over espressos in the morning and spritzes in the afternoon. They went to the original Prada store where the groom-to-be bought his fiancée the shoes she plans to wear at her wedding. “I am wearing a lot of vintage and antique and borrowed and passed-down items, so this is one of the only new things I will have,” she said.
Ms. Watkins and Mr. Brucculeri found this day so meaningful that they have decided to celebrate it — the 10th of every month — until their wedding. “We have to relish this engaged time we have together,” Ms. Watkins said. “This period only happens once, hopefully. We are trying to not get so caught up about the typical things you can get caught up on, like how your flowers look, and come together as a couple and be intentional about our relationship.”
Some couples with long engagements are making an occasion out of the one year before their wedding day, calling it a negative-one or minus-one anniversary. Some are giving each other presents, ordering celebratory cakes or even visiting their wedding venues.
Others are hosting parties for family and friends on the milestone day, bringing their communities together. (Unlike an engagement party, the couple usually has fun details about the wedding to share by this stage.)
Morgan Yates, 30, a social media creator, and Jezzel Viray, 35, who works in technology sales, will marry in Mallorca, Spain.
Their wedding is taking place this July, almost two years after they got engaged. “We didn’t want the excitement to fade with such a long engagement,” Ms. Yates said. So they decided to have a party for 40 friends one year out.
The party was in the backyard of their Los Angeles home and was designed to introduce guests to their wedding destination. They served cava, sangria, Spanish tapas and traditional seafood paella. The couple booked two flamenco guitarists to entertain guests and gifted everyone with mini olive oils, tinned fish, spices and chocolate bars. They also set up a market stand with Spanish goods and travel-inspired party favors.
They tried to make sure guests didn’t see this as another wedding obligation. “I know it’s a common opinion that wedding events can be out of control these days in terms of being expensive to attend, needing to take P.T.O.,” Ms. Yates said. They asked guests not to bring gifts, provided Uber codes to get to and from the festivities and invited only local friends so that no one felt obligated to travel to attend.
Ms. Yates said the party helped ease some of her fears about her wedding, including being the center of attention. “This party ended up being a major turning point,” she said. “Now, when I think about our wedding day, instead of feeling anxious about attention, I feel immense gratitude.”
Lara Shepherd, 29, a lawyer, and Evan Annesley, also 29, who works as an asset manager, also hosted a gathering for immediate family and the bridal party one year before their wedding. The two married at a restaurant at Byron Bay, Australia, on Oct. 18.
“When there is such a long gap between getting engaged and the wedding, this one-year-out idea is nice to keep the momentum going,” Ms. Shepherd said. The prewedding party happened at her mother’s home in Sydney, Australia, the city where the couple live, and included roasted lamb, oysters and a spritz bar.
Ms. Sheperd said the best part of planning the event was having everyone get to know one another before the wedding. Her father had a late-night drinking and talking session with her best friend’s partner. “They needed help getting up the stairs,” she said, laughing. “They are very good friends now.”
Some wedding vendors have started receiving requests from couples wanting to celebrate their negative-one anniversary. (And there’s even one-year wedding countdown merchandise sold on Etsy.)
In March, Olivia LaBau, the owner of LaBakery in Hoboken, N.J., had a client reach out wanting to order a cake that said “One year till forever” for his fiancée.
Ms. LaBau posted a video of the cake on TikTok, and since then, she has had 10 additional orders for similar cakes. “I think it’s that people are so excited about their wedding they want to celebrate everything,” she said. “Social media plays into it, also. It’s something fun to post.”
As someone who recently planned a wedding herself (she married in 2024), Ms. LaBau understands why people want to mark this day. “You put so much time and effort and decisions into planning your wedding,” she said. “Why not celebrate the milestones?”
The post Before the Wedding, a Pre-Anniversary Celebration appeared first on New York Times.
