Luxury Weddings: When to Book Catering and Contract Terms - as part of the Wedding series by GeoBeats. It is really important to know what you are signing on the contract. Your comfortable time period is 8 months to a year out for a couple to confirm and sign the contract. It gives us plenty of planning time without any kind of panic. I think it is important that when you read that contract, you get to really look at what it means as far as minimum number of guests, about overtime, extension of services and things like that. It is really important that you take the time when you have the time and that is about a year in advance or 8 months at the minimum; so that you can really make some good decisions before all the pre-wedding nerves get involved and then you cannot make clear decisions.