Could The Stars Decide Your Wedding Date?

You’ve checked the venue availability. You’ve argued about the guest list. You’ve colour-matched the napkins to the bridesmaid dresses. But have you checked what Jupiter is doing that weekend? For a growing number of couples, astrological wedding planning is the way forward.

Sceptics may raise an eyebrow, but the numbers suggest they’re in the minority. A major 2025 Pew Research study found that close to one in three Americans turns to astrology at least annually, and among women of marrying age, nearly half say they believe in it outright. 

The Rise Of Astrological Wedding Planning

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From Horoscope Columns To Wedding Charts

Jessica Adams is an astrologer and author known for her regular horoscope columns in The Australian Women’s Weekly, Vogue (Australia and Asia) and Cosmopolitan. She receives multiple astrology related questions through her website every week, many of them asking how the stars might help couples plan the perfect wedding day. ‘I hear from people who are looking for the right wedding date, quite regularly on my website, where I take several thousand questions every month,’ she says. ‘Of course it takes more than one day to make for wedded bliss (or not) but there are certainly better astrological days than others.’

A lot of people might be apprehensive about letting the stars have a say in such an important day, but there is more to this approach than sceptics might assume. Alex Trenoweth holds an MA in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology, and lectures around the world on astrology and education. Her thirty years of practice have convinced her that astrology can be far more serious than the sun-sign columns most people dismiss. ‘People are realising that astrology just isn’t about the sun sign columns that you read in the newspaper… I want to do something useful with astrology.’ Treneworth says. ‘We’re not just looking at some signs. Or the big three. We’re looking beyond that.’

What Is Electional Astrology?

The astrological buzzword of the moment is electional astrology. It works by identifying planetary alignments to choose the best possible moment for an important event. In simpler terms, it means that rather than picking a date based purely on venue availability or a fondness for summer Saturdays, you are choosing a moment when the planetary conditions are aligned to support exactly the kind of marriage you are hoping for. The tradition dates all the way back to ancient Mesopotamia when it was mainly used to find the best moment to go to war against your enemy, be elected or crowned ruler. 

Now this might seem confusing to those of us who haven’t spent years studying astrology, but Trenoweth is quick to translate the theory into something more tangible. She explains that the first step is knowing what you actually want. ‘Do you want an elegant wedding? Do you want a more playful wedding? Helping me to describe what your ideal wedding is gives me an idea of the elements in the astrology chart that will help support that idea.’ In other words, an astrologer tailors the chart to the couple’s vision, much like a wedding planner would tailor a mood board.

From there, the chart is built around what supports that vision. ‘If you want an elegant wedding, here’s a good rising sign, here’s where Venus is. If you want something more traditional, here is Saturn.’ For the uninitiated, Venus is the planet associated with love, beauty and harmony and is exactly the energy most couples are hoping to channel. Saturn, by contrast, governs structure, tradition and ceremony, making it particularly well suited to a more formal or classic occasion.

But it isn’t just about what you want in the chart, it’s also about what you want to avoid. ‘You can’t eliminate Mars. Mars is to do with fighting. You can’t eliminate it, but you can put it somewhere where it’s not going to be so prominent.’ Anyone who has watched two relatives settle an old score on a dance floor will understand the appeal of this particular consideration. Trenoweth says the goal is not a perfect chart but a well-managed one.

Adams echoes this and is particularly emphatic about one planetary event every couple should have on their radar. ‘The first thing is avoiding Mercury Retrograde,’ she says. ‘Nobody wants that – the paperwork is likely to be flawed, or something, or someone, can come unstuck later. Your priest may even leave the church.’ For those unfamiliar, Mercury Retrograde occurs several times a year when Mercury appears to move backwards in the sky. In astrological terms it is associated with miscommunication, delays and things unravelling – not exactly the energy you want around a marriage certificate.

On the flip side, there is one planetary influence Adams actively seeks out. ‘The preference is always a good Jupiter aspect – Jupiter rules expansion, solutions and growth.’ Think of Jupiter as the optimist of the solar system, where Mercury Retrograde is something to dodge. But it isn’t simply a case of finding Jupiter and booking the caterer. Where Jupiter sits in the zodiac at the time of the wedding matters too. Jupiter in Cancer favours homemaking and family life. In Libra, it supports true partnership. In Scorpio, it speaks to shared finances and property, so there are practical considerations that for many couples are just as important as romance.

A Wedding Planners Perspective

Astrology consultations are one thing, but how do you even begin that conversation with your wedding planner?

Siobhan Craven-Robins is a London based wedding planner who has worked on elegant weddings across London, the Cotswolds and Scotland. After encountering astrology a few times in her couples’ wedding choices, her view is that a wedding is all about the clients’ choice. ‘All clients will come to me with dates they’re hoping to get married on – whether astrology has dictated that or whether it’s just when they can get married, it doesn’t really matter to me.’

Craven-Robins has been planning weddings for 30 years, and in her experience superstition has never really left the venue. ‘Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue – I don’t think I’ve ever had a bride who doesn’t do that regardless of what they’re getting married in.’ The bouquet throw, the groom standing on the right to protect his bride, the silver sixpence slipped into the shoe. And then there are the traditions that are less frequent. ‘When I first started, we’d hire a chimney sweep to be there on the day – if you met the chimney sweep and they presented you with coal, that was good luck for the marriage.’ 

The point is that weddings have always been steeped in symbolism, whether couples consciously acknowledge it or not. Astrology in that context doesn’t feel like that much of a departure from a transitional wedding. Again, the wedding day is all about a couple, so Craven-Robins make an effort to honour that. She says, ‘If this is something that influences them, then I’d be working with them on that. Whether that’s a choice of date, time they want to get married, where they want to get married.’

For those who want to go further than simply choosing an auspicious date, Craven-Robins is full of ideas for weaving astrology more visibly into the day itself. ‘Maybe we do star signs on the table plan or the place cards,’ she says. ‘I’d look at integrating it and certainly, where possible, having some sort of mention and symbolism within the ceremony, if it was that important to the two of them. Rather than it just being a background thing, maybe making it part of their celebration.’

Dates To know

For those already convinced, timing is everything and according to Adams, one of the most exciting astrological windows of the decade is almost upon us. Jupiter is the planet of luck, expansion and growth and it moves into Leo on 30 June 2026, where it will remain until the 26 July 2027. ‘Leo rules courtship, romance, the bedroom, pregnancy, children, and adult children too,’ she says. For couples considering a wedding in the next year or so, it is in astrological terms about as good as it gets.

Wedding superstitions have never really required proof. Nobody asks for evidence that a sixpence in the shoe brings good fortune, or that the bouquet throw can predict the next bride. They endure because they offer a sense that the universe in whatever form you choose to find it, is rooting for you. It seems the stars are simply the latest place some couples are choosing to look.