You should have them at least a month before your wedding date to prevent any undue stress. But, you should start looking and doing your research about 3-4 months before your wedding date. You probably don't need 3-4 months to figure out what you want, but usually, if you know what you want, you can wait until there is a holiday and occasion for jewelry stores to hae a sale. then you can save some money and buy them during the sale so you save some money. I guess the saying "The early bird, gets the worm" applies here.