We Just Got Engaged!! Now, What?!

Don’t Rush! Enjoy This Moment!

Before you and your fiance jump right into wedding planning, stop and take some time to bask in your newly engaged status! In other words, this is a huge milestone in both of your lives, so it’s important to take the time to celebrate your engagement! And we’re not necessarily talking about hosting a formal engagement party; although, those are great too! 

We simply mean taking a little time as a couple to revel in – and share – your new relationship status before getting all wrapped up in the busy process of wedding planning. But, why, you might ask!? Well, because it’s a huge life event and should be properly acknowledged. Whether that means a quiet date night in with your fiancé, a casual backyard BBQ with both of your families, or maybe even a full-on catered cocktail style engagement party! Marriage is for life, there’s no need to rush!

Pick a Date (or Date Range, or Season)

Unfortunately, even if you have your heart set on a certain date, you may not know your actual wedding date for a while! Because the truth is that the day you say “I do!” depends on many factors, one of the biggest being the actual availability of your top 3 potential wedding venues. So, go in with a plan, but also be flexible!

That being said, settling on a general date range or season will allow you to get some of your planning process started. For example: “Spring 2024” or “Next fall” will give your plans a little structure, and make it seem much more real! It will also feel good to have an answer when all your friends and family members start asking, “Sooooo, when’s the big day?!” Because, trust us, they’re going to ask!!

Set Your Priorities and Budget

Setting your budget and deciding on the ‘wedding day must-haves’ should be the first items you discuss when planning your wedding! It’s crucially important that you and your fiancé start this planning journey on the same page when it comes to priorities and budget! Now is a good time to consider your overall financial situation, as well as savings, possible family contributions to the big day, as well as your current debt load (including student loans). 

Then, prioritize having “the money talk” to come up with a ballpark budget range. Once you come to a ballpark figure, you can start brainstorming and getting in touch with vendors for pricing information. This will also help to hone your priorities, as in, “We definitely need to have a photo booth at our reception!” or “We’re not interested in having a traditional wedding cake at our reception.”

Get Organized!

As you start the planning process, you’re going to end up with a ton of ideas, checklists, vendor and venue recommendations, wedding photo inspiration, wedding magazines, bridal show tickets, contracts, etc. So, it would be prudent to figure out an organizational system ahead of time, so that you can keep track of all that information right at your fingertips! That way you’ll have it on hand when you meet with potential wedding vendors or your wedding planner. The organizational system can be a Google Document full of links, Evernote, a dedicated Pinterest board, a calendar app, a good old fashioned wedding binder or maybe you’d like to use a combination of several systems. The most important thing is that it works for you and your fiance! We promise that getting yourself organized early on in the planning process will help to minimize pre-wedding stress, so you can hit the ground running with all of those important wedding decisions!

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