Photo Credit: The Ganeys
First off congratulations!!!!! We’re assuming if you’ve stumbled on this blog post then the chances are you recently got engaged or are looking forward to that happening soon!
There is so much that excitement surrounding your new engagement and sometimes it’s hard to know exactly what to do. Somewhere between saying “YES” and getting distracted by that shiny new thing on your hand you finally sit down and think….now what?
Well, that’s where we come in! We’ve compiled a handy little list to help you navigate those first few weeks of being newly engaged.
8 Wedding Planning Tips for the Newly Engaged
- Enjoy the moment! As much as you want to tell the world immediately, take a little time to just enjoy this moment with your fiance’. Over the course of the next year you will be bombarded with questions & so many decisions that it’s ok to not dive in too quickly.
- Announce your engagement personally to family & close friends. Before you post that beautiful ring to instagram, take a little time to call/text/or tell in-person your parents, grandparents, siblings, and any close friends. Being able to share that moment with them is something that you’ll both cherish for a long time. Once all the important relatives have been filled in, then it is appropriate to share the excitement with everyone on social media.
- Decide if hiring a wedding planner is right for you! While we could talk for a while on this 🙂 we understand that this is a big decision. When deciding on a wedding planner think through your vision for your wedding. The benefit of a wedding planner is to help make that vision come to life. We can help eliminate stress from the planning process and work to ensure beautiful execution of the design & service on the day. Planners also help you create & stick to a budget. This is a huge help up front as it will impact many of the next steps listed. And if you’re still on the fence of hiring a planner, schedule a meeting to at least see if they might be a good fit for you.
- Compile a loose guest list & general budget. Not a small task! First, once you have your guest count this will be crucial in determining your venue as well as other expenses. Talk with your parents & fiance’ about all of the various extended family members & friend groups who you will want to invite. And then before making any major decisions or down payments, be sure to talk to your families to determine any contributions that might play a factor in the overall budget as well.
- Check out potential venues. Depending on the desired length of your engagement you will want to see what venues have availability during the time frame that you are looking for.
- Set the date (at least tentatively). This is a big one. After you’ve seen the availability of your potential venues, it is wise to talk with your immediate family about your plans to ensure there are no other major events that could conflict with your date. Not that you have to accommodate everyone else but it will save you so much stress in the long run to take care of this early on.
- Set the tone/theme/priorities. Make a date of it and sit down with your fiance’ to discuss your top 3 priorities of your wedding. This will help to ensure that the two of you are on the same page and will guide you when making decisions along the way. Maybe you’ve decided that it’s most important that you have an elegant reception with only your closest friends & relatives. Or perhaps you want to include everyone and have a casual laid back event with a variety of entertainment options. Whatever type of vision you have for your big day, know what is most important to you and it will help make your decisions go that much more smoothly!
- Discuss family roles & involvement. After you’ve set the tone & discussed your priorities, it’s great to have a sit down with both sets of parents and discuss what roles people would like to have or what might be expected. From showers, to toasts, to the wedding itself there are a number of areas that people will want to help with or contribute to so it is great to have an open dialogue to navigate the sea of ideas that will be coming at you.
We could keep going but at this point we would just insert the rest of your wedding planning process. These first 8 steps give you a starting point and frame of reference to build off of.
Most importantly don’t forget to enjoy this process. Yes, there will be ups and downs along the way but this is such a joyful time! Enjoy this beautiful engagement season for you and your fiance’!
Here’s a handy checklist 
