First off, CONGRATULATIONS, you’re ENGAGED!!!!! Did you know that nearly 6 million people every year get engaged on Valentine’s Day, according to Huffington Post?
Six million people?!
That’s a huge number!!! So many couples are looking down at their gorgeous engagement ring right now, daydreaming of white dresses, flowers, and saying I Do to the loves of their lives!
But as you are sitting there, you may also have a million things running through your head of what should you be doing now!! You are probably wondering, ” Now that I’m engaged, what do I do?” Believe me, the stresses of wedding planning will eventually hit, so I decided to share some tips with you on what you should do now that you are engaged! As a wedding photographer and a bride myself, these are tips that I either learned myself, or I know other brides to be wished that they knew!
I’m Engaged! Now What?!
Share the news!
By now, you have probably already posted a gorgeous ring selfie on Instagram and Facebook, hashtagging things like #shesaidyes #ido #imgettingmarried, and so much more! But, make sure you pick up the phone! Talk to your family, parents, best friends about how it happened! As you are telling everyone this, take a moment to write it down. Journal this moment, remember all of the details, so one day, you can relive this story with your children and grandchildren!
Get your ring sized!
You have this gorgeous stunner on your ring finger! Please make sure it fits! I have heard such horror stories in the wedding industry of people losing their rings down the drain, at the park, at the gym, because their ring didn’t fit!! Don’t let this happen to you! If you can’t get it down immediately, order these Ring Snuggies in the meantime! A quick fix that will keep that gorgeous ring in place!
Get your ring insured!
Speaking of the unthinkable, get your ring insured! My husband has mine insured through our bank, under our personal property insurance. A few dollars can save you so much headache. You can also get warranties and such through your jewelry!
Start thinking about your dates!
So, remember at the beginning that I mentioned 6 million people got engaged on ONE day? They are all in need of wedding vendors, wedding photographers, etc. Most engagements take place between Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day. Take a moment with your fiance’, and start talking about the whens. That way, you can start looking at vendors and not get behind the curve! There is a thing as engagement season, so right now, every wedding vendor, including photographers, is getting inundated with requests!
Set a budget!
As you are discussing those dates with your fiance, set a budget! Wedding planning is stressful! Anyone that tells you it’s not, is lying to you! Remember, that this is BOTH of your day, not just the bride! I can’t tell you how many times I got in trouble with my husband because I kept saying MY wedding and not OUR wedding! Learn from me! Again, this is just a rough draft to get things on paper!
Start Looking at Possible Wedding Venues and Locations
After you have a few dates down that you would like your wedding to happen on, now you want to start thinking about possible wedding venues and wedding locations. Typically, your wedding venue will be the first thing that you will book, following your photographer! You can’t get married until you have your venue secured for a date! Although, don’t think that you can’t elope somewhere like Hawaii or Cabo and just get married on the beach! Always a possibility, and of course, I travel too!
Gather Wedding Inspiration!
Now is the time that you go and open Pinterest and create yourself a whole wedding board (if you don’t already have one! I had one before I even got engaged! LOL!) This is a great place to see what you and your fiance like! Are you pulled to a certain trend or color scheme? See ideas for outfits? Put it all there so you have it all organized in one place!
Choose Your Wedding Party!
The people who will be by your side throughout this whole process. Dress shopping, parties, someone you can call and cry when planning gets stressful. The people who will fix your dress/suit before you walk down the aisle. Your people. That’s who should be part of your wedding party! I always say to take your time to consider who will be up there with you. Because let’s be honest, weddings are stressful and adding certain people into a stressful situation is like adding gasoline to a fire! And that is not what you want! I’ve seen my share of issues come up on wedding days involving wedding parties, so choose wisely!
Get a Rough Draft of your Guest List
Knowing your Guest Size will help you with your budget and also what venue to choose! Of course, we are currently living in times of a Pandemic, so you also want to check your state and local rules on guest size, especially if you are having a wedding indoors. Your venues should be able to offer you all of that information!
Enjoy the moment!
Enjoy this moment! You may want to spend months just being engaged, without even thinking of anything related to a wedding, and guess what, that’s ok! Just be ready for people to constantly ask you, “When’s the wedding?” Take a night out with your fiance, and enjoy this moment! It’s such a special moment in your life! Remember that this is YOUR time, and make sure you do things according to what YOU want, not what others want!
I hope these tips helped you out a little bit!
One of the final steps that you will take will be to plan out your engagement session, and YES, I do HIGHLY suggest you get your engagement photos taken! I talk all about it here on this blog! Want to schedule a chat with me so we can discuss all your engagement details! Shoot me a message and let’s chat!
Congratulations on your engagement!
Check out Illiana and Marcus’s beautiful engagement session here!
See more of my engagement sessions on the blog:
Kyra and Robert Oahu Engagement Session
Samantha and Rodrigo Torrey Pines Engagement Session
What to Wear for your Engagement Photos
