First off…congratulations! This is such an exciting step in your relationship. We also know that it can also be kind of scary. The engagement is the easy part before the months of planning for a single day. But don’t worry, there’s lots of help out there and hopefully you have some great family or friends that want to help you out. What to do after getting engaged first though? We have a few ideas.
Take a Minute
Seriously, you’re going to need it. You don’t even need to announce your engagement right away! Take a few days, take a week. Enjoy the moment with your SO and immediately family because as soon as you announce the engagement, the questions will start rolling in. “When’s the date?” “Who are your bridesmaids?” “Can I have a plus one?”
Have a Budget Discussion
This is hard but very necessary in order to continue on your planning without any future hurt feelings from family or your SO. You need to know what your budget is approximately, this will help greatly in deciding basically everything. With a proper estimated budget, you can go to a venue, see their pricing and how many guests can fit with your budget. This is also important because most likely, you’ll have to speak with a venue over the phone at least or in person in order to find out an estimated cost (here’s why we do this). If you have a budget of $5,000 for the reception and at one place you can have about 150 guests while at another you could do 75…you need to decide whether the guest list is more important or if you prefer the other more expensive venue. This will also affect a potential wedding date as well. For example, a Saturday, June wedding date is going to be more expensive than a Friday March wedding date because of demand. It’s easier to approach the family and discuss this without it feeling completely personal.
Talk Guest List
On the same note as the previous discussion, it’s really important to discuss the rules for the guest list. Some families want anyone and everyone there. That’s awesome! We know brides and grooms that only want to invite guests that they’ve actually met. Some base the guest list off of just the number that they’re venue can hold or that they want to pay for. It’s really important to talk about all these options prior to actually putting out the invitations so you don’t get in a bind.
Lean on Family & Friends
You do not have to do this on your own! It can be really overwhelming planning a wedding. Talk with your SO and keep them involved in the process. Ask if one of your good friends is willing to help (most likely one of your bridesmaids) with research or coming over and helping organize with you. Family can be a great help too, if you want to delegate some items and even just bounce ideas off of them. The point is, try to make it not such an isolating experience. There are even wedding boards on The Knot, WeddingWire and Facebook to chat with other people planning their wedding. Even wedding planners have a team to make it happen!
So there you go, our list of what to do after getting engaged. We’ve seen a lot of couples come through and a lot of different planning styles. Everyone will have their own and that’s okay. We just want to make sure that you get some kind of joy out of planning such a special day. So congratulations and we hope that the journey is just as fun as the destination!