Congratulations on your engagement! Your journey to the aisle is a truly exciting one, but sometimes, it’s hard to know where to start.
You’re engaged! Congratulations! This will (hopefully) be one of the most incredible times of your life as you and your fiancé start to plan the rest of your lives together. And, your dream wedding! Putting together a big day that represents perfectly your love for each other should be just as special as it is fun!
But, most couples will tell you, it can also be pretty overwhelming. Not knowing where to begin or how to get started is a common feeling, especially these days with an abundance of information available at our fingertips.
In order to help newly engaged couples, we’ve put together a list of the top things you should start doing and thinking about straight after the question has been popped. So start scrolling, note-taking, and venturing towards your wedding planning journey.
You Are Engaged! Now What?
Take a moment to just be happy together.
Our lives these days are so hyper-connected, that it may feel second-nature to Instagram live your proposal as soon as you see that ring appear. It’s amazing news, and nobody can blame you for wanting to share. But remember, that feeling you have after your partner says, “Will you? And you say “Yes”? That moment is one you can never reproduce. So enjoy it, soak it in and embrace that ‘just got engaged’ feeling for as long as you can, just the two of you.
Don’t feel pressured to start calling people or making any hasty decisions right away. Instead, pop a bottle of something fizzy, and have a blissful moment together. Before all the madness begins!
Tell Your Nearest & Dearest
Way before you start browsing #ImEngaged for ring selfie inspo, you should be informing your nearest and dearest of your big news. Some may already know, but for those who don’t, tell them personally before the whole world and their mothers knows your business.
Call up your parents, siblings, close family members, and those friends who are practically family and give them the good news yourself. Or if possible, pop round to their house, and make them feel as special as you know they are.
Share it on the Socials
If you’re a social media user, and you want to share the news with your wider network of friends/family/admirers – please don’t do it with chipped nails. It may seem stupid at the time, but you won’t want to be looking back at this picture years down the line, and think, why didn’t I just get a manicure!
However, ‘I’m engaged’ shots on Instagram do look best when they’re as natural as possible. So try to capture the moment together on the same day, while you’re still buzzing.
Get your Engagement Ring Sized and Insured
If your partner managed to get an engagement ring made that fits perfectly, they’re either very talented, or very lucky! Because normally an engagement ring needs to be re-sized in order for it to fit perfectly. Visit a jewellery expert like Custom & Co as soon as possible, and get them to make the necessary adjustments.
Be sure to pair this little job, with actually getting that rock insured. Because all the time you’re walking around with a ring that’s too big for your dainty little digits, you’re risking it falling off, and losing forever.
Throw a Little Engagement Party
The next 12+ months are going to be full of planning, and countless decisions will need to be made. So, before any of that starts, go a little crazy and celebrate with your loved ones. Nothing fancy, just a few drinks, and some probably drunken toasts in the comfort of your home, or the local.
Pick your Wedding Party
If you’re thinking of throwing an engagement party, and want something a little more fancy than a few pints and a BBQ. Then it may be time to pick your wedding party, so they can get to work on all things planning and prep.
If you and your partner have been nearly engaged for a while, you probably have a pretty good idea of who you want in your wedding party, so that should make the selections less difficult.
Think About the Wedding Date
The date of your wedding will affect every other aspect of your planning, and so it needs careful consideration. The best wedding venues, and suppliers get booked up pretty quickly at popular times, so be sure to keep this in mind when selecting a w-day.
Furthermore, unless you’re eloping, you’ll want your loved ones to be at your wedding, so consider their timetable too. Talk to both families, and your close friends, and float the provisional date/s you’re considering. That way, hopefully, you won’t get any disappointment when you start receiving RSVP’s.
Get inspired!
Please don’t make any solid wedding plans until you’re good and ready, but it’s a great idea to start gathering inspiration and visiting wedding shows early. With your partner, start to identify themes that you both like, and collate them online, or make a physical mood board!
This isn’t yet the time to start narrowing things down, so anything that catches your eye should be archived. As the time to start buying and booking things gets closer, you’ll have a much clearer idea of your wedding vision, the more you see and explore the industry and the inspiration available to you. This is the fun part, so have fun!
Get Engaged Inspiration at our Open Day this January
If you are newly engaged, on Sunday, the 23rd of January, we will have a wonderful variety of talented wedding suppliers on hand to guide your big day ideas, and bring your wedding inspiration to life – at our Open Day. Every element of your wedding day will be covered. From flowers and stationery, to transport and entertainment, through to stylists and photographers. Plus, it’s free!