Let me begin by congratulating you both on your engagement! Today is an exciting day and I am incredibly happy for the two of you. In this blog post I am sharing your newly engaged next steps. It is wonderful to have you here and I cannot wait to dive into these insights!
One of you asked “Will you marry me?”, and the other said “Yes!”; how exciting! Now you might be wondering, “Are there wheels I need to put into motion right away?” Some yes, but not everything has to happen at once.
Take a deep breath – inhale slowly through the nose and exhale out your mouth. I am wanting only the best for you and your partner. So let’s dive into some advice for the newly engaged – hey that’s you!
Newly Engaged – Here’s what to expect next!
Take a moment together to enjoy what just happened!
Pause Button – All the inquiries and opinions about your upcoming nuptials can easily sweep you away into turbulence. I would like to encourage you to hit the pause button on all of that. Ironically, I am giving you my opinion while telling you to tune-out all opinions.
Play Button – You both just agreed to spend the rest of your lives together in marriage. That is AMAZING! Please allow some time to let this new level of intimacy sink in between you. Hold and kiss your partner, knowing there is no one else they want to share this feeling with.
Insure Your Engagement Ring
With your feet on solid ground after spending time on Cloud Nine, you should consider insuring your engagement ring. Engagement ring insurance is commonly offered at the time of purchase and might already be in effect. However, if there is not insurance on your ring at the time of reading this please look into it ASAP!
Host an Engagement Party
This is not a must-do by any means, but it is fun! Hosting an engagement party is a great way for local friends and family to share in the excitement. It can serve as an announcement of your desire to tie the knot! It is typically not an overly large gathering, but size and formality will vary from couple to couple.
Reserve a table at you and your partner’s favorite restaurant, or maybe hire a chef to cater at your home. Adding a touch of “this is our place” helps make this celebration more than just another dinner party.
“The Conversation”
There have been many conversations between you and your partner leading up to this moment. Most of those conversations were probably romantic and exhilarating, encouraging you both to fall more in love with each other. You have learned about your future forever partner and feel you know them inside and out.
However, there is a conversation (or a few conversations) that should happen before your wedding day. Topics may include what is most important to you when it comes to core values, finances, family, and more. Even if this isn’t new to you, it’s good timing to refresh each other on your wants and desires.
My blog post, 10 Important Talking Points Prior to “I Do”, has a topics list to help guide “the conversation”. It can kickstart any additional ideas you both need to discuss as well!
Photoshoot: Engagement & Couples Photos
You and your partner are closer than ever before and feeling giddy about tying the knot. Now is the perfect time to celebrate with professional photos to savor that newly engaged glow. Hire a photographer, like Anastasia Cherie Photography, to capture this special time.
Use these photos as “Save The Dates”, holiday cards, on your wedding website, or enjoyed around your home. It is also a great opportunity to try out a photographer you are considering for your wedding day. Think of it as a trial run to see if you and the photographer jive well together.
First Steps in Wedding Planning for the Newly Engaged
Wedding Planning Begins: Who & When
You’ve allowed yourselves to enjoy being newly engaged, and you’ve had “the conversation”. Now wedding day planning can begin. Hopefully this initial planning phase can be fun now that the heavy stuff is out of the way.
One of the talking points from “the conversation” discusses wedding day expectations, but on a broad scale. So you should already know approximately what your partner has in mind when it comes to your wedding day. Some of the large decisions might include: big or small, modern or traditional, indoor or outdoor, etc.
There are lots of ways to start planning for your wedding, but I like to begin with Who and When.
Who – This is a brief conversation about your guest list. Please do not feel you need to sort out all wedding invitees, and their “plus ones”, right now. Discuss the ballpark figures for attendee counts to see how intimate or grand you both want this day to be.
– Is it to be just you, your partner, an officiant, and a witness? (aka an Elopement)
– Do you want just immediate family in attendance? (aka an Intimate Ceremony & Reception)
– Do you want friends, or possibly extended family? (aka a Large Ceremony & Reception)
When – Is there a time of year during which you imagined getting married? Are you wanting a long engagement? Perhaps there are savings to acquire, or classes to attend as required by your faith, that will determine how soon you can be wed.
Consider Hiring A Wedding Planner: Four Reasons In Favor of Wedding Planners
I mention considering a wedding planner early on because a wedding planning professional can save you time, stress and money. We are in the “DIY Era” for a lot, but I wouldn’t recommend doing this one yourself.
Hire A Wedding Planner – Reason #1: Most venues require you to have at least a professional day-of coordinator. Bringing in “your very organized cousin who got married last year” will not fly at most locations. There are some venues that offer all-inclusive packages with some planning and coordination.
Hire A Wedding Planner – Reason #2: Wedding Planners are great mediators, and I don’t just mean between you and your vendors. They also know how to speak to you, your partner, parents, in-laws, and everyone else with an opinion around your wedding day. They can be your voice when needed.
Hire A Wedding Planner – Reason #3: Have you ever hosted an event, but then felt like you didn’t even get to enjoy the event because you were too busy making sure everyone else was having fun? Please avoid that feeling on your wedding day and hire at least a day-of coordinator. Enjoy your wedding day and let a professional take care of your guests and vendors.
Hire A Wedding Planner – Reason #4: Is wedding planning truly a skill you wish to master? Unless you are aiming to become an event planner yourself, learning how to plan a wedding is time spent on a skill you will only need to master once, then it is done. In the end, you will have a lot of knowledge, lessons learned the hard way, and a few more grey hairs for the little things you stressed about at night. Wouldn’t you rather enjoy time with your future spouse and let a professional worry about the details?
Hire A Wedding Planner: Full Service vs Day-Of Coordination
Wedding planners offer many different types of services. To the untrained eye, it might all appear to be the same thing, but there are big differences.
Full Service Planning & Design – If you are wanting your wedding day vision to become reality, hire a wedding planner for Full Service Planning & Design, like Stephanie @ Teague Events. Hire this service early in the wedding planning process to save time, stress and money from the start. With this service, your planner will usually design your event with you, source vendor options within your budget, review and organize your contracts, manage guest lists, coordinate a flawless event, and more!
Partial Planning or Event Management – If you mostly have your design and vendors organized, but want help the few months leading up to your wedding day, this one is for you. Buttoning up last minute details, confirming vendors and guest counts, finalizing timelines, and coordinating a flawless event are just some of the amazing perks of this service offered by most wedding planners.
Day-Of Coordination – If you just seeking someone to help day-of your wedding and need a professional to run the show, this one is for you. With this service, your wedding planner usually meets with you a couple times during the weeks leading up to your wedding day to discuss timelines, expectations and vendor contacts. At this level you should not be expecting them to accomplish tasks on your behalf before the day-of your wedding (hence the name day-of coordination).
If you need help before your wedding day, that is where Partial Planning or Event Management, or even Full Service, come into play. Please do not disrespect your wedding planner by asking them to do more than you are willing to pay for!
Save the Dates: An Easy Task, or is it?
I wish I could say sending out your “Save the Dates” is easy, quick and simply exciting. But there are more steps to be taken before these simple cards can be delivered to the post office.
Confirm Your Date – Of course you will need to confirm your wedding date prior to sending out your “Save the Dates”. It goes with the name after all! You do not need to confirm your venue at this time, although that does help with future planning should your perfect venue no longer be available on the date you told everyone to save.
Publish your Wedding Website – Even if you want to go the old school route with mailed invitations and RSVP cards, having a wedding website is really nice for your guest’s experience. A website can answer frequently asked questions about dress code, plus ones, children, and more. Many people include a link to their wedding registry, hotel room block and travel information, details on the wedding party, engagement story, etc. Even if your site is still under construction, you will want the website URL on the “Save the Date” before it’s printed.
Confirm Your “A” Guest List – If you are able to confirm your entire guest list at this stage, congratulations! But if you are like a lot of couples, your final guest list is far from finished. Narrow down your “A” Guest List – the people you want at your wedding no matter what – and be confident sending your reminders to this list. Order extra “Save the Dates” for when you get closer to finalizing your list, but send your reminders to your must-haves as soon as you can.
Send all “Save the Dates” – About 9 months prior to your big day, send out all remaining “Save the Dates”. If you are on a tight schedule, you might consider skipping this step and going straight for wedding invitations.
Design & Plan Your Perfect Wedding
Depending on if you heeded my advice on hiring a wedding planner, this step might already be in motion for you. But if you are wanting to know more about how to plan your wedding, we will get into all those exciting details in another blog post!
I have a few “Wedding Planning Checklists” coming soon to assist with this process!
Conclusion
I hope there is something you were able to take away from this post about being Newly Engaged and what to expect next. Remember to Pin this post for when you are ready for next steps.
I am looking for couples ready to share their wedding day story. Please nominate someone in the comment section below, or email me at jenni@anexcitingday.com, to be featured in my next REAL WEDDING post!
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What a fun and informative post. I wish I would have had this when I was engaged.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! Please feel free to forward it along to anyone you know that’s engaged or looking to get married soon. Appreciate you!