Wondering What To Do After You Get Engaged?

Congratulations! If you’re reading this blog, then you’ve probably recently said ‘yes’ to someone special and have found yourself wondering what to do after you get engaged.

Getting engaged is a super exciting time in your life so we hope you took a moment to let it all sink in. Things may feel very surreal right now, but you may have already started a list in your head about everything to get done. Don’t be overwhelmed. Yes, this is the first step to the rest of your new life, but with this list to get you started, you can breathe a little easier knowing you’re on the right track and can easily answer all those questions that will be coming your way.

Here are 10 steps for what to do after you get engaged that will help you enjoy the moment and get organized

Tell your family/friends/loved ones

Unless you live far away, it’s always best to tell family, friends, and loved ones personally about your engagement. People may have already known this was going to happen so they could be waiting to hear the happy news, and the last place they want to hear it from is on social media with everyone else. Take some time and tell them in-person and be prepared for lots of hugs and excitement.

Enjoy the moment

After you’ve told people, lots of questions may be coming in. It’s easy to get overwhelmed quickly and lose sight of the excitement. Take some time after the surreal moment has passed as a couple to do something non-wedding related to just be excited. Trust us, there will be lots of time to focus on wedding-related stuff in the future.

Decide on a budget

Your budget is a really good place to start when thinking about making wedding decisions going forward. You may want an extravagant wedding but you might also not want to break the bank. Knowing what you have available to spend overall and on separate items will help you make decisions quicker and easier.

Pick a date

This is usually the first question you get when people find out you’re engaged. What time of year are you both hoping to get married? Spring? Summer? Fall, or will it be a winter wedding? Narrow down the time of year and then start choosing more specific dates from there. It’s good to think ahead about family conflicts or holidays when choosing, to ensure guests can make it.

Research venues

The most desirable dates and venues get booked well in advance, so don’t finalize your date without checking with a venue. Research several venues to see what works best for you both and then choose, based on your budget, what they offer, and their available dates. On average, an engagement is usually a year and a half, so think ahead when booking your dream venue.

Think big picture

It’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the choices but one piece of advice to help with this is to pick the most important items to focus on. When you both picture your dream wedding day, what stands out to you as something that would make the day super special, outside of having family and friends there? Is it a beautiful dress? Good food? Great music? Both you and your partner should make a short list of 2 or 3 things and then focus on making those things special. The rest of the list is still important to complete, but it will help keep your focus on what’s most important to plan so it feels like your special day.

Choose your wedding party

During this exciting time, a lot of people might offer to help and some might wonder if they will play a larger part in your big day. Discuss if you’re going to have a wedding party and if so, who will be in it before making any promises. Whoever they are, they are there to help make your day special and hopefully take some stress off you two leading up to the big day.

Find inspiration

As you start choosing vendors and items for your wedding, something to keep in mind is a theme for your wedding. A theme can cover everything from the feel of the wedding (more modern or classic) and colors to feature throughout. We’ve featured many weddings of our past clients on our blog, and perhaps some of them can provide you with inspiration, such as this gorgeous wine, amber and copper elopement, this winter blooms wedding, or this mid-century modern wedding.

Download this free printable wedding planning binder

Sometimes, it’s just easier to have everything laid out in front of you so you can check things off as you go. Our free wedding planning binder will help keep you sane as you navigate all the to-dos during planning. It comes in 3 different colours – and did I mention it’s free?

Celebrate!

Lastly, take time to celebrate with a small gathering (or even a big party if that’s what you prefer). You may want to plan it or leave that to your family and friends, but don’t get hung up on too many details. Remember why you’re getting married in the first place and celebrate that with those you love.

However you go about your wedding planning, we hope these steps for what to do after you get engaged will help you on your way to your special day. There will be lots of opinions and making this kind of commitment is scary, but amazing and so worth it in the end. Enjoy this time and every step of the way.