Congratulations, you just got engaged! Champagne all around, show off your lovely new bling, happy days. Now what? There’s a lot that goes into wedding planning, and after you’ve spent a bit of time basking in your newly engaged status, it’s good to get stuck in with some plans.
Pick a date
The first thing you should think about after you get engaged is your wedding date. Even if you can’t pick an exact date right this second or you’d prefer to see what’s available, then try to narrow it down to the year, the season and maybe the month. From there you can start thinking about other things. You’ll also have something to tell people when they inevitably ask “So when’s the big day?”
Get your ring sized and insured
You’ve got the ring, and maybe your husband-to-be was even clever enough to figure out your ring size. But if not, you should get that done as soon as possible so you can start wearing it with pride, and without fear of it getting lost. Speaking of getting lost, now would also be a good time to get your ring insured. We can’t stress enough how important engagement ring insurance is.
Plan an engagement party
If you’re having a party to celebrate your new engaged status, this is obviously the first thing you have to plan before you start thinking about your wedding plans. Figure out when you want it and book your venue as soon as possible. It’s totally up to you how soon after your engagement you have your party, but we recommend having it as soon as possible, so that the celebration is still fresh. It will also leave the rest of the time to plan the wedding without trying to essentially keep track of two events for very long.
Have an engagement shoot
Have you thought about having an engagement shoot? It may sound corny but engagement shoots are a great way to celebrate your engagement together and have some fun. You’ll also be left with some gorgeous photos and you might even use them on your Save the Dates. It’s worth bearing this in mind when you book it, as you may want to incorporate the date into the actual photograph.
Sign up to My Wedding
Your perfect online wedding bank to get yourself organised, you should sign up to our My Wedding section as soon as you get engaged to start looking for inspirations. Here, you can also fill in your interactive budget, make your checklist and create your own personal wedding website to keep your guests up to date on the details. Use the inspiration boards to create your dream wedding from our extensive gallery of gorgeous images.
Set your budget
Before you start planning anything else, you should have an idea about how far your budget will stretch. Even a ballpark figure is better than no idea at all so make sure you have this in your head before you get carried away looking at things that are well out of your price range. If you’re having a low-cost wedding, this can influence a lot of the early decisions, from your guest list size to where the wedding will be.
Decide whether or not to get a planner
The decision to get a wedding planner is completely up to you depending on your individual needs. A wedding planner will take care an awful lot of the hassle and stress but they can often come at a hefty price, which you might want to keep in your budget for something else. There are pros and cons to a wedding planner but it’s best to decide whether or not you want one as soon as possible so that they can get working on things from the get go. If you decide to go it alone, then start off with our guide to getting organised.
Start looking into venues
Your wedding venue is one of the most important things to book. You need to find one you like, that you’re willing to travel to, that accommodates your needs, that’s within your price range, and available on your date. It’s also the backbone of your entire wedding so you need to make sure you’re happy with your decision. Venues get booked up for weddings very far in advance, thankfully because most offer a ‘one wedding per day’ policy, which at least means you won’t be sharing your day with strangers, but it also means you need to make sure you get to your dream venue first. Once you're engaged, it's time to start thinking about where you want to tie the knot.
Image credits: Balloons: A Handcrafted Wedding | Paint: Lucy West Images | Ring: Lisa Dawn Photography | Save the date with dog: Anika London