We’ve made it through Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years is only a couple days away. You know what that means? Engagement season is upon us and every social media timeline is flooding with engagement photos, proposal stories and congratulations all around! You’ve gotten engaged, so now what? This is such an exciting time in your life and you don’t want to be stressed out BUT you probably are. You’ve been waiting for him to propose for what seems like an eternity and now that he has, everything is coming full speed and headed straight for you! The engagement stage should be a time to celebrate this next step in your relationship, not a time to be fully consumed with planning and stress. To help ease some of that stress, try using these six planning steps that will help the first month or so of engagement planning run as smooth as possible. There is nothing worse than a stressed out, blissfully happy, newly engaged couple.
- Pick a date, or two: Picking a date gives you direction in the beginning. You may have a venue in mind that you’ve always wanted to be married in but they may be booked on your date. Wedding venues fill up fast! Which is why having a back up date is always a good idea if you have your heart set on a specific place. If you’re flexible you may find more success in booking a venue.
- Sit down with your fiancé and sort out a budget: You won’t know exactly what things cost immediately but come up with a number that you are comfortable spending. If the average cost of a wedding in your city is $55,000 but you can only spend $30,000, that’s your number. At the start of this new chapter in your life it is not the time to be keeping up with the Joneses
- Find a venue: Your venue will help you determine your guest list. If your dream venue can only hold 100 people but you have at least 200 that you want to invite, keep looking. This part takes a little bit of time because you have to make appointments to see each venue. Put together a list of 3 that you like and start there.
- Hire a wedding planner if you can: There is so much more to planning a wedding than fluffing your dress right before you walk down the aisle. Don’t put it all on a friend who “plans events”. That’s a lot to put on a friend and it can get messy when emotions are attached. Wedding planners are there to ensure that you make it TO the aisle! Figure out what the most important things are that you are looking for in a planner and while you’re interviewing, keep those in mind. Don’t hire someone based solely on their Instagram account or their pricing alone. Ask for references and talk to their previous clients. If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, try hiring an amateur.
- Make a guest list: Actually make a few! Your first consists of your family and friends who you would put into your lifeboat if you were on a sinking ship. You have limited space on this lifeboat so make those people count. Second, make a list of the people who you would add onto your boat if there were a few extra seats. These are cousins who you talk to at Christmas time and that’s it. You’d like to see them at your wedding but if they aren’t there, it’s better your mother is present! The final list consists of those coworkers who you see 40 hours a week and commiserate about work with but you wouldn’t pick up the phone to call them after 5:00pm. Remember that you have to feed each guest and that’s where a huge chunk of your budget will go. If you wouldn’t pay $100 for their meal, don’t invite them. Making a guest list should be taken seriously because the numbers add up and they add up quickly!
- Designate a wedding-free time-zone: As involved as your fiancé may be, he doesn’t want to talk about wedding details every day for the next year. No one wants to do that, not even you. There really isn’t a need to talk about your wedding every day during your engagement. Remember that you still have to take care of your relationship. If you have followed these steps you have already hired a planner and that’s what they are there for! Enjoy all the little moments that lead up to your big day and don’t get caught up in stuff that someone else can help you with.