You’re newly engaged, congratulations! While you’re basking in the effervescent light of being engaged, I know you’re probably wondering, what do we do now? Here are my top 10 tips on what to do right after you get engaged.
Take a moment to yourselves
Being newly engaged is such an exciting time in your lives so my first tip is to take a moment to enjoy and savour this precious and intimate moment and have some time to yourselves before sharing your news, especially since you’ll soon be bombarded by all of the wedding questions!
Get a manicure
You will be showing your ring off to a lot of people over the next few weeks so having your nails done will make your ring sparkle even more!
Tell your loved ones and celebrate
Whether it’s a dinner with your family or a weekend getaway with friends, make sure to savour this special moment. It is so much nicer sharing your engagement news in person rather than over text! Once you share the news with your nearest and dearest, then share a post on social media.
Insure the ring
This is such an important element after getting newly engaged that is often overlooked. Your ring could be the most valuable possession you own so it’s important to have the piece evaluated and then insured if it’s lost, stolen or damaged. You can go through a jewellery insurer or add it to your home and contents insurance.
Plan an engagement party
Before jumping into wedding planning, an engagement party is a lovely way to celebrate your news with all of your closest loved ones! One question that is always brought up is – is the engagement party guest list expected to be invited to the wedding later on? Every couple can make up their own mind with this but one way to get around this expectation is to make a thank you speech at your engagement party thanking guests for coming and saying you are planning on having an intimate wedding so it has been lovely to celebrate tonight with everyone. This will help relieve expectations later on when it comes to the wedding guest list.
Photography: Jacqueline James Photography
Prepare yourselves for the questions
As soon as you announce you’re engaged, you will be bombarded with questions: How did the proposal happen? When’s the date? What venues are you looking at? Have you looked at dresses? Am I in the wedding party? It’s good to prepare yourselves for all of these questions and having a response in mind can help ensure you’re not overwhelmed too. Something like: “We’re enjoying newly engaged life right now and will start wedding planning when the time feels right”, should quieten down the excited onlookers.
Set a wedding budget
Budget is the first stage of wedding planning so it’s important to think about this before anything else. The budget will set the tone for all decisions to come, including guest count and therefore which venues you will look at. Sit down with your partner and discuss what are your priorities and what you can realistically afford, all of which will help you as you make decisions along the way.
Book a venue and set the date
After the budget and guest count have been sorted, the next thing to do is to book a venue and set a date! Is there a particular date that is special to the two of you? For example, New Year’s Eve or a certain sentimental Saturday in Spring? If this is the case, start there with venues and see what is available. If you are not fussy about dates, research venues and find the one that ticks all of the boxes. Find out what availability they have; with only a limited amount of “warm weather weekends” in the GTA and surrounding areas, many venues easily book out 12-24 months in advance especially in spring, summer, and the start of autumn, so booking your venue early on is highly recommended.
Considering the season and month you will celebrate is important too. Do you want an indoor or outdoor ceremony? A reception under the stars or inside a venue? Do you want a cocktail or sit-down reception? Cityscape/urban or garden/winery? Do you want Winter moody blooms, Spring romantic florals, Autumn foliage, or Summer brights? So many beautiful decisions, be sure to lead with your heart.
Be sure to check out my curated list of the best modern romantic wedding venues in Toronto.
Hire an experienced wedding planner
In all of my photographs, you will notice a common thread. My couples are captured in these honest, real, heartfelt candid moments. This is only truly possible when my couples get to be fully present. If you can afford it, hiring an experienced wedding planner can be one of the best decisions you make. There are so many elements that need to be thoughtfully planned out, adhere to your budget, to coordinate with on the day and to make your dream vision come to life. An experienced planner will know how to execute this flawlessly, but more importantly – be able to confidently handle it when things don’t go to plan. Not only will this take stress away from you and your partner in the planning process but most importantly, you’ll get to be fully present and effortlessly relaxed on your wedding day because you’ve delegated all of the hard parts of planning a wedding day to the professionals.
Official Jacqueline James couples get exclusive access to a curated list of the industry’s best wedding vendors in Toronto.
Remember the heart of the day is what matters
Wedding planning is exciting and all-consuming so keep in mind that your relationship and your marriage is what matters above all else. The wedding is only one day (or weekend or week depending how long you decide to celebrate for!) of your lives whereas your marriage will be all of the beautiful chapters that come after.
The heart of the day, the memories with family and friends from near and far, the emotions, the love shared, and all of the beauty in the delicate, perfectly imperfect moments in between – savour these moments and feel them fully, and I’ll be there to capture it all for you forevermore.
Jacqueline x
More Newly Engaged Posts:
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