Just gotten engaged? Congratulations! Now the journey of preparing for your wedding day begins. Below is a list of 10 things to do just after your engagement, to get you started off on the right foot!
1. Celebrate
- First, take a moment to celebrate your love and each other! Engagement is a big milestone, so take a while to enjoy the feeling of being engaged before you get busy with wedding preparations.
2. Announce
- If you get engaged privately, with nobody else around, you will need to let people know that you are on a journey with your partner that will culminate in walking down the aisle! Let your family and friends know that you are ‘taken’!
3. Get the wedding timeline in place
- Next on the list of 10 things to do just after your engagement is setting the wedding timeline. This timeline should include all the traditional ceremonies, and factor in the time needed to make the wedding outfits. You may need to consult your extended families at the point where you need to finalize the dates.
4. Budget
- Sit down and decide how much you want to spend, what you want to spend it on, and where you will get the money. You can ask a few of your friends who are already married to share the approximate costs of the wedding necessities so that you can get a good idea of how much money you will need.
5. Create a vision for your wedding
- What better place to get inspiration for your wedding than other weddings, and wedding magazines! Start attending all those weddings you would previously have turned down, and get ideas on styles, themes, and colors. Wedding magazines and wedding blogs will also give you great ideas.
6. Start on the wedding dress
- First, get to know what design suits you best, and then get the sizing right. Let the tailor start working on the dress as soon as possible so that you are not disappointed at the last minute. If you also have traditional ceremonies to attend where you will need a traditional dress, get started on that too.
7. Choose the bridal party
- By now, you must have a rough idea of who you would like beside you as you get married! Come up with a list, and decide who you want to have as part of the bridal party, then contact them early so that they have time to either decline or clear their schedules in advance.
8. Wedding Venue
- Great wedding venues are usually booked way in advance. Shop around and select the wedding venue that will suit you and your guest perfectly, then visit the place when there is another wedding taking place. If you like what you see, pay a deposit!
9. Wedding Vendors
- Next on your list of top 10 things to do just after your engagement is the identification of wedding vendors. These vendors include the cake person, the décor person, the tents and chairs person, etc. Start shopping around early, get reviews, and visit functions where these vendors are the service providers so that you can see if their service delivery matches their promises.
10. Premarital Counselling
- Premarital counseling is a great way to prepare yourselves for marriage, especially if you have it done at a place where you will be forced to tackle the tough issues that lie ahead. Once you find a good place where you can have this counseling done, go ahead and do it before you get all tied up planning your wedding.
After you go through and implement the top 10 things to do just after your engagement, take some time off and relax, enjoying each other’s company! You need it!