Holy Cr*p. I’m Engaged! 5 Tips For Newly Engaged Couples
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Perhaps the idea of getting married is something you’ve been talking about for a while already. Or perhaps it’s come as a rather wonderful surprise. Either way, it’s time to celebrate! You’re getting married!
As you start to tell people about your engagement, you might find that you’re also bombarded with questions about your wedding day, how many babies you plan to have, and all of that shiz. In fact, sometimes it can get quite overwhelming when you’re on cloud 9 of newly-engagedness and you’re getting grilled by every relative and co-worker about the whole affair.
So what should you do now that you’re engaged? Perhaps start here:
I’m Engaged. Now what?
1. Decide How Long You Want Your Engagement To Be
Just because you’ve got engaged, doesn’t mean you need to start planning a wedding yesterday. It sounds cliché, and maybe it is, but take the time to just enjoy being engaged. If you’ve been talking about weddings for a while then you might already have an idea of what sort of wedding you’d like and when you want to get married. But if this is all completely new then there’s no reason why you can’t opt for a long engagement and take your time to decide what you want. When you know what sort of a time frame you’re looking at, it’s much easier to plan ahead.
2. Don’t Make Any Snap Decisions (or Purchases!)
Want to know one of the easiest ways that I managed to throw away money when I was engaged? I purchased things spontaneously that I saw online or in a shop, thinking they would be perfect for my wedding. Except at that time, I really didn’t have a clear idea of what I wanted, and I ended up trying to flog half of it on eBay again to try and make some money back.
3. Find Out Who Is Paying & Decide On Your Budget
Most of the couples I work with are paying for their own weddings, sometimes with a little help from their family members. Especially if you’re thinking about a non-traditional wedding or eloping, paying for the wedding yourselves means there’s less pressure to people-please. It means instead you can focus more on planning the wedding that you want.
4. Think About What Vibe You Want Your Wedding To Have
The term “wedding theme” can bring about so many bad images to mind (think 27 Dresses with Katherine Heigl) so I’ve replaced it with the term “wedding vibe”. But at the end of the day, whatever you decide to call it, before you book anything or buy anything, you’re going to need to sit down and think about what vibe or feel you want your wedding to have.
5. Be True To You & Learn To Ignore Others
When you’re planning a wedding, you’ll soon find out that EVERYONE has an opinion. And they’ll share it with you whether you’ve asked for it or not. When it’s office co-workers it’s easier to brush off, smile, and say thank you. But when you’re super excited about an idea for your wedding and you tell one of your friends, only to be told it’s too kitsch/cliche/alternative/*insert adjective here*, then it can actually be quite upsetting. When you’re so excited, it’s normal to want to tell your closest friends all about it, but remember that you will get their opinions. And you’ll need to decide whether you listen to them or carry on doing things the way you want.
