You Just Got Engaged. Now what?!
You’re engaged! Congratulations. I know how exciting and overwhelming it can be to begin this new chapter and start planning your wedding. Taking the first few steps to plan your special day can be exciting but also stressful (especially with EVERYONE asking for details), which is why we wrote this post to help guide you through the process.
Here are some of the first steps I took in the weeks following our engagement.
Start a spreadsheet in Google docs and share it with your partner. You can create as many tabs as necessary and keep track of lists, budgets, venues, and vendors in one place. Keeping a spreadsheet ensures you and your partner are on the same page and can easily compare prices and date availability as well. This is an excellent tool to keep track of options and ultimately determine what would be best for you and your partner.
Start a guest list. We kept our guest lists separate at first in order to stay organized (We put ours in the same tab, but kept the lists in different columns.) We made 3 separate lists 1) the people who will definitely attend 2) the people who might show up but are not guaranteed to attend, and 3) people we will invite but don’t expect to show up. This way we could gauge how what size of venue we needed early on, before getting the exact number from RSVPs. I highly recommend doing this because it gave us the most accurate number of guests possible, which meant we could start calling vendors and making arrangements immediately.
Start a budget. If you don't know your budget yet that's okay! You can still make a helpful list of everything that will need to be paid for like vendors, the venue, etc. This list should include even the smallest details like your mani/pedi the week of the wedding or the cost of your partner's new pair of shoes for the ceremony.
Start a list of potential venues and vendors. Ask for quotes and estimate how much each venue or vendor will cost for your estimated guest number. You can compare these quotes with your partner in the spreadsheet you made.
Figure out an approximate date. Before officially announcing the date and venue, I would recommend placing a deposit on the venue and lining up all of the vendors you will be using, otherwise there may be some confusion if your original plan falls through. Make sure to have a couple back-ups in mind that have availability within the same month!
Tour venues and sample catering and other vendors. I started the venue search early on to ensure that we would be able to reserve our preferred date, vendors, and gauge our budget. It's worth considering whether you would prefer to find a venue that takes care of catering and drinks all in one package or coordinate all of that separately. There are pros and cons to both, namely cost, a possible lack of options in the wedding package offered by your venue, and the potential stress of coordinating everything on your own. You may be able to find some wedding showcase events in your city where you can meet vendors and see (or taste) examples of their work. This would be a super fun experience for you and your fiance to participate in and would give you the most possible vendors to meet and choose from!
Wedding dress shopping. You can start shopping for a wedding dress early on, but I know many women are hesitant to buy too early because they are concerned their dress size may fluctuate before the wedding. I get it. However, there's no harm in trying out a few different styles and figuring out what you like (and don't like). Especially if you’re plus size like me or from a small town, which means you may have less options at your disposal, you’ll want to start looking early on so you don’t feel like you’re rushed into buying something you’re not in love with.
Why not take a look through our website and browse our beautiful selection of silk flowers?
If you have any questions regarding wedding flowers contact us at info@budget-bride.com - we would be happy to assist you!
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