6 TIPS FOR THE NEWLY ENGAGED | WEDDING EDUCATION
Hey girl, I see you! It’s the Monday after your engagement and you’re probably getting bombarded at work with all the questions about the wedding. Did you set the date? What’s your venue? Did you pick out your dress yet?… Wow, slow down errybody, am I right?! After my own sister got engaged in August, people were coming out of the woodwork with questions and she was getting so overwhelmed. SO, I figured it would be helpful for you newly engaged gals to get some advice from me… if you chose to click on the blog, you’re coming for advice versus your co-worker hovering over your shoulder at work telling you 55 things that you should do for your wedding.
Let’s begin.
- Breathe. If you’re anything like me (I’m not engaged) BUT I do start “freaking out” before something big. There are a million things you’re thinking about like all of the above unanswered questions and more… but take a second to breathe. You got this girlfriend. This is an EXCITING TIME and your friends and family are SUPER excited for you and your boo but remember to breathe through it all because you have some time. Action Item: Pour yourself some bubbly – cheers!
- Top 3 items. This is the number one piece of advice I give to every bride. What are your top 3-can’t-live-without items? Venue? Photographer? Food? or maybe it’s music? or dress? What are your MUST have items? I’ve had brides reach out to me for MY free dates because they want to make sure that I’m the one capturing their big day. There’s no harm in asking your dream vendors for their availability! The top 3 is different to every bride out there – so make your list and start from there! Action Item: Make your “dream list” and start your research on those 3 first! (Contact me for suggestions of other vendors on your list!)
- Date. Setting the date revolves around a few things. Are you planning a 9-12 month engagement or longer? Are there any conflicts of dates you need to be aware of? Graduation weekends, etc. Is there a season that you’ve always imagined? (If its Spring 2018 like Prince Harry & Meghan Markle, you’ll be planning it quickly – which is totally doable but you’ll want to skip to #3 real quick!) Some people choose dates with purposeful numerical meaning. I’ve known friends to get married on the same date as their anniversary or a lucky number, etc. Others will choose the date based on what their venue has available… which leads up to…
- Venue. If you’re a solid date girl you’re basing your venue pick based on if they have your date. If you don’t “care” what the date is but you DO care what the venue is, you’ll want to make sure you get this item checked off super quick because some venues book up more than a year in advance! Another thing… don’t freak out if they don’t have anymore Saturday date, Friday and Sunday weddings are possible! Why not have a wedding weekend with your wedding on a Friday and brunch or post-wedding festivities the next day?! Action Item: Research some venues you want to check out and set up appointments to view them!
- Guest List. I’m not saying you need to have your stamps ready quite yet… but you should put together a super generalized guest list so you can make sure you’re venue shopping for a location that can accommodate your crowd! Are you searching for intimate 50-100 or cap 250+? Action Item: Write out your list of MUST HAVE people. Must have family and friends (include your bridal party in this list!).
- The B Word. Budget… sheesh, what did you think I was gonna say? Let’s be real, no one LOVES to talk about money… unless you just won the lottery or something. Budget really should have gone at the top of this list. It’s what you don’t want to talk about but you need to… because it really determines where you can start. Back to your “top 3” – those items are your “put your foot down” items. You may spend a little more on those items because they mean the most to you.
Remember… there is NO RIGHT WAY to plan a wedding. At the end of the day, you do you. Don’t let everyone’s opinions cloud your judgement on how you want your wedding to be. Know that your family and friends and random co-workers and people walking down the street are just excited because they see an engagement ring and want to “tell you everything…” but every couple and every wedding is different. Go back to #1… breathe, you got this.
Stick around for more advice/tips! If you’re feeling in over your head, not to worry, more helpful wedding posts are scattered throughout the blog! Click here for more or comment below with topics you’d like to hear about!
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