15 Things To Do After Getting Engaged
Congratulations on being engaged! This truly is an exciting time for you and your partner! While we know you’ll want to spend the next few weeks being insanely in love with each other, your wedding will be right around the corner and can be stressful. There are so many things to plan, so many people to contact, so many details to figure out. Don’t worry! We’re here to help! Here’s a list of the first 15 things to do after getting engaged. While this is the order we generally recommend, you can modify this to your liking!
01 | Date Night
Congratulations! You just got engaged! Don’t stress yourself out by instantly diving into wedding planning. Being engaged is cause for a celebration, and you need to remember that spending time with each other and doing things you love together is still important. Whether thats going to a new spot for dinner, or a romantic walk on the beach, or cuddling at home together with your favourite movies, be sure to take the time to enjoy life together.
02 | Family and Friends Announcement
Tell your family and friends, but do it on your own timeline. Some couples may want to spread the word to everyone as soon as possible, while others may want to keep it a secret and only tell the people closest to them and keep it as intimate as possible. Tell your family first, then your extended family and closest friends. Finish it off with a “just engaged” post on social media!
03 | Get Your Ring Sized and Insured
If your ring fits perfectly, great! If it doesn’t, get it sized by the original jeweller. They should be able to do it for free. Once its sized, you’ll never have to take it off and you don’t have to worry about it! However, on the off-chance that your ring gets lost or stolen, you’ll want to make sure your ring is insured. The cost is relatively cheap, and will be way cheaper than having to buy a new ring. It’s definitely better to be safe than sorry!
04 | Set A Time To Plan
Setting consistent times to plan every week will help keep you accountable while still spreading out the work so you’re not overwhelmed with trying to plan everything at once. Split the work between the two of you so neither one of you get too stressed with all the work, and offset boring tasks with fun tasks every once in a while! Take a break from contracts and timeline planning, and have fun going dress shopping and looking at venues! To help keep you organized, be sure to make a checklist as well. This will let you see exactly what you’ve finished, and what else you have to do. Most importantly, you make sure you don’t forget anything before your wedding day!
05 | Choose Your Budget
No one likes talking about money, but weddings can be extremely expensive. It’s important to set realistic expectations on how much you plan to spend on different parts of the wedding, such as venue, wedding dress, vendors, and more. It will also help you make sure you’re not underspending on necessities, or overspending on optionals. Don’t start your married life in debt!
06 | Choose A Date
If your budget allows for it, choose a season of your choice. Spring (March to May) will be a little cooler, but have a higher chance of rain. Be sure to have a rain plan prepared in case the weather decides not to cooperate. Summer (June to August) will be a lot hotter, but the chance of having good weather increases significantly. Fall (September to November) temperatures will be ideal, but planning your wedding right when the fall colours start to change may be a little difficult. If you’re on a tight budget, winter (December to February) weddings will be cheaper as these are dates that are usually not sought after. Photos will still look great outdoors, but you’ll definitely be colder. If you decide to have a winter wedding, you’ll most likely need an indoor venue.
07 | Choose A Location
Without a venue booked, you won’t have a confirmed date. There are a lot of factors to think about: Which venue will work well with the season that you’ve chosen? Is it an indoor or outdoor location? How many people can it hold? Does it fit well with the vibe that you want? Be sure to schedule times and visit these venues in person. You won’t want to book a venue without walking into the space and imagining yourself walking down the aisle first. However, a different approach can be made to choosing a location. What if you don’t want a traditional wedding with a traditional venue? Many couples nowadays choose to elope, and this means that they get to spend less money on the venue, decorations, food, and guests. Instead, the focus is on keeping it intimate and choosing a beautiful fairytale location, whether thats on top of a mountain overlooking a lake or down by the beach in front of a gorgeous sunset.
08 | Book Your Photographer
I’m Kody! I’m a wedding photographer based out of Toronto, available worldwide. Congratulations on your engagement!
Now that you’ve met me, let’s talk about looking for your photographer. Photographers get booked up to about a year to two in advance, and you’ll want to meet with photographers early. This will give you time to browse portfolios and styles to make sure you find the best photographer for your wedding day. Your wedding day will be captured in the photos and videos that you’ll receive. This is an area where it’s not recommended to skimp on in your budget.
09 | Start Your Bridal Party List
Take some time to choose your bridal party carefully, as they play an important role in your wedding. Some couples may just choose to have a maid of honour and best man by their side, while some may choose to have upwards of 10 people in their party. More people does not necessarily mean better, and there are other considerations to take into account. Choose accordingly to your budget, your location, and most importantly, your heart.
10 | Make Inspiration Boards
Inspiration boards are a great way to hone in on a particular style of photos that you like. These are inspiration photos that will keep you excited for your wedding day. Better yet, share these with your photographer so they can help get a sense of what your favourite style of photos are! Our favourite places to make inspiration boards are Pinterest, followed by Instagram. Be sure to check out our Pinterest and Instagram photos and save your favourites for your wedding day!
11 | Dress Shopping
Wedding dress shopping can be stressful, and you’ll want some support to make this experience as stress free as possible. We recommend dress shopping about 8-10 months before your wedding. Be sure to take your favourite girl(s) along with you when you shop for a dress! For some, that may be with your whole bridal party, while for others, it may just be with your mom as you may want to save your dress reveal to your bridal party on your wedding day.
12 | Plan Your Engagement Session
Your engagement session is the perfect time to get couple photos done. Time will be more limited to do all your couple photos on your wedding day, and you won’t have to worry about the stress of the rest of the wedding during your engagement session. As well, the engagement session is a perfect time to see your photographer’s style in action, and will give you a general idea of how your wedding day will look like. You may already know where you want your engagement session to take place. If you’re not sure, be sure to ask your photographer. We do engagement sessions with almost all of our couples, so we have a vast understanding of what the best spot and time to have your engagement session, and what to wear at your engagement session! Let us know what vibe of engagement session you’re looking for, whether its down by the beach, in a forest, or the city. We’ll send you our favourite location spots and let you know what outfits would look best.
13 | Start Planning Your Wedding Timeline
The clarity and organization of your wedding timeline will dictate the smoothness and flow of your wedding day. For most couples, the thought of planning the whole timeline by yourselves is a rather daunting task. If you have questions or would like some assistance, be sure to ask your photographer. We’ve been to so many weddings that we’ve seen a varieties of weddings with different timelines. Better yet, be sure to check out our guide on planning the perfect wedding timeline!
14 | Build A Wedding Website
The best way to announce your wedding and send details out to your guests is through a wedding website. It helps clearly convey all important information about your wedding day that guests will want to know. It’s budget friendly (many websites can be made for free), and you can make changes to your wedding day without having to re-send new details to every guest attending. Best of all, a wedding website is easily accessible by everyone. Because of this, you can make guests RSVP for your wedding and check in on your website when they arrive so you can quickly glance and see how many guests you’re waiting on!
15 | Relax
The final step is to relax. We can’t stress enough that you shouldn’t consume your life with wedding planning. Remember to save time for yourselves. The journey to being married should be a celebration, not a chore. Don’t make it feel like one. Remember, we as wedding photographers always want to help, Be sure to ask us if you have any questions about planning your wedding. We hope your wedding journey goes as smoothly as possible!
Be sure to check out the rest of our wedding guides when planning your wedding!
