I get that you want to seem organized and a bit on top of things, so here is my Top 10 list of what to do now that you're engaged!
- Call your family and friends! What an exciting task, this is one I am personally most excited to do! That is, if you don't hear my rabid screams of joy from wherever I get engaged. What? Sue me, I'll be ecstatic. Please remember to CALL people or better yet, stop by to show them the ring! But for the love of God, do not email, tweet or post on Facebook, "I'm engaged y'all!" until you've told all of the most important people in your life. What a slap in the face that would be to find out with a bunch of random Facebook "friends" that you're best friend is engaged! Be respectful that A LOT of people are going to be excited for you and will want to hear it first hand.
- Pick a date. As previously mentioned people will be up your ass (for lack of a better phrase) about when you're going to get married. Seriously, people see the rock and the first thing out of their mouth is "when's the big day!?". Just wait, you think that's bad? When you are married, it'll be, "when are you going to have kids?" People lets all just relax and enjoy the process I say!
- Sit down and choose your bridal party. This really shouldn't be too hard, you probably have a pretty good idea of who you'd like to stand up with you on your big day. The tough part comes if you think you're going to offend people, just remember to be thoughtful and considerate of people's feelings. Explain yourself, if you feel like you should and that's all you can do.
- Make a budget. This is a seriously viable step, you're not getting anything else done until you sit down and really decide how much you're willing to spend on this one day. Key word- one day. I always try to remind people that as much as you would like doves to be circling over head when you say "I do" its only one day, think of all of the other fabulous things you could buy with some of the money saved...like a car. Weddings can still be beautiful on a tight budget, I promise.
- Start narrowing down venues. You're going to want to book this bad boy pretty far in advance. Venue dates get booked insanely early, especially if its a hot spot to get marred, like a golf course for instance. Now that you know approximately when you want to get married and what you want to spend, start researching and making phone calls too see their availability. It would be heartbreaking to go on a venue tour just to find out they have zero availability for 3 years! So do the research first!
- This one is gold to me- make GIANT To Do list. Oh mercy, I love lists, nothing is more satisfying then crossing something off THE list. You're going to want to add things like get the dress (as if you'd forget), decide on a menu, bar options....and the list goes on and on. So write it out, you'll feel better after, I promise.
- Start thinking about what you want your wedding to feel like. By this I mean, is it going to be a giant party? An elegant sit down dinner? A quickie at City Hall? Its easy to say you think you know what you want your wedding to feel like, but until you have a sit down discussion with your fiance you won't know for sure. Call it a meeting of the minds. A lot of grooms don't care at all, they literally just want to show up, but its a lot of money you're spending together! So urge him to at least have this conversation, a great way to get the ball rolling is talking about what you've both liked about other weddings you've been too, maybe its a short ceremony or a chocolate fountain (that sounds amazing right about now, imagine having a chocolate fountain at work?! that you could access all day?! that was completely calorie free?! OK I went to far with the calorie comment, but the rest was totally believable, right?) You can also discuss what you want guests to say when they leave you're wedding. That's the feeling you're going to want to portray. So get those thinking caps on!
- Once you've decided all of the fabulous things above, its time to start thinking about the smaller things, flowers, food, invitations. I know it sounds crazy to be thinking about this stuff now, but a not so well known fact in the wedding world, the earlier you order things, the better deal you get. Certainly makes sense when thinking about it from a logical stand point, but its a hard thing to grasp when you're wedding may be a year away!
- This one is for the bride....start thinking about the dress. If you're like me you already know what its going to look like, yes I was one of those little girls, the ones who thought being a bride could be an actual occupation, as you can tell I chose the closest thing to that I could find. The dress can be a particularly stressful part of the planning process, especially if you think you know what you want but can't find it anywhere! You want to leave yourself tons of time to get this done, plus don't forget about alterations, accessory shopping and figuring out a hair style. None of these things should be left until the last minute. I think I'm getting an ulcer just imagining myself in that sort of last minute rushing situation!
- Another fun task! Start thinking Honeymoon options! This is another part of your wedding you can score a great deal on the further you book in advance usually! Then you can add possible Honeymoon activities to your registry! Stuff like scuba diving, whale watching, zip lining! All sorts of fun things!
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