1. Spread the word. Tell your parents, first! If you can manage to take your eyes off your new ring to pick up a phone or hop in the car, your parents should be the first ones to hear the news. After telling your friends and making your new relationship status official on Facebook consider the tradition of publicly announcing the engagement. Before Facebook and Twitter there was this wonderful daily publication called a newspaper, delivered straight to your door with all of the news and advertisements you could possible want! Okay, so it may not be as technologically trendy as our modern day form of social networking and news, but people do still read the paper, and by publishing your engagement announcement in one you will have a nice memento to cherish for years to come.
2. Spending. Sit down with your parents and fiance, or whoever is contributing financially to the wedding and determine an estimated budget. If your budget is not being determined by a set amount of money that has previously been saved, and merely a guess of what you think your wedding will cost, understand that as you go along you may realize purchasing a wedding cake for 250 people for $100 may have been a bit unrealistic. Don't allow yourself to get too fixated on a price based on what your sister payed 5 years ago, or your cousin from Oklahoma paid.
3. People. Make a guest list. Your main guest list should be comprised of 3 separate lists: bride's parent's list, bride and groom's list, and the groom's parent's list. It might seem a little early in the planning process to be making a guest list, but could you imagine falling in love with and booking a venue that seats 100, only to realize your master guest list consists of a nonnegotiable 200 guests?
4. Vision. Start researching everything wedding related and compiling a list of images and things that really inspire you. Nothing is set in stone at this point, it's just good to start looking at your options and determine what you love and what you could do without on your big day. Determining a preferred wedding month or even date wouldn't be a bad idea at this point either.
5. Wedding Planner. If you really want things to flow smoothly from here on out hiring a professional planner/coordinator would be in your best interest. Sure, it's easy to breeze right through steps 1 through 4, but what about the remaining 1,256 steps (merely a guesstimate) up until your grand exit at your reception? By hiring a professional bridal consultant you are investing in their knowledge, expertise, and experience. You deserve to have a fun, stress-free engagement and wedding. We've had clients retain our services as a gift to their parents, so they wouldn't be the ones bogged down with setting up decor and dealing with instructing vendors on the day of the wedding. Not sure if you need a coordinator? At least consider having one solely for the day of the wedding so that you can enjoy your day to the fullest. Go ahead, be the guest of honor at your own wedding. You deserve it!
From all of us at As You Wish, congratulations on your engagement and happy planning!
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