Congratulations on your recent engagement!! This is such an exciting time for you and your fiancé. As a newly engaged fiancé, you might be wondering, “I just got engaged – now what?” Before you start to stress, I’m here to help! Planning a wedding is a timely process, but that doesn’t mean you should start planning your wedding the moment you say “Yes!” While there are recommendations for when you should book a venue/vendor, etc., every couple’s timeline is different. There’s a lot that goes into actually planning a wedding, and things can be a little confusing when starting the planning process. Luckily for you, I have made it easy!

If you’re engaged and wondering what comes next, you’re in the right place. I have provided a break down of exactly what you should do following the proposal. Continue on to read our top tips to help kick off your wedding planning experience.

Announce the Big News!

The first step after you get engaged is to share the wonderful news with all of your friends and family. Go celebrate this moment and take as much time (or as little) as you want! Some couples love to share the news right away, and others like to keep the engagement somewhat of a secret by enjoying that time with their new fiancé before going public with the news. To avoid hurt feelings, I recommend contacting your inner circle first. You’re closest friends and family will appreciate the opportunity to congratulate you directly as opposed to seeing the news on your Facebook or Instagram feed. Once all of your VIPs are in the loop, it’s time to announce the big news with a “just engaged” social media post, with an awesome caption of course.

Enjoy Your Engagement

Once you’ve shared the news of your engagement with your friends and family, and on your social media accounts, take a moment to just enjoy this moment with your fiancé. You don’t have to jump into wedding planning right after getting engaged. In fact, I encourage newly engaged couples to take some time to relax before the chaos of wedding planning begins. Host an engagement party with your friends and family, or take and engagement-moon to enjoy some one-on-one time with your fiancé. As a reminder, it’s not all about the wedding day. Yes, you are dreaming of the most perfect wedding day with your special person, but don’t get too wrapped up in the “production” of a wedding day that you lose sight of what is actually important – your marriage.

If you’re planning a short engagement or you’re working within a strict wedding timeline, you might not want to delay the process too long, because everything will fall on your shoulders at one time causing you to feel very overwhelmed. Do what feels right to you and your fiancé, not what you think you should do according to those around you. This is your moment, your wedding, your day!

Organization is Key

When you’re ready to start the planning process, the first step is to organize your wedding information. I recommend creating a wedding website through The Knot. This website allows for you to put everything in one place for you and your wedding guests. You’re able to include your love story, wedding party, engagement photos, vendors, wedding registry, honeymoon fund, RSVPs etc. It’s an incredible resource for housing all of your wedding information – and it’s free!

Once you have this starting point in place, you’ll be prepared to select your wedding date and venue, as well as your team of vendors. If you like to write notes or have a visual for keeping track of information, I recommend getting a wedding binder to keep important documents, copies of contracts and receipts, etc. You can have an easy planning process by staying organized from the very beginning.

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Start a Checklist

Start a list of tasks as well as vendors you are needing to help guide the planning process. Create a checklist that prioritizes your to-dos on a month-by-month basis. Don’t stress yourself out in the beginning by setting unrealistic deadlines. Use your checklist as a tool to help guide you through your tasks. I recommend booking your biggest vendors first, such as your venue, wedding planner, photographer, videographer, caterer, and DJ. The reason I suggest booking these vendors as soon as you can is because, often times, these vendors book out 6-8 months in advance, so booking these vendors first and foremost is key to helping the rest of the planning process go smoothly.

Set Aside Time to Plan

If you have a wedding planner, this process will be a little bit easier as they are helping you to nail down and finalize wedding details. If you are not coordinating with a wedding planner, I recommend setting aside some time with your fiancé to discuss the details of your wedding. Don’t let wedding planning replace your date night, as it’s still important for the two of you to enjoy time together that’s not focused on the wedding. By setting aside time to focus on wedding planning itself, you’ll accomplish more together. Alongside organization, communication is key!

Once you’ve taken care of these starting points, you’ll be more prepared to dive right into the nitty gritty of planning your wedding. Don’t forget to create your wedding website and registry!

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