Congratulations – you’re engaged! Once you’ve celebrated with your new fiancé and shared the exciting news with your family and friends, it is time to start diving into the world of planning your wedding! If you are recently engaged, these are the first things you need to do to get the process started.
You’ll suddenly be wearing a very valuable piece of jewelry on a daily basis. You’ll want to make sure it is properly insured in case it is damaged, lost, or stolen, so look into the insurance options that make sense for you to make sure this investment is protected. You are also going to want to flaunt it off, so be sure it is sized to perfectly fit you!
Start Registering for Gifts
It might seem a bit early, but once family and friends hear about the news, they may want to send a gift your way to celebrate your engagement! You don’t need to fully flush out your registry at this point. Consider picking one store to start with, and selecting a few items for your initial gift registry. You can continue to build up the registry as you get closer to your wedding date.
Set Your Budget
You need to kick off your planning process with this crucial step. No decisions should be made about your wedding until you know how much you are able to spend! Talk to your fiancé about your spending priorities for the celebration. Maybe the food is the most important aspect to you and requires a bigger allotment of money, or maybe you want to spend big on your favorite musical entertainment. Once you’ve talked through your expectations, then you can bring the parents or anyone financially contributing to the wedding into the conversation.
Make Big-Picture Wedding Decisions
Maybe you’ve dreamt of your wedding since you were a little kid – or maybe this is the first time you’ve even given it any thought! Either way, this is the time for you to start working with your partner to put together ideas of what your wedding will look like. You should start thinking of big-picture aspects, like whether you want a huge celebration or an intimate gathering, what time of year you want to get married, what city you’ll be married in, and the type of venue where you’d like to get married. These initial ideas will get the ball rolling for research and meeting with potential vendors.
Get Organized
There are a lot of factors that come into play when planning a wedding, and the process can get overwhelming for couples and family members. Create an organization system at the start of the process so that you can stay on top of things and keep your stress levels down. Head over to this article for some great tips on staying organized during the process.
Create Your First Draft Guest List
The number of people on your guest list will play a major role in the venue you secure – and it will also majorly impact your budget. Draft an initial list, and then try to narrow it down if it gets too large. Keep in mind that you’ll likely need to draft this guest list with your parents and your fiancé’s parents as well, so work together to create this first draft.
Look at Potential Venues
Once you have your budget and the guest list sorted out, you can start looking into potential wedding ceremony and reception venues. Your venue choice will influence a lot of factors of your wedding, such as your wedding date and the overall style of the wedding (such as formal versus more casual). Dig deep in your research, and have fun checking out different options.
Gather Inspiration for Your Wedding Style
This is the time when you can start dreaming up ideas for your wedding! Head to Pinterest or check out magazines to start gathering color scheme and decor inspiration, and think back on past weddings you’ve attended – what details did they have that you really loved? You and your partner have the power to be the ultimate stylist for your wedding, so start finding inspiration to make your celebration truly your own!
Head to a Georgia Bridal Show Near You
If you are starting to plan your wedding, the Georgia Bridal Show is a great resource. You’ll be able to meet with wedding vendors of all talents from Georgia and the Southeast who will be able to work with you to bring your wedding vision to life!
Georgia wedding vendors, as well as other wedding professionals across the Southeast, can contact us about opportunities for exhibition and online marketing with Georgia Bridal Show.