You’re Engaged… Now What?
Pop the champagne!! The ring is on your finger and you get to marry your person! Finding the love of your life and getting engaged is pretty incredible in itself! That’s what it’s all about right?!?
But now that the initial rush of emotions has settled, you’re probably thinking about what comes next? And you are probably getting anxious with family and friends asking you “when is the big day?” Which leads you to think, where do you start with this wedding planning process? Should you look for a venue first or book a planner to assist you in all the decision making that comes with planning a wedding. Truthfully, all of these questions may be running around in your head and making the idea of planning a wedding seem a bit overwhelming.
Well, this is our area of expertise! Keep reading as we guide you through what comes next after getting engaged, from setting a budget to finding the perfect venue and vendors. We also let you know of one of the biggest planning mistakes we see couples make. So grab a pen and paper, and let’s get started!
First, ENJOY This Time
Getting engaged is a momentous occasion that should be savored and enjoyed to the fullest. It’s an exciting time that marks the beginning of a new chapter in your life. So, after saying “yes,” it’s important to bask in the joy and excitement that comes with it.
Celebrate with those who are closest to you by planning an engagement party or dinner to share the news with your friends and family. But also, and most importantly in our opinion, remember to take some time to enjoy this milestone with your soon-to-be partner for life. Relax, unwind, and spend quality time together. This is a special time in your relationship that you will never get back, so make the most of it.
Find The Wedding Planner Right For YOU
This time in your lives should be fun and full of joy, not stressful and overwhelming. Before you book a venue or find a photographer, you should find the expert that is ready to guide you through the wedding planning process and the endless decisions that come with it. You don’t want to wake up 6-months from now and realize your photographer has never shot in a dimly-lit ballroom or you forgot to tell your band that you are having a gelato cart that you would like your guests to know about so an announcement needs to be made as guests are on the dance floor. You can breathe easy knowing your planner has already coordinated this and has anticipated exactly what needs to happen to make all the memorable moments you have planned go off seamlessly on the day of.
Planning is also time-consuming (it’s our full-time job, after all!), especially if you’re juggling other responsibilities and a full time job of your own. We spend an average of 500+ hour on any given wedding celebration. Not to mention if we are also planning the rehearsal dinner, welcome party, and goodbye brunch to accompany the big event. Do you have time for that in your already busy schedule for another full time job? As planners we will take care of all the task and details from finding your ideal creative partners, vendors, to keeping track of the budget and providing their knowledgeable recommendations on how to best use your budget for your specific wants/ needs, to managing the timeline, and everything in between. Leaving you to focus on the fun activities that come with being engaged like going dress shopping with your family and friends, participating in the yummy parts also known as cake tastings and food tastings, having your hair and makeup trials and taking those engagement photos that you can post on Instagram. Basically, really and truly getting excited for the big day. We provide our professional recommendations and you point, pick, and we do the rest on the back end. No back and forth emails with vendors and no endless googling what comes next or what you should be asking said vendors along the way.
And when the big day comes, you, your partner, and your family can relax and enjoy it without worrying about the details because we’ve already taken care of every last one.
Let’s Get Down To Business
At this point, you probably already have a Pinterest board put together from years of thinking about your wedding day. You’re itching to get to the PRETTY of wedding planning – the wedding colors, flowers and center pieces, the style of THE wedding dress. and the venue that will set the tone for your day. But before we get to the actual fun parts, and trust me we are as excited as you are to get to that phase of the wedding planning process, we need to get a couple of important items checked off our to-do list. After all, it won’t matter how beautiful your decor is if there’s not a licensed officiant to make it official, or a photographer to capture the vision we have put together for your day.
Two of the first tasks we recommend getting together with your partner to tackle are the guest list and the estimated budget. I know, I know, they may not be the most glamorous items in the wedding planning process, but everyone has a cap number that will make them fall off the chair. Even those that would consider themselves Ultra Luxury. It’s important not to spend too much on those initial creative partners, like the photographer, florist and entertainment, without understanding the full scope of the vision or your budget cap. For example, $200,000 goes a long way for 100 guests but not quite so far for 400 guests.
Even if you don’t have the correct address information just yet, you need to write down the names of everyone you will be inviting, if they are getting a plus one guest, if kids are invited, in order to get an idea on what that final number may be. It’s, also, important to know the estimated guest count to determine the venue that we need to assist you in searching for. There could be a big difference between a venue that can hold 150 people and 350 people. Most venues can accommodate up to 200. But maybe the venue you have dreamt of can only hold 125 guest, well these are all conversations that we need to mediate together.
The number one mistake we see couples make is diving head first into spending without a spending plan. They, then, end up blowing their budget on the first couple of vendors they book and have relatively nothing left for the vendors they really cared about like entertainment or florals. Digging into what your priorities will help set the tone for responsible spending. We like to be transparent with you through the process and ask you all the right questions to get to the bottom of what will truly make your special day that much more special for you, then provide you with a budget breakdown and, beyond that, provide options for each vendor we believe will, not only be the best fit for your budget, but will create and fit into the vision of your day.
Some couples find a venue they love, but without the budget breakdown we help them put together, they unknowingly spend 80% of their overall budget. So remember, finding your venue is only one small step on this journey. And if you use all your budget to get that check off the long to-do list, you will have not much else to work with for the rest of the wedding creatives without adding more funds to your initial budget. This is why you must have a solid grasp of your budget and guest list numbers before looking for a venue or booking those other vendors that you follow on Instagram and would love to work with.
Book The PERFECT Venue and Creative Partners
Now that the numbers are sorted, we can begin the process of finding the canvas that will host your vision, the venue. We help our couples with venue walkthroughs and on-site meetings to ensure that the venue we book is the perfect fit for their day. After all, this will set the mood for your guests upon their arrival on your day.
During this stage, we will also begin pulling the creative vendors we believe will help captivate the essence of your day and love story. This includes the photographer, videographer, entertainment, the hair and makeup artists, and more. Later on we will discuss the hospitality-related vendors, such as transportation and hotel room blocks.
Once we nail all of the vendors down, we begin the design phase YAY!! – the colors, the design, the florals, and the stationary, like save the dates, invitation suites, menus, seating chart, escort cards, and all the small details we don’t want you to forget.
The VISION Begins to Formulate
Finally, the phase of planning you’ve been waiting for begins! Since you said “Yes,” to your person, and maybe even before then, you have been thinking about how you want your wedding to look and feel. And now that most of the practical things are in place, we can start creating the vision for your day.
Having a full-service wedding planner in your corner will be of immense help. Not only can we take your abstract ideas and turn them into something beyond what you can imagine, but we can ensure your guest experience is unforgettable. From idea on a Pinterest board to reality, we assist in creating the one-of-a-kind experiences you have endlessly dreamt of.
We want you to enjoy your day as much as all of the guests that will be joining you to celebrate your new journey in life. It really does start with enjoying your engagement. Take this time to be in the moment. Book the planner that speaks to your heart and understands YOU. Like your wedding day, this time will only come around once, so bask in it! If you think we could be that planning partner for you, send us a message. We would love to connect and learn more about you and your ideas for your special day!
You can learn more about our planning process here!
PLEASE COMMENT BELOW