welcome to my journal

If you’re a newly engaged couple then firstly a huge congratulations! It’s such an incredibly special time. Enjoy being in your bubble with your heads in the clouds and occasionally looking at each other and smiling in a way you haven’t in a while.

If you’re looking for a little bit of guidance of what you should do next, we’ve made a list of things of what you should do after getting engaged. Taking slow steps means you’ll make great progress on the wedding planning but mainly you’ll enjoy the process and won’t find anything too overwhelming.

First things first, announce your engagement! It’s natural to call immediate family first and share the news, wherever you are give them a face time – they’ll want to see the ring! Hop on any friendship groups and share the news with them too. You might even want to share the news on socials straight away, get a lovely picture with the ring and you as a couple; you’ll want to remember your outfits and the way you both looked at that moment.

Secondly, get your nails done! If there was ever an excuse to, now is your time.

Next up, you might need to get your ring adjusted. You want your ring to fit snug however remember hands change size depending on the heat so make sure you bear that in mind. Nearly all jewellers will have a facility to resize rings so just pop into one and ask at the counter. It also might be worth taking your ring to the same jewellers the ring was purchased from as some offer this service for free. Unfortunately, this means you’ll be without your ring for about 2 weeks but this is all worth it in the long run!

Next, it’s time to celebrate your engagement! Whether you decide to have a party, go out for a meal, drinks or simply have people round – this is your moment. People love an engagement story!

This one is a little dull, but so important – get your ring insured. Most home insurances allow you to extend your policy to cover jewellery but double check this with your provider. If not, you can get independent insurance from certain companies for a small fee each month.

This next step is also really important, take a step back! Allow the last few weeks to fully soak in and enjoy the process. Spend some quality time together, go our for dinner or long walks and let yourselves live in the bubble.

Once you’ve both had some time to relax, the next thing you can do is start talking about when you both would like to get married. There’s lots to take into consideration; the season, when would be affordable, what bloom you would like for your flowers, etc.

Now, the real fun starts – inspiration time. Get on Pinterest and start creating boards of colour schemes, wedding dresses, bridesmaid hair styles, cake designs, etc. You might end up most nights looking at the clock and wonder where the time went!

Next step, ask your bridesmaids. You may get tears, you’ll definitely get hugs, either way there’s no better question than being asked to be a bridesmaid other than being asked to be a bride.

Next is set a budget. Before anything, you need to decide how much you would both like to spend on the wedding, make it realistic but affordable in the time scale you’d like to get married.

Once you’ve chosen your budget, get yourselves booked onto local wedding fairs and opening days at possible venues. These are all free and it’s a great way to get in the know of lots of different suppliers you’ll need for the big day. You’ll very likely come out of these feeling very full as suppliers have lots of samples for you to taste!

It’s time to book your venue! Once this is done, everything starts to feel very real. You will need to pay a deposit to secure your booking, venues usually need the rest of the payment around 8 weeks before your wedding day.

Lastly, book your photographer! Another supplier which gets booked up years in advance is your photographer so make sure you do this early on. They should have their own socials and website so spend some time checking our their style and make sure this is the aethetics you would like for your big day.

We would love to hear about your engagement story! Please share it with us below.