So you’re engaged, now what? Well first off congratulations, we’re so freaking excited for you! You took the next step in your relationship and are one step closer to forever. Im sure family and friends have hit you with endless “congratulations” and event the dreaded “when’s the wedding?”. As exciting as planning a wedding can be, it can quickly become completely overwhelming. Your life wont stop for planning, you still have a job to do, a relationship to enjoy, and a social life. Trust me we know how quickly planning can go from a perfect inspo board to “where do we even begin?”.

To make it a little easier we want to help you our with some of the first questions to answer and tasks to take on.

Once your engaged …

Look Into A Wedding Planner

Starting this one off by saying we’re a little partial to hiring a planner/coordinator. There are so many option to levels of help you can get form hiring a professional. Sit down and talk about the type of help you’re looking for.

Do you want someone from the start or just for the day?

What parts of planning stress you out?

Do you know what a planner could potentially help you with?

Do your research, look into planners online and set up some consultations. Talk about your vision, what you’re stressed about and ask the planner a little about what they do. You can then decided if you would benefit from something full service or logistics based. Most planners will offer a free consultation, I know we do! This is the perfect first post engaged wedding planning task.

Set A Budget

The first thing to chat about, after enjoying that just engaged bliss, is budget. A wedding can quickly add up, the last thing you want it to have signed contracts and sent deposits and realized you have maxed yourself out. Setting a budget is trivial to a smooth planning process, it will help determine the venue you choose the number of guests you can invite, and the vendors you can hire. When working out a budget, here are a few things to ask yourselves.

Who is contributing, and what?

If family is contributing will you be giving them a say in planning? (I always advise against this, but make sure your clear with them before accepting)

Do you want to have the money in the bank, or will you be using a card and paying it off? (check out a travel card to build up the honeymoon points)

What is the max number you would be okay paying?

Is there wiggle room in your total cost?

Set Your Guest Count

Setting a guest count isn’t the obvious first step, but it will drive so much of the planning process. It helps to determine the venue you will pick, the catering cost, as well as your rental list and price. When you’re thinking of our guest count here are a few things to keep in mind.

Your budget.

Will you allow children?

What criteria gets someone a plus one?

Will you allow family to weight in on who’s invited?

After that each make a list of family, friends and others. Look at the total and determine if you need to make cuts or if you are in a good place.

The last task as a newly engaged couple before kicking off fun part of planning is ….

Picking your Venue and Date

Here is where all that pre work of defining your budget and agreeing on a guest count will come into play. You can use both to drive your search for the perfect space. Having a budget will determine what you can afford and help you decided how long you’ll need to wait to have saved what you want. Having a guest count will help you narrow down the venues you can look at. Each venue will have a max and a min guest count that you will have to keep in mind when looking.

Photos Love Jackie Photography