The moment you get engaged you open a new chapter of your life – one that’s incredibly exciting but also very busy and stressful, as you need to plan your wedding and, to some extent, your future lives together. You might be dying to post a photo of your engagement ring on Facebook or Instagram to announce your engagement to everyone in the world, but don’t rush – there are a few things you need to do first.
Take time to celebrate your engagement alone
No matter how excited you might be to share the good news with friends and family, your engagement is most importantly about you two. So before you tell everyone and before things get crazy with engagement party planning, take a moment to celebrate this incredible new chapter of your life together with your fiance. You can go to your favorite bar for champagne or simply stay at home and enjoy the moment.
Announce that you’re engaged
No matter how you choose to tell people that you’re engaged, make sure that your family and your closest friends find out about the engagement from you personally. Try to meet with them in person or at least call, and once both of you have let your loved ones know the news, you can post the ring picture on social media to tell the rest of the world.
Have an engagement party
Engagement parties are tons of fun, so why not hold back the news about your engagement and throw a surprise engagement announcement party under the guise of a dinner party or a holiday celebration? If you’ve already told your friends and family about the engagement, don’t worry, you can still have a party, although in this case it would often be hosted by a family member or a friend.
Get insurance for your engagement ring
An engagement ring can often cost several thousand dollars, so it’s very important to get it insured right away. You will first need to get the ring appraised and then talk to an insurance agent to get a separate policy on it or add the ring to your existing home insurance. Make sure that you read the proposed terms carefully and that you understand exactly what will happen if the ring is lost, stolen, damaged, etc.
Decide on a wedding budget
It is absolutely necessary to understand what your budget situation is before you start making any wedding plans. Think about how much money you can afford to spend on the wedding, whether your families will contribute and what you and your fiance want your wedding to be like. Make sure that you have a clear understanding of your plans before you talk to your parents about the wedding expenses.
Create a wedding guest list
Once you know how much money you can spend on the wedding, start making a guest list. If you’re having trouble deciding whether a person needs to be invited or not, think about whether you would invite them to your home for dinner. If you wouldn’t – they shouldn’t be invited to the wedding.
Pick a wedding date
Picking the date of your wedding is one of the first concrete steps you can take towards marriage, so try to decide on the date as soon as you can. Once the date is set, announce it to the people you’re planning to invite so they can be sure to set the date aside for you. This is especially important if you want to get married on a holiday or in summer.