You just said yes to “Will you marry me”, but what happens after I say yes?
So you’re “hunny” popped the question, you said yes. What do you do immediately after? Not the wedding planning part, but the few weeks right after?
First of all… Congratulations! This is an exciting time, but along with everything new comes a LOT of questions.
I have a blog post lining out everything to do once you’re ready to start planning.
BUT FIRST… Let’s focus on the now!
1.) Call your family and close friends. In the day and age of social media, it’s easy to just post a photo and call it good. But your closest family and best friends may wish they were notified in person, you may just want to do that yourself. So notify those guys first before ANYTHING makes it onto the internet.
This includes changing your relationship status on FB… LOL
2.) Get a manicure. If there were ever a good excuse to get a manicure, this surely is one. Everyone will be looking at that hand. Get it all cleaned up, have your favorite color painted on and show it off!
Bonus points if your partner already had you get a manicure!!
3.) Take a ring selfie. You’ve told all your close family and friends, now it’s time to show that baby off on the socials. Get a photo of that ring and post it!! Now everyone else can know too!
Bonus points if your betrothed hired a photographer for the proposal!
4.) Ring insurance. Depending on the cost of the ring, you may want to look into insuring it.
If you’d like more detailed info on ring insurance, check out This Blog post that I found very helpful on Brides.com
5.) Host a dinner or invite people to meet you at your favorite restaurant or bar. Now that it’s announced, people close to you want to talk all about it. The easiest way to get it out of everyone’s system is to host a gathering of some kind.
6.) Start a discussion with your partner about when. Determine if you want to be married within the year or if you’d like to go for a long engagement. This will also be the number one question EVERYONE will ask you once they learn you are engaged. Try not to put too much stock into what everyone else has to say, but if you plan to take any opinions into account, now is a good time to get a feel for that as well.
If you have no idea of where to start on picking a date, try to narrow down a month or a season at least.
7.) Search for inspo! You’ve probably had an idea of what your wedding day would look like since you were a kiddo, but that shifts once you’ve found the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. This is the time that you and your partner have permission to look at all things wedding! Magazines, blogs such as One Fab Day, Budget Savvy Bride, or Rock and Roll Bride are some of my faves! Don’t forget that Pinterest is filled with a plethora of amazing options too. This will help you get a feel of what you like and want for your day. Knowing what style you’re looking for will help you find the right venue and vendors for your wedding day. This step can feel like playing and not moving forward, but its SO important. So play away!! You have my permission. LOL
8.)Setup a wedding only email address ASAP. This one isn’t on many other tip lists, but I think it is SO important. Before you reach out to any vendors, or set up a wedding website, you should really consider making your own email address. This will keep all things wedding in one easy place and when you are married, you just delete it and VOILA! No junk mail in your personal, student or work email account.
9.) Talk guest list. This is another detail that you will want ironed out before you determine budget and begin booking vendors. Going forward, you may want to include family in the decision as a courtesy if they are helping with costs. But for now, this is just solely for you two to discuss. So you know where the two of you stand before anyone else begins helping. I go into this in more detail on other posts. This doesn’t have to be the final headcount or even determining who is or isn’t allowed, just get a preliminary idea of what the two of you were thinking. If you’re thinking a guest list of 200, but your partner is thinking a head count of 50, it’s best if you get that ironed out before the full discussion takes place that may include other family members and friends. :)
10.) Enjoy it! You’ll only be engaged once and this is literally a celebration that you found each other. Enjoy it and remember that it's about the two of you!
