Congratulations! Your significant other has officially popped the question and now you have the engagement ring that you’ve always dreamed of. Before you know it, you’ll be ready to start planning out every single detail for your big day and the actual wedding day will be here in no time. That is, after you’ve had time to share the exciting news with all of your friends and family.
For anyone that’s checked out our blog before, you likely know that a common theme here revolves around providing tips for a seamless wedding planning experience. Simply put, planning a wedding can be a little more complicated than you might think. From selecting your dream team of vendors to taking care of all of the minor details, you would be surprised how long the to-do list can be. The best way to manage all of this (while limiting any added stress) is to have a checklist ahead of time with the dates in which the various tasks should be completed.
On this week’s blog, we’ll be taking a look at everything you should knock out shortly after becoming engaged. After all, did you know that we’re currently right in the middle of engagement season? From now up until Valentine’s Day, you’ll likely see plenty of proposals across social media! That being said, if you recently got engaged, you’ll want to keep these tips in mind.
Special thanks to Dark Roux Photography for providing the image in this blog thumbnail!
Call Close Friends and Immediate Family Members
Whether it be your mom, dad, immediate family members, long-time best friends or anyone else close to you, feel free to share the news with them prior to posting your ring selfie. Particularly for most of these people, we’re guessing you would rather break the news to them personally, rather than having them find out on Facebook or Instagram.
Share the News With Everyone Else
Once you’ve spread the exciting news to anyone that you wanted to personally tell, now you can let the rest of the world know. Whether it be a picture from the actual proposal, a ring selfie or simply a photo of you and your fiance (or all of the above!), this is the time for you to post the news on Facebook and Instagram.
Enjoy the Moment
As we’ve mentioned before, planning a wedding comes with it’s fair share of moving pieces. To help simplify this, when a couple books their big day with Madera Estates, they are provided access to our exclusive “Client Portal.” This portal is jam packed with plenty of helpful resources to streamline the planning process. Local vendor recommendations, pricing for various upgrades, frequently asked questions, floor plan layouts and even a comprehensive timeline to keep you on schedule during the planning process. Long story short, what I’m trying to say here is that the planning timeline certainly includes plenty of tasks to complete. Rather than letting all of that start creeping into your head right away, make sure to relax and enjoy the exciting news. Remember, unless you’re planning on getting married next week, you still have more than enough time.
Start Browsing Potential Wedding Venues
One decision that almost always helps simplify plenty of other decisions is your wedding venue selection. So, after you’ve taken some time to truly enjoy the engagement, it’s time to start researching some potential wedding venues. There’s obviously plenty that goes into this, but here’s a few main points to consider:
Social Media Presence – We’ve already mentioned social media once in this blog, but it goes without saying that it is a major piece in the wedding industry. Whether it be photographers, caterers, florists or even wedding venues, social media not only provides wedding inspiration, but also first-hand examples of the work done by a particular vendor.
Online Reviews – Just as pretty pictures are important when considering a wedding venue, so is any feedback from past clients. When it comes to wedding venues (and other vendors), be sure to check out their online reviews from Google, The Knot, Wedding Wire or any other wedding-focused websites.
Pricing & Availability – If you already have your date finalized, rough estimate on guest list size and a general budget in mind, that will make it so much easier to determine if a particular venue is a possibility. In the early inquiry stages, share this information with the various venues to ensure you’re not wasting your time for a space that might not even be able to accommodate your wedding.
And while each of these says a lot about a wedding venue, one of the best ways to truly determine if it’s the “one” is by seeing it in-person. Most venues should offer free tours where you’ll have a chance to walk around the space and ask a member of their team any questions you may have.
Did You Get the Ring Insured?
While it’s obviously fun to talk about things like engagement parties, ring selfies and venue tours, one important thing you’ll want to remember to do is get your ring insured. Even though you probably don’t plan on losing your ring anytime soon, it’s always better to be safe than sorry. Research a few potential insurance providers and decide which makes most sense for you and your significant other. While we’re on the topic of engagement rings, now would also be the time to get it resized (if needed). If it feels a little small or a tad bit too big, head over to the jeweler and get this finished as well!
Establish Budget
We briefly touched on the topic of budgeting earlier in this blog, but I wanted to discuss it once more prior to wrapping up this post. Now that you’ve had the opportunity to share the exciting news with all of your loved ones and have started to look for some wedding day inspo, it’s time to start considering the financial implications as well. You’ll want to chat with your partner about topics like who’s paying for what, estimating the overall budget and mapping out how much you can spend for various components. Also, at this time, if you’re planning on having parents or family members helping with some of the expenses, you should likely include them in this conversation as well. Since the wedding venue rental can be one of the more expensive pieces, it would be a good idea to have a pretty solid budget narrowed down at this time.
Ready to Tour Madera Estates?
Are you ready to get the wedding planning underway? Once again, if you recently had your fiance pop the question, congratulations on the engagement! We hope you took some value from this blog highlighting a few of the tasks you should knock out at this time. And if you live near the Houston area and are ready to start evaluating potential wedding venues, we would be more than happy to show you around Madera Estates.
Located just north of Houston in Conroe, TX, Madera Estates is a luxury event space that primarily hosts weddings, but also is pleased to host quinceaneras, company parties and more! You’re welcome to check out photos from past weddings on our Facebook and Instagram pages, as well as prior blog posts. As we often say, the best way to decide if a venue makes sense for your big day is to see it in-person. To book a free tour of our venue, click HERE to check out our booking calendar. Congrats again on the engagement!