Firstly, congratulations! We assume you've clicked on this because you're just engaged or will be very soon! Secondly, welcome! Rock My Wedding is all about sharing beautiful real weddings, inspiration for styling, and lots of advice for making the planning process fun! It's a rollercoaster ride, but in the end, you and your partner will have the best day of your lives. And we'll be here to help guide you along the way. Signing up for our newsletter is one of the best ways to begin, so you won't miss any exclusive wedding content and ideas! Besides that, here are the first five things you should do immediately to get that wedding planning going...
You've got the ring you've been waiting for! It's natural to want to show it off. You might want to get a manicure for the perfect shot of the ring! Or you might not want to announce your engagement at all. It's also natural to live in your happy bubble of love for a bit! If you do want to document this special time, maybe you should consider an engagement shoot. Sometimes, you might not have the ring straight away when getting engaged. You might want to go and pick it out together after the fact. Unless your partner knows your ring size or you did pick it out together, you might need to get the ring resized. Ring insurance also may be an important thing for you to consider.
This is the most fun part if you're a Type A personality. It's time to get your inspiration and creative juices flowing! One of the easiest ways to do this is to use social media! Instagram is a great place for inspiration and Pinterest is great for creating boards for all different aspects of the day. Our Recommended suppliers page should be your go-to for potential suppliers as well! You might already have things in mind and now you're engaged, you can bring them to life. Get those checklists ready. If you are on a traditional wedding timeline, we have a 12-month and an 18-month wedding checklist all good to go.
Although not the most fun thing to think about, it's a good idea to figure out the maximum you have to spend on your big day. Get the difficult decisions out of the way first. If you can both agree on a rough budget (with a contingency for blowouts just in case you find a pair of designer shoes that you just HAVE to have) then things will be much easier as you progress through planning. For advice on this, take a look at our budget breakdown and allocation article. Once you have a rough budget in mind, you can prioritise what you want to splurge on and what you want to save on. Whether it's the dress, venue, cake or videographer, figure out the things that you value most. If you've got a tighter budget, our how to do a wedding under 5k article might be for you.
Your venue should be one of the first things you look into after getting engaged because they get booked quickly. Once you’ve decided on a rough month you’d like the wedding to be in (or maybe you have a specific date in mind) start making enquiries and visiting venues. It can be cheaper to have a weekday wedding but remember that this will involve people having to take time off work. If you’re not having any luck finding a venue that works for your requirements then don’t be afraid to rethink things - have you considered a tipi wedding or getting married abroad? You’ll need to decide on a rough guest list to do this too so that you can filter out venues based on capacity. If you’re super organised you might pick your wedding party while doing your guest list. Planning a wedding is a big undertaking and if you’re not employing a wedding planner then you’ll definitely need your besties to get involved. The wedding party will help you through the planning, hen party, and stag do. They may even throw you an engagement party!
Speaking of parties, the most important thing to do after getting engaged is to celebrate it! Enjoy this special time with your partner and your loved ones. You're so close to committing the rest of your life to your partner and this engagement period sets the tone for your exciting next chapter. Whether you do throw an engagement party or prefer to celebrate things more low-key, we hope you have the best time!
So now you know what you can be cracking on with now that you're engaged! Another way we'll be here for you on this journey is with our Rock My Wedding Podcast! We have an abundance of episodes covering everything and anything wedding related. But we have exciting news! The Podcast is getting new episodes, so go on and get listening. Or if you prefer to read, we also have a Rock My Wedding book to help you out! Whatever it is we've got you covered on this exciting journey with our Recommended suppliers.