Yay, you’re engaged!! What’s next?

Congratulations, you’re engaged!!

Now that you’ve had one of the most exciting days of your life, breathe. Enjoy the moment. Enjoy being with your person and celebrate the decision that you both just made. How awesome to have found the person that you want to spend the rest of your life with.

Now, what’s next? First up, after you tell your family and friends, of course, you’ll want to set your sights to picking a date and finding a venue.

Which comes first, you ask, the venue or the date? Well, that’s up to you. How set are you on a specific date? In general, if you and your fiancé can set a time of year instead of a specific date right off the bat, you will have a lot more luck in finding a venue (I know a good one if you are interested 😉). Many venues book a year in advance and chances are your date might be booked. So, if you are willing to pick a time of year instead, your chance of finding a date increases drastically. In my opinion, if you pick a time of year, then look for venues to accommodate your timeframe, you will have a lot better luck.

Sometimes, however, couples really want a specific photographer to work with, or officiant, or need to have a special person in town for the event. These are all things to think about before selecting your venue. If, however, you are most concerned with where you are going to get married and have your reception, start venue hunting soon.

But before you do that, set a budget for your wedding day. Talk to your parents, or just consider it between you and your soon-to-be spouse to decide who is willing to pay for what, and how much of a budget is on the table (more on budgeting in another post sometime soon).

At The Legacy on Possum Run, we have spaces for your ceremony and your reception all in one location.  We even have large, separate spaces for the couple to get ready - equipped with lounge areas to give you space to relax and enjoy your morning. Think about space when choosing your location. What type of space do you want to have your ceremony in? Where can you get ready? What do you want your day to look like? What are things the venue includes? Do they make you use some of their vendors? (More on this later as well).

Narrow down your search online, then go visit. Tour a venue, or two or three. Take into consideration your budget. After you have toured and chosen a location for your ceremony and reception and have a date set, take another breath. You have just set your date!!! This is another milestone in the planning process, and you should celebrate!

From here, go to a bridal show if one is available in your area, start getting ideas for your wedding, start a vision board if you haven’t already. After picking your venue, your next big vendor choices should be caterer, DJ/Emcee, and photographer/videographer as many of those vendors can only do one job a day so their services will fill up faster.

Now you can fill in the gaps of what else you will need. There are many planning tools out there to help you…you are not alone!

Remember to breathe and enjoy the process. Enjoy the little details and find a way to make them fun and not stressful. Celebrate little accomplishments, smile often, love each other, and be excited…you’re getting married!!