10 Wedding Planning Tasks for the Newly Engaged Couple |

Did you know that 40% of all engagements occur between the months of November and February, and 17% of those engagements happen on the same 10 days throughout the year? The most popular days being Christmas Eve, Christmas day, New Year’s Eve, and Valentine’s Day. Shocker right? My newsfeed is always flooded with beautiful sparkling diamonds the days following Christmas, New Years, and Valentine’s Day

After the proposal, heads start spinning! Where do you start with planning your dream wedding? How do you actually plan a wedding? What is the first task to kick off celebrating the soon-to-be newlyweds?!

10 Wedding Planning Tasks for the Newly Engaged Couple

Celebrate

You, of course, want to share the wonderful news with your family and friends and begin the celebration! Take a cute photo with your new fiance and have it ready to share on social media with those you won’t see in person.

Budget

Before you get started finding your venue, booking vendors, and searching Pinterest for the perfect dress, you need to sit down with your fiance, and parents and discuss a budget. Money can lead to awkward conversations, so approach the topic delicately. Zola said it best when they said budgets for weddings are all over the place. There isn’t a true average because everyone’s dream wedding is so vastly different. Decide which vendors take priority over others if you have a smaller budget. Do you care about the DJ, and making sure they can keep the party going? Are timeless photos important to you? These are questions you’ll want to ask and discuss with your fiance while setting the budget. (Zola also found that 73 percent of respondents cited the wedding photographer as their ultimate splurge)

Savings Account

Now that you have a price point in mind for the wedding, head over to the bank together and open up a joint account. Set aside money from each paycheck and add it to the new account. Setting aside a little bit of money every week will make paying off your vendors easier at the end.

Book Your Venue

The most important decision you may make during your wedding planning process is booking your wedding venue. Once your venue is booked, you officially have a date for your wedding, and you can start booking the rest of your wedding vendors.

Download this free list of questions to
ask wedding venues before booking!

Book the Reminder of Your Vendors

From your wedding photographer, planner, and videographer to your florist, DJ, catering, and hair and makeup, it’s time to start asking for referrals from your married friends and reading reviews on Google. You want to book professionals that will give you the very best client experience. Up until this point, your wedding day may be the most important day of your life, don’t skimp on the vendors that can make or break your wedding day.

Schedule Your Engagement Session

You have your wedding photographer booked, now it’s time to start thinking about having your engagement photos taken. I always suggest to my couples trying to have their photos taken in a different season then they’re wedding will be in. This gives their photos variety. You’ll want to have your engagement session on the calendar right away. Many photographers book up quickly during the week for sessions. Once you have decided on a date for your engagement session, begin searching for makeup artists. This is the perfect time to do a trial run of your makeup so you can see how well your makeup photographs!

Proposal of a Different Kind

It’s time to ask your closest friends and family to be a part of your wedding day. Do you plan on doing something Pinterest-worthy when asking them to stand by your side, or something a little more casual? Once your Bridesmaids have said yes to your own proposal, pick a date that works for everyone to try on bridesmaid dresses. Depending on the dress, it could take a couple months for the dresses to come in. If the dresses need alterations, plan for a couple more weeks after that. The last thing you want is to be stressed because bridesmaid dresses are taking longer than anticipated to get in.

Here are places to consider purchasing bridesmaid dresses from!

Get Organized

You’ll be inundated with contracts, invoices, and due dates. If you’re not careful, things can get misplaced or forgotten about. You can find lots of cute wedding planners on Amazon to make this task not only a little easier but also pretty! Look over the contracts you sign with all your vendors and make note of payment due dates in your planner or in your calendar on your phone. This will ensure that payments don’t sneak up on you.

Create a Checklist

Once all the big tasks are taken care of, you’re down to the nitty-gritty of wedding planning. Create a checklist of tasks that need to be taken care such as picking out invitations, having them printed, and sending them off. If you’re a DIY bride, want decorations are you going to do yourself, and when do you plan on having them completed?

Download this free wedding planning checklist already created for you!

HAVE FUN

Here’s one of the most important wedding planning tasks for you to complete. Just have fun! This is such an exciting season for you and your fiance! Don’t let the tasks of wedding planning stress you out. Find joy in wedding planning. This season doesn’t last long, you’ll want to remember it as an enjoyable one!