11 Things to Do After Getting Engaged 

Getting engaged is exciting, but it can also be really freakin’ overwhelming.

One second you’re just dating someone you love, and the next second you suddenly have to start planning a wedding or elopement. First things first – BREATHE. It’s a lot, but you’re totally capable of creating you and bae’s dream day. For my besties feeling a little lost and unsure of what to do first, here are 11 things to do after getting engaged.  

1.) Celebrate! 

One of the first things to do after getting engaged is to celebrate! Engagement days can be a blur, so it’s important to take time to process everything and take in the special moment without talking about the wedding. Call your friends and family, go to your favorite restaurant, enjoy a sweet treat – whatever makes you two happy. 
 

2.) Insure your ring 

It’s not the most glamorous part of planning a wedding, but it is an important thing to do after getting engaged. You can either insure your ring with your current insurance provider, or go with a separate company that specializes in jewelry. Call your jeweler and see if there’s anyone they recommend. You’ll likely need some paperwork to get it insured, so get that from bae and make sure you store it in a safe place. AND a place you’ll remember! If you both got engagement rings, make sure they both get insured. 

You should also do your research on what your jeweler provides. Is there a warranty? If there is, what’s covered? Can you get free cleanings? It all depends on your jeweler, but that info should be pretty simple to find on their website.  

3.) Schedule date nights 

These date nights are one of my top recommendations for things to do after getting engaged. In my opinion, they’re an essential part of wedding planning. Have them monthly or biweekly as you get closer to your date. This way, you and bae aren’t talking about wedding plans every damn day of your lives.  

For your first date night, you and your partner should discuss your biggest priorities for your wedding. What are you willing to splurge on, and what isn’t as important for you two? A lot of popular priorities I see with my couples are the venue/location, photography, and a planner.

You’ll also want to figure out a general idea of what season and year you want to get married. Don’t stress yourself out by trying to pick a specific date. Picking a season is great because it allows you to be flexible with venue and photographer availability. Hot tip! Weekday weddings and elopements are always more affordable, even Friday vs. Saturday.  
 

4.) Create a guest list 

Your guest list is a great way to spend another date night. Start writing down all the people who are important to have at your wedding or elopement. Remember, this is who YOU want at your wedding. Just because they’re family does not mean they get an automatic invite. Be really intentional with your list because it will impact your budget for things like catering, open bar (if you’re doing that), and invites. Don’t forget to include yourselves! 

5.) Do your research 

What’s that thing people say? You don’t know what you don’t know. A lot of engaged couples have never planned a wedding before, so doing your research is SO important. Spend some time online getting familiar with what things cost local to where you’re getting married. Don’t just do a general search! The costs for getting married in the sticks in the Midwest are way different than a downtown wedding in LA. 

Once you’ve got a general idea of what things cost, it’s time to start a budget for each item. Most of the time people focus on their overall budget, which is great, but I recommend prioritizing the costs of each thing. To me, it’s a much better visual to look at. As you’re budgeting, remember your priorities from date night! You’ll want to allocate more money for those things.  
 

6.) Build a wedding website 

You won’t need your wedding website until much later on in the process, but it’s an easy thing to start building and check off your list. There are a ton of different layouts and vibes out there, but Zola is a favorite for my clients. You can create a website without publishing it for the whole ass internet to see, so it’s easy to pop information in there as you and bae make decisions. 
 

7.) Book your venue and date 

On the list of things to do after getting engaged, this is a big one! Take your time just enjoying being engaged, but don’t put off booking your venue and date. I’d do it as soon as you can because you legit can’t book any vendors until you have your venue and wedding date. Your venue should have recommendations for your other must-hire priorities, like catering, a DJ, etc. 

Remember the season you and your partner agreed on during date night? Get familiar with the weather during that time in the area you want to get married before committing to a date. Don’t ever assume what the weather will be like without looking into it.  
 

8.) Book your photographer 

Since I’m a wedding photographer, you better believe I have lots of tips for this one. Besides your marriage, your wedding photos are the one thing that outlive your day and keep those memories alive. Don’t skimp here and regret it later. First and foremost, when looking for a photographer you should pay super close attention to their style and the way they present themselves on their website. This is very telling of their business. Some red flags you should look out for: 

• No public reviews: I’m not talking about only Google reviews. Some photographers gather reviews on other websites, so make sure you read through all of them. If they don’t have any public reviews, that’s a risk. 

• Won’t give you a full wedding gallery to look at: Any professional photographer will be more than happy to supply a recent start-to-finish wedding gallery. If they don’t, that’s a big yikes. In the full wedding gallery they send you, pay attention to how they handle different lighting situations. If you like their posed photos but don’t really love their getting ready photos, that’s something to take into consideration. You should love all the wedding photos you get back. 

• Takes weeks to return your email: The way a photographer behaves when you contact them is what you should expect moving forward in their process. If you’re someone who prefers more communication, pay attention to the return times of their emails. 

9.) Take your engagement photos 

If this is feasible, get your engagement photos done by the same photographer you chose for your wedding. Most wedding packages will include an engagement session! Not only is it a fun way to celebrate a big moment in your lives, but it also helps you get to know your photographer, and they can learn more about you two. It gets the awkward stuff out of the way before the wedding. Once you get your engagement photos back, you can use them for your save the dates. 
 

10.) Consider hiring a planner 

Planners are there to organize all the moving parts of your wedding day. They’re never a waste of money if you have the room in your budget. Planners can do a lot to make the planning process easy for you, including: 

• Communicate with vendors 

• Organize logistics 

• Get things from A to B 

• Put out fires before they get to you 

• Put you first no matter what 

• Act as a scapegoat in situations where family is trying to tell you what to do 
   

11.) Stay organized 

There are a lot of moving pieces when you plan a wedding, so it’s super important to stay organized throughout the whole process. I highly recommend starting a spreadsheet to track things like your guest list, budget and expenses, vendor contact info, and all the other important details. Some people also suggest creating a new email account just for wedding things. If you don’t want another account to keep track of, just start a new folder in your existing email. Any and all wedding-related messages can just get stored in that folder to make them easy to find. 

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If you’re getting married in Colorado and decide to hire me as your photographer, I’ll always be a resource for you when you need it. If you’re not getting married in Colorado, don’t forget I travel! I have my packages and transparent pricing waiting for you on my website.  

Learn more about Kenzie.