Newly Engaged? – What Happens Next?

Credit: Willow & Wilde

We see that sparkler on your finger, which means you’re engaged! What a fabulous way to start the New Year, and now you’re super excited to crack on with organising one of the biggest days of your life. But, amidst all of your excitement, when you finally hit the ground, don’t be surprised if you find yourself also feeling a little daunted and overwhelmed by the reality of actually planning a wedding - that’s ok, it’s perfectly normal.
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There’s nothing quite like that just engaged feeling, it’s a life-changing moment, but you may well be wondering where exactly to go from here! Don’t worry though, we’ve compiled the ultimate guide to help you navigate through these first steps and make the planning process as smooth, organised and hopefully as enjoyable as possible! So get ready: it’s going to be a busy, beautiful, unforgettable time of your life — let’s get started.  ​

First Things First – Take Some Time to Savour and Revel in Being Engaged

It can be so easy to let the excitement take over and the first thing you do is run to social media to announce your engagement. However, before shouting it from the rooftops, take some time, just the two of you to let it all sink in. Spend some time together, pop the champagne, enjoy the celebrations and immerse yourself in the romance of it all, just the two of you, together.

Once You Have Taken It All In – Announce Your Engagement

Unless you’re planning on keeping your engagement under wraps for a while, call your family and friends to let them know about the exciting news! They’ll be so happy you took the time to let them know before updating your social media. It can be helpful to make a list of everyone who needs to know before the Internet does to avoid any hurt feelings. However, at the end of the day, it’s your engagement. Don’t stress out about who to/not to tell. It’s your news to share with whoever you want.

Credit: Renai Photo

You’re Engaged, Plan an Engagement Party

After saying “Yes!” you’re probably ready to jump into planning your dream wedding. But first, celebrate being engaged. Think champagne, loved ones, and a whole lot of congratulations, it’s the perfect way to kick off your wedding planning journey. ​

Set Your Expectations & Priorities Early

Expectations really are key and the first step here is to get your priorities aligned. Sit down with your partner and determine the answers to three of the most essential planning elements as this will determine everything; the style of wedding you want, the number of guests you want to invite and the size of the budget.

Top tip: A longer timeline is your friend here - aim for around a year, if possible.

Start Dreaming About Your Wedding Style - Get Inspired, Get Pinning!

Before you start ticking things off your planning checklist, it’s time for you to do some daydreaming! Perhaps you’ve been planning for this your whole life, and you already have every tiny element planned to the max in your head, or maybe you haven’t even given it the slightest thought. Either way, a great starting point is to create a wedding mood board – a carefully curated collection of photos that illustrate the look and feel you hope to create through your wedding design. Verbally expressing your wedding vision can sometimes be difficult so having a compilation of images and photos to communicate your overall style can help others visualise exactly what is going on in your head!

This is the fun part…and don’t forget to involve your significant other in this step! Your wedding should represent both of you, together as a couple so think about how you want your wedding to look like and what are both of your absolute non-negotiables. Traditional or bohemian, classic or rustic, small and intimate, or all about the party! What colours do you love, do you have any favourite seasonal flowers you want to incorporate (this may end up dictating the dates that you consider), what décor do you want to incorporate?
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Find a few resources of wedding inspiration you like best. Pinterest and Instagram can be invaluable but don’t rule out wedding magazines, trusted bridal sites and blogs. From this starting point, and once you have an aesthetic in mind it's easier to make decisions, and everything will look much more cohesive.

Credit: Natalie Holt Photography

Get organised

This is so important to implement from the beginning so as not to get in a muddle. You can use checklists, spreadsheets, Word, Excel, Google Docs—anything, really—as long as you can gather all your thoughts, budgets, numbers, etc., in one place.
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Don't forget to create a spreadsheet to keep track of your guests too. This will be really useful when you come to sending your invitations, track RSVPs, accommodation requests and dietary requirements.

Set Your Wedding Budget - and stick to it!

Now this may not sound like a lot of fun, but your wedding budget will be the driving factor for most, if not all, of your wedding-related decisions, so this should be one of the first things you tackle. If you don’t have a budget to work from, you can guarantee you will find yourselves overspending so set a budget to avoid this fatal mistake!

We know how overwhelming it can feel but, there are some fantastic wedding budget planners and guides online which will definitely help get your finances in order for your special day.

When thinking about your budget make sure you remember to factor in any contributions you may receive from family, don’t forget to regularly do that all important reality check and keep a close eye on any unexpected costs or urges that will inevitably arise along the way.

Top Tip: Use a spreadsheet or budgeting tool.  This will help you to track of all of your expenses and avoid overspending.

Credit: Nicola Drummond Photography

Prioritise Your Spending

Prioritising your spending, goes hand in hand with setting your wedding budget. It’s so important to identify the aspects of your wedding that matter the most to both of you, whether that is booking the wedding venue if dreams, going all out on your entertainment, focusing on your photography or blowing the budget on beautiful blooms everywhere. By focusing on what really matters the most to you, you can allocate more of your budget on these elements and consider saving on what is less important.

Top Tip: Create a list of your top 3 non-negotiables for the wedding, this will help you to focus on what really matters to you when choices & options get a little overwhelming.

Assemble Your Wedding Gang

​Whilst the two of you are by far the most important people at the wedding, half the fun of getting married is being able to share in the joy, excitement, anticipation and celebration of your special day with your nearest and dearest! But don’t feel pressured into making any immediate decisions here! Your overall budget will also need to be considered when choosing your wedding party (think travel, outfits, accommodation etc) so it’s important to take the time to make the right decisions now to avoid any future stresses. At the end of the day make sure you choose your best cheerleaders, those who lift you up, encourage you, support you, make you laugh, make you cry (in a good way!) and who you want to be standing right by your side every step of the way.

Credit: Mariola Zoladz Photography

Create Your Guest List

After you have set your wedding budget, it’s now time to sit down and create your guest list.  Deciding your guest count early on is so important because not only will it directly impact your overall wedding budget (the more guests you have, the more you will need to budget for food and alcohol) but, it will also determine the venues that you will ultimately be able to consider (both from a budget and capacity perspective).

Have an Engagement Shoot

Now that you’ve got those steps all taken care of, think about organising an engagement photo shoot. If you do this early on in your engagement, you can include a photo or two on your save-the-date cards, which are always a good idea to send out once you have set the all important date! Hiring a professional photographer will help to capture this special chapter of your lives. It’s over before you know it, so trust us when we say you’re going to want to capture these memories.

Top tip: Wear an outfit that makes you feel amazing in. If you feel confident, your photos will look incredible!

Start the Venue Search

You should by now have hopefully established your expected guest numbers and set a realistic budget so now it’s time for the all important venue search. Start by considering things like size, style, location, capacities and budgets. Do you want to be indoors or outdoors? Would you like to have both your ceremony and reception in the same venue, do you want overnight accommodation for you and your wedding guests? Do your research, think about what is most important to you on the day and narrow down your choices to your essentials and ‘nice-to-haves’. Then book some in-person viewings. Most importantly though, remember that there is no such thing as a ‘perfect’ venue! Yes, you read that right. Venue hunting is a challenging and emotional step, and you need to be prepared to make some compromises along the way.

​If you are considering a castle wedding in Scotland our recent blog post, ‘Everything you need to know about Cluny Castle’ is available to read here.

Top tip! It may feel a bit like being back in school, but don’t forget to take plenty of notes and photographs when visiting venues. You’re bound to forget the detail by the time you get home.

Credit: Nicola Drummond Photography

Choose a Date

You don’t necessarily need to choose an exact date, however it’s essential to consider at the very least the season that you would like to get married and any key dates important to you or your family that you may want to avoid. This will at least help you narrow down options when you start looking at venues.

Say Yes To The Dress

You may think, I’m only just engaged, there’s no rush to find a dress, or maybe you’ve already got your favourite bridal boutique on speed dial. Either way, finding your dream dress early on is a must. Realistically, it can take anywhere from six to nine months to get your wedding dress – and that doesn’t include the time it took to find the dress or then have any alterations done so it’s good to keep this in mind when considering your overall planning timeline.

Enjoy the Bubble!

With so much to think of, planning a wedding can be stressful, and you don’t need to plan your entire wedding in the first week of being engaged! It can be easy to forget to enjoy the journey so the key to being engaged to enjoy every part of the planning process but most importantly, enjoy being together at the precious moment in your relationship. There’s lots of fun to be had in the run up to the wedding day, so make sure you’ve got your best and most loyal friends around you and remain in that just-engaged bubble for as long as you want!

Credit: Julieanne Whyte Photography

We’d love to hear from you so if you’d like to hear more about Cluny Castle please do get in touch HERE to have a chat about your weddings plans and ideas. Otherwise, follow us on Instagram & Facebook for more real wedding inspiration and essential wedding planning guides.