The Top Ten Things To Do Once You’re Engaged!

Hello all! Ashley Carpenter here with The Simply Elegant Group!! I am taking over our blog this week, and I am SO excited to share with you the Top Ten Things I recommend doing once you’re engaged!

My fiancé Josh proposed to me on July 10th (BEST day of my life) and we hit the ground running from announcing our engagement right into wedding planning! As a Wedding Planner myself, I had a great idea on what to do once he popped the question to make everything as fun, easy, and stress-free as possible; we truly have been enjoying the process! So with that being said, I wanted to share with you these tips and tricks on what to do once you are officially engaged, so you also have a wonderful experience to truly enjoy this amazing & exciting time in your life!

Congratulations on your engagement (or future engagement)!! This will be the best time in your life!

XO,

Ashley Carpenter

1. Tell Your Nearest and Dearest!

   • Once you officially say YES and have that beautiful ring on your finger, its time to tell all of your loved ones!! The second when your nearest and dearest find out about your engagement, will be the moment where it really sets in for you and the excitement really begins. I will always remember and cherish when I told my parents & my sister and they saw the ring on my finger, and you will too!

2. Get a Manicure (if he didn’t already secretly set that up beforehand)!

   • Having you get a manicure somehow sneakily before your fiancé pops the question is a tough task to do without giving the proposal away, or let’s be honest… a lot of men forget about this detail ;). Josh was actually able to do it in a way that I never expected and that didn’t give his plans away (Lindsay Mackey, our managing director, gets her nails done religiously, so when she asked me to go with her for our meeting that week, I didn’t even flinch).

   • If this wasn’t done beforehand however, you may want to consider getting your nails done before posting that epic photograph of your ring to announce your engagement to the rest of the world!

3. Take a Picture and Announce it to the World!

   • Nails done: Check! Now it’s time to take that beautiful photo of your gorgeous ring and let everyone know you are about to spend forever with the love of your life! Get ready for A LOT of love and well wishes!!

4. Love your Ring?! Get it sized + insured!

   • The minute things settled down, the first thing I asked my fiancé was if my ring was insured (thankfully it was)! This is something I highly recommend doing right away to make sure that if anything were to happen to your precious ring, you are completely covered.

   • Next step: if your ring is too small or too big, go get it fitted from the jeweler the ring was purchased from. Mine was too big, and I was in constant panic that it would fall off my finger, so for your peace of mind, make sure to get this fitted right away so that you feel a lot less stressed knowing that it is securely on your finger!

5. Think About Your Location and Date of where you want to get married!

   • You are engaged! Now it’s time to plan your dream wedding! The first conversation to have with your fiancé is when and where you would like to get married! I highly recommend as a planner figuring out an area on where you would like to get married at first (whether it is nearby, needing to be in a certain city, or if you are thinking a destination wedding).

   • Once this decision has been made, this should help you determine the weather and time of year that would be ideal for your dream day! For examples, if you’re getting married in Aspen and want snow, choosing a date between November-March would be ideal. If you want to get married in Texas and want warm weather but not the hottest time of year, you may want to avoid the months of July and August!

6. Create an Estimated Guest List!

   1. The next step is to start creating your guest list! Get together with your parents/those closest to you both, and really figure out how many guests that you really want to have at your wedding! It is pointless to do a venue search without knowing your guest count – you don’t want to fall in love with a space that just would not be able to accommodate those you love most.

7. Discuss a Budget!

   1. The last detail to figure out before starting your venue search is your overall budget and who is contributing to this budget. Talk to your fiancé, your parents, and anyone else that may be generously giving money towards your wedding day, and come up with an ideal budget that you would like to stay under.

   2. Planner Tip: Make sure to do your research on what other vendors cost that you need to have for your wedding (planner, photographer, videographer, hair & makeup, etc.). Nothing would be worse than spending your entire budget on your venue and not having anything left for those other important vendors that would make your dream day come true.

8. Research for your Perfect Venue!

   • Now that you have your ideal location, time of year, estimated guest count, and budget, it’s now time to search for your dream venue! We always recommend going to either www.theknot.com or www.weddingwire.com and searching through both websites. You can narrow down your search by location, capacity, indoors/outdoors, style of wedding, and price, which is SO helpful! As a planner, I recommend narrowing your favorites down to ten or less, and then reach out to those options directly to confirm their availability, pricing, details (sometimes they are not the most up-to-date on these websites, so confirming before seeing is ideal)! Once you receive these responses back (additional tip: read reviews & pay attention as well to their response time – it will reflect when planning your big day), choose your top 6 or less venues and book a time to visit each one in person before making your final decision.

9. Book your Venue and your Date!

   • After visiting your favorite venues and reviewing the proposals from each one, it is time to make your decision & set your date!! Let the countdown begin!!

10. Hire a Planner!

    • Even as a planner, I am making sure I have a SEG Planner at least on the big day, let alone leading up to my wedding. When I was doing my own venue tours, I asked many questions from who will set up everything and who will make sure my family is there for photos, to who will cue the ceremony processional and reception entrances. After hearing their responses, it confirmed that in order to be a true bride on my day and enjoy every second of it, I needed a planner. It is something I really recommend for every couple and I promise it will be the best decision you make while planning your wedding! Your planner choices can range from a Full Service Planner that can help you with all of the above and everything you need leading up to and on the day-of, to a Day-of Coordinator that will confirm everything is all set for your wedding a few months out, and will be there to make sure your day is perfection. A planner can be exactly who and what you need in order to truly enjoy this incredible time in your life, and will make sure this day that you spend all of the time and money on is everything you want it to be and more!

    • I know our Planners here at The Simply Elegant Group would LOVE to be apart of your beautiful day and planning process! If you are interested in hiring not only a planner, but a friend & a confidant, please visit our Contact Us page to set-up a Free Consultation with us today! xoxo

Here are a few photos from my engagement!! Thank you to the incredible duo Juancho SC Photography for being apart of & capturing this perfect day!

Ashley Lytel

Ashley is an Expert Planner at the Simply Elegant Group and one of Chicago’s best wedding planners.  She plans and executes both local and destination weddings.  She loves to make sure her clients feel relaxed, happy, organized, & confident before and on their wedding day.