On Friday, December 22nd, my boyfriend of 5.5 years proposed to me (finally). We had gone out on a horse and carriage ride followed by dinner, and then exchanged gifts. Mine was the camera I had been coveting for the entire year. When I turned the camera on, there was a picture of him holding a sign, on bent knee, reading ‘Will you marry me?’ It was insanely thoughtful, creative, unique, and I instantly began ugly crying and hyperventilating.
If you were one of the many people to get engaged over the holidays, I’ve used my personal experience to help you navigate the weeks following.
Fielding Questions
Immediately after we got engaged, we started getting questions about our future wedding. My boyfriend – er – fiance – and I had already decided prior to getting engaged that we’d want a year and a half to two year long engagement so it would be less stressful and give us time to enjoy the planning process and save. I saw my parents within 48 hours of getting engaged, and my mom was already asking about a wedding date and where I wanted to go dress shopping. Two weeks later, we’ve moved onto bridesmaid dresses and bouquets. To be fair, I’m the first one in our family to get married, so she’s just as excited as I am – but be prepared to field a lot of questions from loved ones, even if you don’t have the answers.
Announcing
Because my beau proposed so close to Christmas, I decided I wanted to wait to announce until we had a chance to tell family at all of our holiday events. Make sure your family and close friends hear it from you before you post your exciting news on social media – the last thing you want is for them to feel left out or hurt that they had to find out about your engagement on Facebook.
Picking a Date
The next thing that should be on your list is picking a date. Finding vendors and getting quotes from venues is nearly impossible if you don’t have a date selected, as prices vary based on the day of the week and the time of year.
Making a Guestlist
Another thing that’s hard to do is budget when you don’t know how many people could potentially end up at your wedding. Planning out your guest list will make it easier to receive accurate quotes from food and drink vendors, as well as give you an idea of how much space you’ll need at a venue.
Determining Wedding Party
Picking your wedding party early on is important because you’ll be relying on them for a lot of assistance throughout the coming months/year! Thankfully I had prepped for this for a while and knew exactly who I was going to ask and all of my girls were on board right away. Two weeks in and one of my bridesmaids has already booked tickets to Toronto’s Bridal Show happening this weekend. We waste no time!
I hope these tips are helpful!
Happy planning!
