You're Married, Congrats!! Now What

The day you get engaged is a whirlwind of highs. Then the champagne empties, the photographer leaves, and you’re left thinking…“What now?”

Not a professional wedding planner? Cool, me neither. Had a Pinterest page since the age of 8? Yeah, same. Still…putting these ideas into action is a different ballgame from clicking “pin” on a photo that may or may not cost more than you make in a year.

So where do you begin? First, take more than just a few days to let it all sink in. You’re ENGAGED! If your dating period was anything like mine (cough cough 7 years), then this is a HUGE sigh of relief. I promise, there will be plenty of time to stress and panic; use the first few weeks to enjoy this exciting time in your life!

Once the champagne has stopped flowing and your ever-so-perfect mani has begun to chip, it’s ready to get down to business. The best place to start is the WHERE and WHEN.

Step 1: Figure out if you want a destination wedding or something local, and let that serve as your roadmap.

Step 2: Narrow in on the time of year you’d like to get married, and if you envision it taking place indoors or outdoors.

Step 3: Put together a ROUGH budget.

Step 4: Put together an even rougher guest list.

You can use these four decisions to begin your online search for the perfect venue! Look up their website, insta pics, online reviews, etc and then schedule some calls with their wedding coordinator to get details.

Organization is seriously key throughout this process. Get a binder of some sort (I got mine for $10 from Target) and start keeping everything in one place. Any contracts, budget sheets, etc print out and store in this binder. I ended up making tabs in mine (Type-A, I know) which separated the following sections: Monthly To Dos, Timeline, Budget, Vendor Contacts, Guest List, Attire, Gifts, Honeymoon, Food/Beverage, Design/Decor.

Within the Monthly To Do’s section, I bullet pointed out tasks to accomplish each month. As I completed each one, I would check it off the list and move onto the next. It was important that I do it this way so I didn’t get overwhelmed, stayed organized, and made sure it was all done in a timely manner (wedding dress HAD to be ordered 8 months in advance to have time for the fittings, invites HAD to be printed by March to be sent out by April, etc). Staying organized really helped me keep my head straight and double check details so I knew we were all set every step of the way.