10 Things To Do After You Get Engaged, Tips from a Chicago Wedding Photographer

As a Chicago wedding photographer who has been a part of the planning process for 100+ weddings, including my own, I can tell you now that this time of life for you is going to fly by. For many of my couples their goal is to have a relaxed wedding day, which is why the planning process is SO important. The best way to keep your wedding day low-key and to enjoy it to the fullest is to approach the planning process with intention, making as many decisions as you can prior to your wedding day. This is why these first first few months after getting engaged are so important, and as such we’re here to discuss 10 things every couple should do after their engagement!

1. Enjoy Being Engaged!

This one may seem obvious, but it can be easy to overlook! This is one of the shortest periods of your relationship you have with your boo, so be sure to take the time and space to enjoy it. Celebrate your engagement with your loved ones, plan a few date nights together, and enjoy this special milestone in your relationship as it’s one of the most important. This will help you to HAVE FUN throughout this process, and get you excited to plan the first day of the rest of your lives together. 

2. Day Dream Together

After you’re engaged, it’s time to start planning out what your wedding day will feel like. On one of those date nights I mentioned earlier, do a little bit of day dreaming of what your wedding day might look like. Thinkof any Tiktoks or Instagram posts you’ve seen with fun ideas. Are there any past weddings you or your friends have been to that have had fun aspects you’d like to incorporate into your day? Workshop what your wedding day might look like at different styles of wedding venues. While daydreaming and working through these, have a sheet of paper or a Google Doc open so that you can jot down some of the ideas that stick out to you the most!

3. Write Out Your Wedding Mission Statement

Something that will help to guide you through the planning process of your wedding after you’re engaged is your wedding mission statement! This mission statement will help you to choose a date or season, find what stands out to the two of you as most important, and decide what kind of experience you hope you and your guests will have during the celebration! Do you want an epic garden party with all of your friends and family? Do you want a romantic candle lit dinner, one surrounded by your favorite 40 people enjoying your favorite foods together? Your mission statement should help to guide you towards the ideal venue to host your day, the size of the celebration you’re looking to have, and the overall feel of the day itself.

4. Put Together a Vision Board

A fantastic way to fuel your creativity as you plan your wedding day is to create a vision board for your day. One of my favorite places to create one is on Pinterest!  Start with some images of other weddings, but don’t be afraid to pull from sources outside of weddings either. You can find inspiration in art, music, colors, photographs, and even your own home! Are there favorite colors that you both share? Are there places you feel the happiest together? Incorporating these things that make your relationship the one of a kind love that it is can be a great way to personalize your wedding day.

5. Draft Your Guest List

Something you’ll have to do after you get engaged, and one of the biggest decisions in planning your wedding, is deciding who to invite to your wedding day. Have you been envisioning a large celebration with all of your friends and family, or something smaller and more intimate? As you talk through the options with your future spouse, start a Google Doc together and begin listing out who you want to be present for your day. This decision is incredibly important for a number of reasons, one of them being it will be a deciding factor of your wedding venue. Venues often have a max guest count, and some even have a minimum amount of guests needed in order to book the space.

6. Draft a Wedding Party List

While you’re drafting your guest list, it’s a good time to also start thinking about your wedding party list. Who are your most cherished people? The ones who’ve been there through thick and thin, and watched as your beautiful relationship has blossomed. These are the people you’ll want to spend the most time with on your wedding day, and as such, who you’ll want as your wedding party members. Your wedding party can be as small or large as you want it to be, though going too large can lead to things feeling a little chaotic. A good rule of thumb is to have 1 wedding party member for every 10 guests you have at your wedding.

7. Set an Estimated Budget

While not as much fun as some of the other planning aspects, one of the more important parts of this process is to set the budget for your wedding day. Budgets do vary from wedding to wedding, as every couple has different priorities for their day. Typically though, you can estimate that your wedding budget will fall in line with these percentages:

  • 35%: Venue, Catering and Alcohol
  • 25%: Photography and Videography 
  • 10%: Florals
  • 10%: Attire (Dress, suit and alterations)
  • 5%: Decor
  • 5%: DJ
  • 3%: Stationary
  • 3%: Personal Accessories
  • 2%: Dessert
  • 1%: Gifts
  • 1%: Hair and Makeup

8. Tour and Choose a Venue!

Now for one of the most exciting things you get to do after getting engaged, finding and choosing a wedding venue! There are a few things that will help to guide you in making this decision, some of which we’ve already covered in steps 2 through 5. Another important factor of this decision is when you plan to have your wedding. If you and your future spouse have a specific date in mind you want to have your wedding on, I suggest you begin looking at venues sooner rather than later, especially if your date is a Saturday. If you have some flexibility on your date, and just have a season you’re hoping to have your wedding in, you can be a little more relaxed when reaching out to venues.

As you start to narrow down your search for potential wedding venues, make sure you schedule a tour of the venue before booking to ensure that it fits the look, feel, and overall vision you have for your wedding.

9. Book Your Photographer (and Other Vendors)

Once you have a date reserved by booking your venue, you can begin to reach out to photographers and other wedding vendors for your day. Most of my couples reach out between 7 months to a little over a year of their wedding date, though the earlier the better! This is also the case for many other wedding vendors. Especially if your wedding falls on a typically busy wedding day, such as a Saturday in the summer or early fall, it’s better to reach out early so that you can be sure to get the vendors you want for your day!

10. Schedule Your Engagement Session

Last, but definitely not least, after you get engaged it’s time to schedule your engagement session! I can’t stress enough the importance of booking an engagement session with your wedding photographer. Not only is it an opportunity to document some of the incredible emotions and feelings you’re experiencing through this time of life, but it’s also the perfect “practice run” for us before your wedding day! It’s the ideal icebreaker, and a great way to get to know one another before the big day comes around.

There are 10 things you’ll want to do after you get engaged as you plan and prepare for your wedding day! There’s quite a lot to do here, and even more so when you consider the actual planning that goes into your wedding. That’s why when a couple books me to document their special day, I assist them through every aspect of the planning process that I can. From timeline creation, to having my magical fanny pack of emergency supplies on hand the day of the wedding, I’m there to ensure that every piece of their wedding day runs as smoothly as possible. If you’d like to book me as your photographer, head to my contact page to send me an inquiry. I’d love to help you create the wedding day of your dreams and be a part of your celebration!

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Hi, I'm Carissa. My deepest desire is to care for you and take care of every background detail so that when you step in front of my lens, you can be your full, raw, honest self--undistracted by flyaways or timelines or what to do with your hands.

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