6 Things To Do After Getting Engaged
My Fiancé and I got engaged in January 2023 and are getting married in June 2024! As a Southern California wedding photographer, I had an idea of the steps that would result in a smooth wedding planning process. We are about five months away from our wedding and almost everything has been booked and finalized, allowing us to both be present in the months leading up to our big day! Here are six things we did that helped us plan our wedding!
Go On A Romantic Date
Time passes so quickly! Before we started any wedding planning, we had a picnic on the beach to celebrate our engagement. We’ve been engaged for about a year already and I’m so happy that we made sure to take the first few weeks to just enjoy being an engaged couple.
Make A Wedding Email
Having all our vendor emails in one place has been extremely helpful! We even made our wedding guest list and excel finance sheet on that email so everything wedding related would be in one place.
Pick Potential Wedding Dates
Your desired wedding venue may be booked on your preferred date; having a few back up options will be helpful once you start touring venues. We picked a few dates and sent them to our family members to make sure everyone was available.
Have A Wedding Style In Mind
Wedding venues can help set the vibe of the overall style that you want. Knowing the exact style and decor that I wanted really helped me figure out which venue would be the best for us. For example, if you want an Italian style wedding then I recommend looking at Cielo Farms in Malibu, California or a few venues in Temecula. These venues have vineyards onsite that transport you to the rustic, Italian countryside.
Book Your Venue
As a 2024 bride and a Southern California Wedding Photographer, I highly recommend booking your venue before booking any other vendors. Venues can book out very far in advance so it’s best to do that as soon as you two are ready. Once your venue is booked, then you can start booking your other vendors.
We had three venues that we absolutely loved and scheduled tours with. I highly recommend asking venues if they have any vendors that you are required to use. It’s also important to ask if the venue has any restrictions. For example, one of the venues we liked does not allow a live band, which was a dealbreaker for us personally. Having questions written down before you tour a venue will allow you to truly choose the perfect location for your big day!
Build Your Own Wedding Website
We’re using The Knot for our wedding website. The Knot makes their wedding websites super easy to build and share with friends and family. They allow you to add a place for your guests to RSVP, you can add your wedding registry, wedding timeline, photos of you and your fiancé and much more!
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