You’re Engaged! Now What?

Well, first of all, congratulations on your engagement! Whether it JUST happened or it happened over the holidays, congratulations! What an exciting time for you and your fiancé! Engagement season is one of my favorite seasons for many reasons, but one reason is that there is a chance that I get to sit down over coffee with you to talk about my opportunity to serve you as your wedding photographer! Another reason why it is my favorite, is because I love congratulating love! It’s so much fun to see all the celebration happening on social media and even in person! It’s such a sweet time in your life!

One of the most popular question I get asked quite often is, “What do I need to do first?” For those who just got engaged and are a little overwhelmed about the next steps are the couples that I love to help & share my advice with! So, I am going to pretend we are sitting in a coffee shop with lattes in our hands for the next few minutes and share with you the three next steps that you should take as a newly engaged couple!

Once the initial excitement and celebration is through, I suggest couples to sit down and talk about their wedding budget. I know, YUCK! Budgeting isn’t the most exciting but it helps you so much in the wedding planning process! Once you have an overall budget, you can easily book the vendors you want to work with because you know exactly how much you can spend in each category. The top three things that couples tend to budget with the most are 1) wedding venue 2) photographer and 3) the wedding gown! I have to agree with the first two, but the third is honestly your preference!

Once you have your wedding budget figured out, then the next thing I suggest is securing your wedding venue! I’d say having a place to say I DO is kind of important, what do you think? Finding a wedding venue can either be super simple or it can be difficult but only if you make it! With a budget, it’s a lot easier to find your dream venue! At this point you’re probably like, what about finalizing your wedding date? Don’t worry that’s my next step! Tips for finding your wedding venue 1) able to fit the amount of guests you’re imagining 2) having a just-as-good rain back up plan and 3) beautiful backdrops for your wedding photos!

Okay, now it’s time to finalize your date! The reason why I suggest finding your venue before the date is because, if you have a special date in mind there is a chance that your dream venue isn’t available! So, once you find your venue, ask them for their availability and then out of those dates, choose your date! You kind of have to weigh pros and cons with your dream venue and your ideal date and which ever one is more important to you, take care of that first!

And lastly, book your photographer! As much as we would love to be a multiple places as once, we can’t! If you have a wedding photographer that you’ve dreamt of working with, you need to inquire and book as soon as possible! Especially during busy seasons, we tend to get multiple inquires for the same day! This year, the most popular date is October 10th, 2020 and I’ve had that day booked since December 2018!! Because of that, I’ve had to refer at least 4 couples to other photographers! Once you’ve booked your photographer, its time to schedule your engagement session!!!

All in all, establishing your wedding budget, booking you venue, securing your date, and booking your photographer will put you in a wonderful place after getting engaged! If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! I’ve enjoyed sharing some tips with you about what to do once you’re engaged! If that’s you & you’d love to work with MYP, I’d love to walk you through the process, inquire here!