So you’re engaged – what happens next?

Congratulations on taking the first step along your journey to becoming a married couple.

Getting engaged is a really exciting time in your life and you should be able to enjoy the process of planning your wedding without the stress that often comes with it. By joining the Wedding Train you will get there much more calmly that if you try to do everything alone. Remember nothing you do is likely to be something that has never been done before so don’t reinvent the wheel. Use the resources available here to save time and money and let you enjoy the journey.

So what should you do first? There are a few things you should do really soon after getting engaged. Some of these may not be your favourite things (like calling Great Aunt Jessie to let he know that you are engaged even though you haven’t seen her for ten years) but the sooner you do them, the sooner they are in the rear view mirror and you can concentrate on moving forward.

Call your relatives

Once you’ve said yes one of your obligations is to contact pretty much all of your relatives to tell them the news. This includes the ones you don’t see from year-to-year, as painful as it might seem. Twitter and Facebook announcements are more for friends, colleagues and acquaintances; personal phone calls are for relatives, so set aside an afternoon or two.

Insure your ring

This is really important and is something that many couples don’t think about. Of course, nothing can replace the sentimental value of your engagement ring, but at least by adding it to your insurance you can get some of the financial value back to help you to buy a new one if anything happens to the original. Call your insurance provider for help and advice here.

Start your wedding blog

Once you have phoned everyone who should be phoned and sent out emails, letters and FB announcements to everyone else it’s a good time to think about starting a wedding blog. It’s a great way to keep everyone in the loop with hotel suggestions, gift lists, dietary requirements and other ideas. Unfortunately the current climate with Covid makes it almost essential so that in the case of a sudden change in restrictions it makes it easier to let everyone know if there are any changes of plan. Offer it to everyone who might want or need it, but don’t expect everyone to slavishly follow it every day so unless there is an urgent or important announcement you need to make, you should simply update on a regular basis increasing the frequency as the big day gets closer.

Set a rough date

One of the first things you’ll be asked is when the big day is. You should have at least a month in mind and this will keep people happy until you pin down a definite date. It also helps you to plan and co-ordinate the event with all the suppliers, guests and family members who need to ensure that they can be present.

Set a rough budget and then set up a wedding savings account

Even a relatively small wedding can cost an alarming amount of money, so have a special account just for that purpose. Look for higher interest rates – not an easy thing at present but it may be possible if your wedding is a couple of years away. If your commitments allow it make sure a set percentage of both your salaries goes into it each month.

Invest in a wedding planner

This doesn’t have to be a person! Simply get a calendar or an app to create deadlines to ensure that you don’t miss anything for your big day. Don’t underestimate how quickly the time will fly especially if your wedding is in the shorter term. The Wedding Train will help you with this planning as we progress.

In our next chapter we will talk about the legal requirements for getting married in Australia – really important – don’t miss it.

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