I'm engaged ya'll and you already learned that from Sylv's awesome blog post about gift giving for a new " Bride-to-Be". So now that the dust has settled a bit, I can take a moment to reflect the last ten days since it happened and what actions I took to get the ball rolling. Being that this will be a destination wedding, I will be out of town during the month of July, and I'm choosing a popular wedding month, you can understand my urgency to want to have a few things in order before the summer is through. So here are my TOP 5 MUST DO'S post engagement!!!
1| CHOOSE A DATE | I may have been ahead of the game on this one. Simply because I had a a lot of idle time when I was up in Atlanta for work, that made me day dream and manifest what dates and months I would love, that fell on a Saturday, bahaha, and then a few weeks later BOOM! So PICK A DATE STAT! Whether a year from now, eighteen months from now and for some who plan on doing something low key, then maybe 6 months from now. Still, I recommend whether destination or not, there will still be out of towners that need to plan ahead due to work or family matters, and if you want them to be there, TELL THEM ASAP, or minimum of 9 months in advance! Not three months before, I speak from experience!
2 | GUEST COUNT | This one sucks, the guest count. How many can you invite and can you decide on a number? I have been to many weddings and this one is the hardest in my opinion. I am very grateful that my fiance' and I, along with my immediate family, knew what the perfect "small cuban wedding" count would be. LoL (any family or friends reading this now, I will NOT be offended if you cannot attend, no te preocupes!).
3 | BUDGET | Having the guest list made early plus having an idea of budget range will mentally prepare you and help you decipher venues and guest pricing quicker than you think. The Knot has done a great job with providing information of potential costs on their vendor list review section on their website, their app is user friendly too.
3 | WEDDING EMAIL | This was a no brainer for me. I have four emails already on my phone and am prone to losing track of some that get lost in the junk folder. So before I started to speak with venues and vendors, I went ahead and created an email that was easy, ex) coffeeandwinewedding@gmail.com .
4| CEREMONY VENUE AVAILABILITY | First things first for any venue scouting, where is your ceremony going to be held OR what places do you wish for it to potentially happen? The party is great and all, but let's not forget the most sacred part of your wedding, hence why the most important thing for me was seeing if the ceremony venue of my choosing was available ASAP. I plan on being married in the Church and I was so happy when I learned they were available, had four slots open and were able to "pencil us in". There are a few more steps that come into play with religious settings away from your local parish, but remember they do this all the time and they have welcome packets full of information available and they want to help you (if they don't- rethink that venue). If you are choosing a non denominational church or venue hall to host it, deposit is to follow.
5| ORGANIZED PLANNING METHOD | Whether you have a wedding planner or not, I'm all about the wedding swag for the months ahead and wedding website. I'm talking a notebook, planner, check list, folder to hold all your print out wedding brochures, menu's vendor lists etc. etc. If you don't care about wedding themed office supplies you can easily go to the dollar store and pick out clean fresh folders and notepads. Just keep wedding stuff separate from all your biz/home file items. If you are on a tight budget but still seeking cute wedding items, head to HomeGoods, Francescas , or Target for wedding swag! Check out Sylv's post for what I mean [CLICK HERE].
As for wedding websites, I wanted to have a choice made on template and outline so that as I get information, confirmed venues and events, I can begin to upload as I go. Because if I know anything about party planning, time creeps up on you!
I chose ZOLA, because it's templates were my favorite amongst the others and the easy to use registry program it came with. I decided against making my own site from scratch as it's one less thing I have to do, why do we stress these things!?!
For anyone recently engaged, engaged and lost, a "Maid of Honor" wanting to be ahead of the game for their friend, or having serious conversations with their significant other and part of you know the question is coming...I hope this "TOP 5 Post Engagement TO DO's" helps you, calms you and gives you a sense of direction.
Here's a freebie download of our Top5 Checklist just for you:
Happy Planning
xoxo,
Caro
Watch the proposal HERE