So he’s popped the question, you’ve said yes and you’re now the proud owner of both a loving fiancé and a ridiculously shiny engagement ring. Before you rush out and tell everyone you know however, it’s important to take a breath.
With all the excitement of getting engaged comes a strange tendency for people to make some rather silly mistakes. And if you’re not careful, you can easily find yourself hampering your wedding day before you’ve even started planning it.
Here are eight things not to do now that you’re getting married.
Don’t Try to Rush Things
Most engaged couples are shocked to discover just how much time goes into planning the perfect wedding. It’s therefore very important to give yourself plenty of time. The idea of waiting as much as a year to walk down the aisle mightn’t sound very tempting now, but trust me, once you realize just how much work needs to be done, you’ll be glad you didn’t try to rush things.
Don’t Buy the First Dress You Find
It’s not uncommon for newly engaged couples to approach wedding planning with something of a checklist mentality. While there’s not necessarily anything wrong with this, it does lead to the temptation to check things off as soon as possible. And provided you’ve set a date well in the future, this is neither necessary or particularly wise. Don’t choose a dress, venue or catering company until you’ve taken the time to shop around.
Don’t Guesstimate the Wedding Budget
If you have unlimited funds, you can skip this part but for most of us, our wedding day dreams will be limited by the amount of money in our pocket. And if this applies to you, it’s important to get your realism hat on before you start allocating those funds. If a service has the word wedding in the title, you can rest assured that it’s going to be surprisingly expensive. And a failure to understand this fact is what leads to so many newly weds starting their new life in debt.
Don’t Tell Your Parents They Can Plan the Ceremony
Upon getting engaged the first thing that you should do is tell your parents. The last thing that you should do however is tell them that they can plan it. Even the most well meaning parents have a strange habit of steam rolling the wedding planning process. And before you know it, you’re attending their dream wedding, not yours. Parental assistance is great, parental control however, not so much.
Don’t Tell Your Bridesmaids You’ll Pay for Them
Speaking of promises you can’t keep, don’t tell the bridesmaids that you’re going to pay for everything. Being a bridesmaid isn’t cheap and promising to cover the costs of your chosen ladies can therefore be surprisingly tempting. Unfortunately however, this isn’t feasible for most brides to be. And when the truth comes out, disappointment and resentment are only natural.
Don’t Invite Everyone You Know
Inviting people to your wedding is easy. Uninviting them however is downright impossible. And if you start firing out verbal invites without thinking, you might find that you’re suddenly planning a wedding that you don’t have a hope of paying for. Until you know how much you have to spend, and how you want to spend it, keep the guest list firmly under wraps.
Don’t Keep Things Bottled Up
Most couples are at their closest when they finally decide to tie the knot. Unfortunately however, most couples also grow apart during the months leading up to their wedding. Emotions tend to get bottled up, last minute doubts kept secret and romantic evenings replaced with tense guest list negotiations. Make a pact early on not to allow this to happen. Don’t let wedding planning dampen the relationship that you’re supposed to be celebrating.
Don’t Forget to Enjoy Being Engaged
Finally, it’s not uncommon for engaged couples to spend the months prior to their wedding with their eyes firmly on the big day. This however is a mistake. Sure, you only get married once (in theory) and a little bit of obsession is only natural, but you don’t exactly get engaged every day either. Try to enjoy both having and being somebody’s fiancé. It’s a wonderful life stage and yet it’s something that most people rush through.