AHHH. You’re engaged!

Congrats girl. You did it. Or should I say…HE did it.

He FINALLY put a ring on that pretty finger of yours and you are beside yourself excited! If I could only sit down with you and hear all of the juicy details about how you got engaged!

Were you shocked? Did you expect it at all? Did he pick the ring out all by himself? Have you already been dress shopping? SO MANY QUESTIONS. Because let’s face it. Now that you’re officially engaged, it’s go time from here up until the big day and trust me, there are lots and lots to do until the day you say those two magical words.

There are endless opinions out there with all that needs to be done now that the first step of getting engaged is taken care of, but be careful from this point on of who you actually take advice from. I mean, don’t get me wrong, your granny’s advice from way back when in her day will I’m sure be meaningful to you, but…

things just aren’t what they used to be when it comes to planning a wedding.

This will be hands down the biggest day of your life, so when it comes to taking advice from people, be sure to take it from people who are actually in the business of weddings.

Ironically, yours truly right here happens to be one of those people. HA! But seriously. Weddings are my job. I have weddings booked out an entire year in advance to do photography for and after shooting at least a million of them (and having one myself), I think I’ve narrowed down the list on what’s really important versus what’s not so much when starting to plan for a wedding.

Step One: BOOK A VENUE.

Venue’s are hard to come by these days if you don’t book out at least a year in advance. If you’ve had your eye on a place for a while now, BOOK IT NOW. Call today. Seriously. That’s one thing that gets booked pretty much the second the ring goes on the finger (if not before). Get on Pinterest, find you a venue and book, book, book.

Step Two: BROOKE…I MEAN, BOOK…A PHOTOGRAPHER. 😉

Okay, funny, but second to the venue, this is a must as well. Something I’m seeing now days (as a photographer myself) this massive crowd of photographers out there. You’re going to have a million options to choose from, but this is where you need to do your research. Don’t just settle for ya friend Sasha to show up the day of your wedding and take some okay pictures with her okay camera. You want the big guns for this because these will be pictures you have hanging on your walls FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.

Because of this, know up front that this is going to be where you want to drop your money. The cake, the dj, the food for all of your guests, the invites…all of those things are important, but will they all be hanging on your walls for years to come?

Nope.

So, investing in a PROFESSIONAL photographer for the day of your wedding is an absolute must. Hey, if you haven’t booked yet, no need to look. Let’s chat about dates to see if I have an open spot for your weekend! Set up an appointment here.

Step Three: GET ON THE SAME PAGE WITH YOUR MAN.

You’re not going to find this step in any of your to do lists, but believe me, this is a massive one. You need to have a coffee date with your new fiance and talk wedding details. This might be painful to him, but you need to at least cover the ground rules before you start making all these decisions without him.

Decide together on your location. Destination wedding? Local? Decide on the size of the wedding. Are you going to be inviting your great aunt Susie or are you going to stick to people who are actually presently IN your life currently? Is it going to be a small wedding or are you going to make this the wedding of the century? Decide on the kind of budget you’re going to have for the wedding as well.

Make sure you’re on the same page for the bigger decisions and then after that?

Go nuts with all of the other smaller ones.

Get ready girl! You’ve got a LOT to do until the big day! I’ll be here to help you as much as I can…every step of the way.

I am giving you a behind the scenes look into my client workflow! Click here to download your free guide! Looking for a place to connect with and learn from other photographers? Join my Facebook Community! If you are interested in working directly with me as your coach, click here to apply for 1:1 Mentoring!