What to do if you just got engaged

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If you are newly engaged the chances are your probably anxiously thinking right, what next. How on earth do we get to grips with planning a wedding right now. This is no ordinary post on newly engaged wedding planning tips. Find out what you need to know, what you should not do and what you can start doing.

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3. 17 Clever ways to save money on your wedding (updated for 2020)

Newly Engaged Wedding Planning Tips

With over 100,000 couples in the UK that have already postponed their wedding for 2021 and no clear guidance as yet as to whether even they will happen.  At the moment you would need a crystal ball to organise your wedding, let alone pick a date. Right now, the best advice is to hang fire and wait. Yes, I know its awful to contemplate and your so excited to get going but the name of the game is to wait.  Wait for the guidance from the government to be updated, so you can start to think about a date.

Three things you should not do right now

1. Pick a Date
2. Send out Save the Dates
3. Book any Suppliers

Wait before you book wedding suppliers as right now you cannot get wedding insurance.  Which means that if any of them go bust you will not be able to recoup any deposits etc. through insurance even obtained at a later date.

The situation with wedding suppliers is going to be precarious, sadly many venues will go into administration. Many suppliers will not survive this pandemic financially so you need to be extremely cautious making bookings right now.

Crucially you need to have an idea on your guest list. If you want a wedding with a big guest list, certainly anything more than 50 then you really need to wait and hold off making any bookings. Alternatively, you may want to consider a completely more intimate wedding with a minimum of key witnesses. Many couples are doing this in favour of making sure they get married. The benefit of this is your more likely to be able to get married sooner, and any changes will have minimal impact financially.

There are going to be couples in a slightly different situation that may be able to get dispensation to marry on compassionate grounds. If your in this situation you need to talk to your local registrar or church vicar.

What to do now your engaged?

OK, so what now we’ll you can still make the most of your time as a fiance and a newly engaged couple.

1. Ring Selfies are a great way to make the most of your newly found status. You may even have spent more on the engagement ring knowing that your wedding could be a way off.
2. Engagement Photo shoot. A socially distanced photo shoot is a great way to document these strange times.
3. Start a Wedding planner, have fun making your own from scratch. Don’t forget to download the free mini planner from here it will give you a great pack of resources to get you started.
4. Start planning your wedding using online tools such as Pinterest. Follow some Facebook groups and blogs to start gathering ideas.
5. Sign up for Freebies and competitions that you can use to help get you started.
6. Take some time to be a couple and really enjoy this moment. Look beyond the wedding where do you see yourselves. Start to map out some of your hopes and dreams. Just because your wedding is on hold doesn’t mean your life is on hold. Many couples that get married embark on new adventures, it could be travel inspired, a business venture or a new career path.

The Benefits of having a small wedding

The one thing that this pandemic is highlighting and that is the importance of family and relationships. There has never been a more poignant time than the marriage of two people now.  Making that lifelong commitment through good times and bad.

1. The risk is less with a smaller wedding not only for your finances but for the health of your loved ones. When you invite older relatives they will feel obliged to attend.
2. Planning your wedding this year or next the chances are you may well be moving the date more than once. Less guests means less hassle when it comes to making those changes.
3. A smaller wedding will be quicker to organise which means you could react quickly if the window of opportunity rose to get married.
4. There is nothing stopping you having a big party when the dust finally settles. The wedding after party gives everyone a chance to get together again.
5. Financially, we don’t know what is ahead in terms of job security and the economy. Spending less on your wedding is a valuable money management lesson that you should both learn. This is essential for a marriage built on financial responsibility.