Just got engaged? Here's 10 things every couple needs to do

Just got engaged? Congratulations!

Once your closest friends and family know, it’s time to share your big news with the world! Everybody dreams about announcing their engagement over social media nowadays: you can finally change your Facebook relationship status to ‘Engaged’, post that engagement ring selfie and watch the likes, comments and messages of congratulations pour in.

What should you do to plan a wedding after you've celebrated your engagement?

Plan Your Wedding Guest List

How many people should you invite to your wedding? This is completely up to you and depends on your budget, venue size, and your guest list. Generally speaking, if you are having a large wedding, it is recommended to invite between 100-150 people. If you are having a smaller wedding, it is recommended to invite between 50-75 guests.

Your wedding guest list is always a difficult one to decide upon, who makes the cut? how do you choose? Should you invite your great aunt Doreen or your second cousin's husband? Your wedding guest list will make a big difference to the type of wedding you can afford.

Ask yourself - who would you really like to be there, who can bring a plus one, and who should only be invited to the reception? Don’t worry about disappointing anyone, this is your day.

A good tip is who would you go for dinner with and have a great night be fair your choices may not be quite the same as your other half so you may need to compromise.

Find Your Wedding Inspiration

With budgets, priorities and guest lists sorted, it’s time to get inspired. One great way to find some dream wedding inspo is to attend some wedding open days. This is a brilliant way to find your dream venue, learn some tips and tricks and meet some local vendors. If you’re looking for a romantic wedding venue in the Yorkshire Dales, why not take a virtual tour of our Netherside Suite?

Plan Your Budget

Before you start any real planning, you need to discuss the budget. It’s time to sit down together, take a look at your finances and plan realistically. You can't plan your wedding without knowing how you’re going to fund it!

Nobody likes talking about finances, and we know how daunting it can all be. But having a clear plan of exactly what you can afford will make your wedding planning run so much smoother and avoid disappointments.

Setting the Date

Choosing the perfect date and time of year for a special event can be tricky. You have to think about the weather, travel costs, possible holidays and other factors including accommodation prices for your guests. It's not an easy task but it's worth it.

Planning a wedding is a huge undertaking, and it’s important to give yourself plenty of time to get everything in order. We suggest giving yourself at least 10 months to plan every detail from the venue, menu, decorations, and more. When deciding on the time of year for your wedding, consider potential seasonal elements such as weather and blooms in addition to school holidays and local events that may be happening during that period. This will help ensure you have the very best day possible for you and your loved ones.

After taking everything into account, you'll have your potential dates narrowed down to 3. Double check these dates work for you and make sure that none of them are unsuitable for any close family members. Ideally, this should give you the flexibility of two potential dates when making contact with venues.

Get Organised

Now you’re ready to get wedding planning, but don’t know where to begin? If it all feels a little overwhelming, it's a great idea to download a wedding planning app to your phone.

Wedding planning apps like are bursting with wedding planning advice. With a wedding planning app you can write a wedding checklist, plan your budget, create shortlists, map out your seating plan and more.

Another great option is to plan your big day in a wedding planner book. Wedding planner books are extremely helpful for jotting down your research and organising your wedding plan thoroughly - and who doesn't love an excuse to buy a new notebook? Sometimes it's just better to have something you can hold and flick through rather than keeping everything on an app (or if you're planning-crazy like we are, why not use both?).

Choose Your Wedding Party

One of the many exciting parts of getting engaged is choosing your wedding party! The people you choose to be in your wedding party will be by your side from the minute you ask them to be your bridesmaid or best man, all the way to the moment you walk down the aisle, so choose your closest friends and loved ones who will make the day even more magical and help everything run smoothly on the day.

Get Your Ring Sized

Unless your partner was able to pull off some sneaky research or make a very lucky guess, most couples need to get the engagement ring resized a little.

You're probably already planning to do this ASAP (who doesn't want to be able to show off their engagement ring as soon as possible?), but if not, we’d suggest doing this sooner rather than later. If the engagement ring is too loose, you could risk it falling off and going missing.

Celebrate with your loved ones

Whether you're thinking about planning an engagement party or a simple get-together with your closest friends and family our team can help. Why not take your loved ones out for celebratory drinks, a meal or an alternative afternoon tea to start your wedding planning?

If you do decide to throw a bigger event, planning an engagement party is a perfect introduction to wedding planning. After planning your engagement party you’ll know what to look out for when it comes to planning your wedding day.

If group events aren’t your thing, you might even want to celebrate the engagement just between the two of you. There’s no reason why you can’t celebrate your engagement with a romantic dinner or a weekend away! We'd recommend the Woodland Glamping Pods at Long Ashes Park if you're looking for unique romantic getaways in Yorkshire.

Take Time to Relax

The big news is out, you’ve celebrated your engagement, and the ring has been resized. Now is the time to take a little step back from it all. Don’t be tempted to jump straight into wedding planning – give yourself some time to let it all sink in!

You and your partner have just experienced a major change in your relationship, so it’s important to take a little step back and avoid rushing straight into things. Many couples wait months before starting any wedding planning! Allow yourself some time to settle into the changes. Sit back, relax and just enjoy being engaged.

Don't forget

Communication is Key!

You’ll be amazed how easy it is to get carried away with everything, even to the point where you almost forget you’re not the only one involved in this! We get it, it's all so exciting. But avoid making enquiries, booking viewings and planning celebrations without running them by your partner first, as this could lead to a breakdown in communication. Even if one of you is taking control of the wedding planning, try to always keep your partner in the loop.

Spend Quality Time Together

When you’re in the midst of wedding planning on top of everything else, it's easy to forget to prioritise making time for each other. There are so many date night ideas for every budget, so spending time together doesn't have to take away from the wedding savings.

Discuss Your Priorities

Take some time with your partner to discuss your priorities for the wedding and establish your non-negotiables. This will give you a more specific idea of what you’re looking for, which will really help you to get started with enquiries and viewings. For example, if a non-negotiable is that you really want a venue that can host both your ceremony and reception in the same place, you’ll only be able to hire a venue that allows this. Or if you won't settle for less than 120 guests, there needs to be space in the budget for this.

Congratulations again on your engagement, and enjoy the wedding planning! If you need some more inspiration, why not check out our blog for featured weddings, tours of our wedding venue and more.