So you just got engaged, what to do first?  You may have pictured that wedding in your head your whole life, but now that it is here, what should you be doing?

1. Budget – Talk to your Fiance and your parents and figure out what you have to spend, and if anyone else may be contributing to your wedding.  Budgets are very important to establish before meeting with vendors and scoping out reception locations

2. Date – Talk to your Fiance about the time of year you want to be married in and how long of an engagement you are both wanting to have.

3. Inspiration – Grab some bridal magazines at the store and start looking at wedding blogs online for inspiration.  If you find a bouquet you like, or centerpieces, print them out (or tear them out) and start a binder with plastic sleeves for you to put all those pictures in.  This will help you find the style of your wedding and will be good to show various vendors at meetings.

4. Ceremony & Reception– Are you planning on having your ceremony in a church?  Another venue?  Talk to your Fiance to figure out what he was envisioning as well, especially if you both are of different faiths and might have different ideas.  Once you’ve decided, book your ceremony location for the date you want.  The ceremony is the most important part of the day for your wedding, and you want to make sure that is taken care of first.  After you have booked the ceremony, talk to various reception venues in your area to see what their availability is and if they will fit into your budget.

5. Vendors – Start looking for vendors in your area that you want to meet with.  If you are getting married in the summer or early fall, lots of vendors are booked up to a year in advance.  Look at their websites and set up meetings with each so you can see who you and your Fiance feel most comfortable with.

Congrats on getting engaged!  Remember that this is a special time for you and your fiance so make sure you two take time to spend together during this planning process.  Set a date night for just the two of you, and try to not talk about the wedding!  Knowing who you are as a couple and growing together as a couple is very important to building a strong marriage.