Tea Thyme // A 5 Step Planning Starter Kit

Congratulations on your engagement! We hope you’re as excited as we are to get the planning process started. If you’re feeling more overwhelmed than excited however, that’s okay! We’re here to help.

For our very first Tea Thyme Tuesday blog, we’re covering the top five things you should do following your engagement. Consider it your Planning Starter Kit! You might want to sip this one slowly because it’s HOT!

1. Announce + Celebrate Your Engagement

You’re probably going to want to share the news with your closest family and friends first. After that, all bets are off as word travels fast! Get creative with a social media announcement. Consider including your children (fur babies count!) or a unique prop to let the world know you said yes.

The second part of this tip is pretty obvious but too important not to mention. Take time to celebrate your engagement! Whether you throw a big party or simply pop a bottle of champagne with your fiancé, you’ll want to soak in this moment.

2. Secure Your New Bling

Nothing puts a damper on engagement celebrations like losing your ring. To *insure* this doesn’t happen, we recommend purchasing insurance for your ring and getting it sized immediately following the proposal. Once the boring stuff is taken care of, be sure to post a ring selfie for the world to enjoy!

3. Dream Up Your Big Day

Now comes the fun part – it’s time to dream up your perfect wedding day! Here are a few big picture items we recommend focusing on first:

• Time of Year – You may need to be flexible as far as an exact date is concerned. However, we do suggest nailing down a time of year or season for your event at the beginning of the planning process.
• Location – The options are endless with this one! You can get married at a location that is convenient to you or to your guests or opt for experience over convenience with a destination wedding.
• Size – Times are a-changin’. A guest count of 200+ is no longer expected. Maybe you want to celebrate the traditional way with all of your friends and family (+ family of family) or maybe you prefer a micro celebration or elopement. Go with the option that works best for YOU here.
• Venue Type + Event Style – These two tend to go hand in hand but they don’t have to! Perhaps you’ve always dreamt of getting married at a local historic venue but you’re drawn to a more modern style. We say go for it! In the end, it’s your day and it should be unique to you and your fiancé.

4. Prep for Your Venue + Vendor Search

Once you’ve nailed down the basics, you’ll likely be eager to start booking vendors. Before reaching out to anyone, we suggest creating a wedding email account. This will help you to stay organized while also allowing you to step away from the planning process when needed.

Additionally, we recommend creating a wedding budget before starting the vendor search. For more on this, check out our blog “3 Tips for Creating (+ sticking to!) Your Wedding Budget.”

5. Connect with A Planner

Last but not least, connect with a wedding planner! We’ll help you with the rest.

Thanks for tuning in to this week’s edition of Tea Thyme! Be sure to join us next Tuesday as we spill the T on how to choose your wedding party.