For many people, being engaged is like being on the off-ramp to marriage the rest of your life: you can see it all up ahead, but you know there’s some stuff to negotiate before you can get there. The duration of your engagement means your chance to get things arranged, paid for and negotiated before the big day, and every engagement – like every marriage – is different. There are, however, some pitfalls that can occur when you get engaged, which can make the future between now and the marriage more bumpy, and sometimes even be tricky beyond that.
When it comes to getting engaged, then, it’s worth avoiding the following steps – for the most part, they’re not catastrophic, but they will pose problems you simply don’t need when you’re seeking to bask in the glow of being engaged and plan out a future wedding.
Don’t make huge decisions on the wedding for at least a week
When you’ve got engaged, there is a lovely spell of time where everything feels more blissful, a little softer somehow, and where you would probably say “yes” to anything. It’s this period of time that should be unencumbered by any decision-making. Tying yourself down to a commitment (other than the obvious one!) should be the last thing on your mind right now. Enjoy the fact that you’re engaged to be married, and then when it’s died down a little, you can start working on the finer details with a clearer head.
Don’t struggle on with a ring that’s not right
Few people will say that the groom is the star of any engagement photo, many will say that the bride-to-be is. But let’s face facts, for many people looking in, the real star of this picture is the one that shines brightest of all. Literally. That’s the ring! And it can be tempting, in the loved-up atmosphere that follows a proposal, to treat that ring like a holy relic. However, your engaged status doesn’t depend on wearing the ring, and if you need Whiteflash or any chosen vendor to resize it, they can do so. Don’t wedge it on if it’s too tight – you could literally injure yourself. Don’t try to hold it on if it’s loose – you could lose it all too easily, and that really would be bad news.
Don’t invite anyone right away
Of course it goes without saying that both of you will have in your mind people who will absolutely be asked to attend the wedding. You know that, and they also know that, but until you know how many people you can have at the wedding you won’t know where the cut is. You can’t be sure who will make it and, more importantly, who won’t. When you do know, you can work on a guest list, and avoid the situation where someone who has been invited tells someone who has not been – yet. Having time to plan it out means you can let everyone know at the same time.
Making the right decisions around an engagement and a wedding requires a clear head and decisive thinking – so make sure that you avoid anything that could lead you off the smartest path.