Engaged?  Here are 5 Things to do Right Away
 

1)  Have an Engagement Party

People naturally want to congratulate you. An engagement party gives them this opportunity, as well as facilitates your different groups of friends and family getting to know each other.  It’s especially a great time for the bride’s family and the groom’s family to get closer to each other.

2) Choose your Venue and Date

The choosing of one’s wedding date and venue go hand in hand. You should choose your venue before your date. What if you find your dream venue, only to find that it’s not available on the date that you’ve given everyone? Have an idea of the dates you’re interested in, but be flexible unless the date has great significance to you.   Need venue ideas in the Greater Seattle Tacoma area?  Check out our Pinterest Board for Western WA Wedding Venues https://www.pinterest.com/seattleweddings/seattle-wa-wedding-venues/

3) Choose your Wedding Party

It’s important to choose your party early on since you’ll want their emotional support from the beginning, as well as their presence during the whole planning process.  Traditionally parties have 4 attendants each, but it’s okay to break the rules.  If you want 1 attendant or 10, it’s up to you.  Just keep in mind that the more people in your party, the more people you’ll need to coordinate things with.  Don’t choose your party lightly.  These people will be with you through the whole process and you need people who will encourage you and be there for you even if things get stressful.

4) Come up with a Wedding Budget

It’s important to set up a realistic, but flexible budget.  Before setting up your wedding budget, it’s a good idea to find out how much services cost and make a list of your priorities.  For example, if photos are your priority, you might want to spend a little less on food. 

A good way to get an idea of how much you should expect to spend on different services is to enter the zip code of where you hope to have your wedding into the Cost of the Wedding site at http://www.costofwedding.com/  Remember that the cost of a well experienced professional is often much higher than these averages.  

Sometimes what you really want isn’t within your budget.  That doesn’t mean that you have to forego it.  Some vendors will work with you in setting up a payment plan, and some will even accept payments after the wedding date.  Most will not offer this upfront, but if you want something that isn’t in the budget, don’t hesitate to ask your vendors if they have payment plan options or even if they take credit.  Your vendors probably can’t lower their prices because they’re charging what they need to in order to keep their business running and to support their families; however, many of them will work with you to make the process as easy as possible for you.  So do ask if they have payment plan options if your desires are outside of your budget.

5) Get your Engagement Photos Done

The engagement photo session is a great way to start your planning process.  It’s a fun experience and it will give you photos to show off to your friends and family.   It’s also an opportunity to learn the poses and to get comfortable in front of the camera before your wedding.  It’s also a great opportunity to test working with a photographer before committing to spend thousands on the wedding photography with them.  One way to do this is to book a smaller engagement package and then upgrade to more images once you see them.  You can purchase our engagement deal at https://www.groupon.com/deals/ps-photography-video-4  for just $39 and if you love the images like most of our clients do, then you can upgrade the package.  If you want ideas for how to use your engagement photos, check out our blog post at http://psphotography.zenfolio.com/blog/2013/4/outdoor-couples-and/or-engagement-photos

Ready to book your engagement session? Click here to book now.

Article by Trina Heppner with PS Photography & Video.  Servicing the Greater Seattle area and worldwide.  http://psphotography-video.com