5 Things You’ll Learn After You Get Engaged

You have been dreaming of the moment your fiance would pop the question so you could start planning the wedding you have dreamed of since you two first meet. Now that you said yes and you have the ring it’s time to start planning your wedding!

I’m Raymond, a wedding photographer right here in Indianapolis.

There are going to be a few surprises you are going to learn while planning a wedding and to save you the pain of finding out on your own, here are 5 tips that will help you prepare so you don’t pull out all of your hair… That was an unintentional rhyme.

Wedding planning can be the worst

Wedding planning isn’t all picking a dress, tasting cakes, and drinking champagne. Sure there are those things and they are fun! But There is also picking table Lenin’s, sticking to a budget, making a seating chart, securing a venue, chasing down RSVPs. Planning a wedding is no easy feat to accomplish. Be prepared for the not so fun stuff.

Your dream wedding will cost more than your first born

Weddings are expensive. There is no doubt about it. Some compromises will have to be made. I’m sure Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had to make some compromises for their wedding. That’s why sitting down in the beginning of wedding planning and talking about what’s important to you both most is so important. Maybe it’s having an outdoor venue in the summer so you can dance the night away, maybe it’s getting an album with your wedding photography so you can relive every moment of your wedding day for years, maybe it’s having a live band over a DJ. Pick what’s most important to your wedding day so know where to look to compromise on the other aspects of your wedding. After all no one will be furious with you if you choose to do a buffet style dinner over a plated meal.

Pinterest will become invaluable

If you have never been married before, why should you be expected to be able to plan a wedding with a thousand moving parts, without a hitch? That’s unrealistic. Pinterest is a hive mind of some of the best wedding planning tips, dos and don'ts, budgeting help, and timeline guides! All free. You can even keep secret boards so your great aunt Karen cant give her unsolicited opinion on your centerpieces. I found for my wife and I’s wedding, doing some fun DIY projects that we found on Pinterest saved us a surprising amount of money and I had a great time doing fun projects with her that I never would have had any idea to do since we had never been married before. I would usually look at Pinterest during my lunch break at work then come home and talk about ideas with my fiancé then we would decide what were just lofty ideas and what we could actually accomplish!

Eloping will sound better and better every day

After just a few weeks of wedding planning you will start to realize why so many couples each year decide to just elope in some beautiful far away tropical land. It requires the only two things you need to get married, an officiant, and a location. Nothing else to worry about. No guest list, no distant relatives demands, no logistical timeline worries. Don’t worry you are not alone. Have that talk with your fiancé. Its normal.

It’s your day. Don’t worry about anyone else.

The sooner you learn this the better. Your wedding isn't just a one time event, It's a coming together of families.  Everyone will give you input about your wedding day even if they are not contributing a dime financially. They will have something to say about the ceremony, the food, wedding favors, the location, the date, the timing, the wedding party, the guest list, the music and of course how much or how little you should be spending. This can be the most stressful aspect of wedding planning. You want everyone to have a great time and enjoy themselves. But you also don’t want to start off your marriage with $150,000 in debt. Remember that this is YOUR wedding day and you have to do what’s right for you.

Know that you are not alone when it comes to planning your wedding. The wedding vendors you choose are not just vendors, they are experts when it comes to weddings. I welcome questions from my couples even if they have nothing to do with their wedding photography. I have worked with hundreds of other local wedding vendors over the years and if you have a question I don’t have the answer too, I bet I know who does have the answer. As a wedding photographer its in my best interest that your happy and stress free on your wedding day because it will shine through in your wedding photos.

See More: Complete Wedding Planning Guide!

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