Now that the rings have been exchanged and you are officially ‘on’ as a couple, there are some things you absolutely need to do to get yourselves organized and well on the track to planning the best wedding day ever.
1. Inform important people who were not invited to the engagement
Nowadays, wedding engagements in India are not the elaborate affairs they used to be. So if you have had a small ceremony, make sure you call all the important people to let them know, rather than having them find out through your Facebook status.
2. Take a weekend off with your friends
Does this remind you of the scene in the uber popular movie DDLJ where Kajol’s mother tells her to live her life by going on an European vacation after getting engaged to someone she does not love? Well, if you have the resources for a fabulous weekend trip with your girlfriends, why not use them to see nearby places that you have not been to before. This could be a perfect backdrop for planning a fun bachelorette party as well.
3. Enjoy the moment
Before you dive into the logistics and the hectic phase of planning, shopping and shopping some more, take some time to savour the moment. Let the reality sink in: you have found the one! You have found your soul mate and now it is time to enjoy an epically romantic phase of your life.
4. Dream and plan with your other-half-to-be
For many Indian brides-to-be, getting engaged also means a move to another city. This can definitely cause some stress. So we are certainly not suggesting that you start house hunting or packing huge bags or even talking about kids or changing jobs and so on. What we are recommending is creating fantasies, inspiration boards and browsing through online inspirational stories of real weddings that can help you plan your own fairytale wedding.
5. Slowly ease into wedding plannin
As the clock ticks, slowly ease yourself into the wedding planning phase. You could start by making a rough guest list as this is what is required first whether you are booking the venue or other wedding suppliers/ vendors. Next up: create a basic budget outline so you can stick to it.
6. Plan your honeymoon
Get the calendar out and start planning your honeymoon. Think about a place that you both love: it could be the beach, the mountains or any other exotic foreign destination. Accordingly, you can book your flight tickets and hotels and, who knows, maybe catch some great discounts by booking early.
7. Book the venue
Booking of the venue will set the ball rolling as to the kind of celebration you actually want. Whether you are looking for a themed wedding, a destination beach wedding or an indoor intimate ceremony, the venue is where you start. All else will quickly fall in place. We recommend thinking out of the box and beyond a conventional marriage hall, if you have the budget.
8. Book the vendors
If you plan on having the best wedding photographers or other top vendors in the country, it is important that you book them 6-8 months before the wedding. Many top vendors only accept one or two weddings per season so they get booked fairly quickly.
And finally, we suggest you have fun doing all these things. Take dance lessons with your fiancé, or just go out and enjoy yourselves without discussing the wedding all the time. Try not to make a big deal out of the planning process; rather just be yourself as much as possible.
Happy wedding planning!
Images: Sandeep Gupta Photography
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