You’re Engaged — Now What?

What to expect and how smart people prepare for marriage (and their wedding)

On New Year’s Eve, my fiancé proposed and I said “Yes”. I had been expecting the proposal because we picked out the engagement ring together. I used to like surprises, but this was better, because we did this together.

This was the second time I had been proposed to. The first time I had no idea the proposal was coming, as I didn’t help pick out the ring. This time around I knew what to expect about a wedding ring and marriage. As anyone getting engaged for the first (or not the first) time, I had exciting thoughts about how would we get married?

As officially engaged, our status from Boyfriend or Girlfriend, has been upgraded to Fiancé. He’s my new official Plus One. We have high hopes for our marriage. In the first month, we were the envy of our friends who congratulated and were excited for us.

When you’re engaged, the feeling of happiness overflows into every ounce of your being. You’re in a state of bliss.

it’s a time of joy, but before your wedding planning starts, there are some critical things to think about and do, before saying “I Do”. Don’t skip this smart step, as it will be harder after the wedding planning gets in motion. In excitement, many couples have blinders on and forget to plan their marriage.

When my now fiancé and I got engaged, we were both starting our own new seasons of life. I was leaving a career, and he was starting retirement in a different country!

It all happened within the first few months. Neither of us thought it would be the right time to plan a wedding, despite all our curious friends inquiring.

When the swirling excitement feelings died down, we were back to real life and decisions.

We spent weeks apart. And my fiancé lost a parent during these first few months. Instead of marrying right away, we decided to wait through this season of indefinite length. Then, we were expected to be living long distance apart for about a year. There was no clear picture of a selected wedding site, which is needed for setting a wedding date. We chose to wait for the right timing.