Just got engaged yesterday!!

First of all.... CONGRATULATIONS! I know how exciting this an be so enjoy the engagement as much as you can!

First thing to do and it's not always an easy task but establish a budget. You really need to put financials in place before doing anything else otherwise you might be locking in things that are outside of your budget. Also try to establish who who will be providing money and where to. If you and your fiance are paying for everything it makes things a little easier but if your families are going to be providing some sort of funds or are choosing to pay for a specific piece of the day you would want to know that earlier rather than later so you can budget accordingly.

Next would be deciding where you want to have your big day! Do you want your ceremony & reception in the same space? Do you want your ceremony at a church or place of worship? Would you want a reception at a scenic spot or a convention hall? Maybe you're doing your own type of venue like a backyard wedding. Whatever you decide will be perfect but narrow down what you and your fiance are looking for and then begin your search.

The next piece would be the date. If you have a date already in mind then make sure to ask your venue if that date is available. If you are more flexible I recommend asking if they have discounts for their off season and what those are. You might be able to get a nice price for weekends in the winter or even on Fridays and Sundays versus Saturdays. Another way to go about date is if you are flexible but want a certain timeframe you can give a few dates you'd like and see if your venue is available for any of those.

Once you have your date and your vendor(s) locked in, I would go for your priority vendors. Only you know what those priority people are but whether they be your photographer, videographer, DJ, caterers, bartenders, florists, cake, etc. you want to lock them in. Do your searching and make sure the first question you're asking is if they have your date available.

Depending on how much time you have before your big day you may be more flexible with getting things done right away or waiting a little while. Make sure you get your bridal party locked in and any color schemes or themes you'd like for your day early. After those big bookings are done you can move through the fun stuff and get your details of the day finalized.

For me we had a tough time setting budget but tried to give ourselves a little bit of flexibility with it so if we did go over what we originally set, it was still in our range. For example, (not our real numbers) we wanted it to be $30,000 we would've set it at $25,000 to make sure for any additional costs that would incur as in tips or service charges. We knew we wanted our ceremony at a church with our reception at a hotel where we would get a room block as well, so our venue searches were easy. We already had our church so then it was finding a hotel we liked within our budget. My priority vendors were the photographer & videographer and our DJ so those were the first vendors I researched and booked. I've decided to do a lot of our flowers and decor myself so I am not booking a florist but will have to get some transportation and my cake. I have absolutely loved planning so I think if you are able to find some fun in it and especially doing it with your fiance makes the experience a great one.

I didn't choose to book a wedding planner because I wanted to do it all myself but my venues do have amazing coordinators that are assisting me. If you do want a planner I recommend booking that first and make sure she/he is within your budget. If you're like me and want the day to be the one you create then I highly recommend some sort of wedding planning journal. My sister got mine off of Amazon as a Christmas gift and it is honestly one of my favorite things ever! It provides all the steps and tips for you and really does a great job of walking me through the planning. Plus it makes for a great keepsake after the wedding!

Even though we aren’t Chinese, we looked up lucky and prosperous dates in 2021 under Chinese beliefs to establish our date. Then from a venue perspective we were wanting a less expensive day so we chose Sunday. Married these two ideas and nailed down 8-8-2021 (8 is a lucky number times two meaning double luck) and for 2021 (meaning when two become one). We got engaged in July 2020.