A good friend of mine just got engaged and I couldn’t be more excited for her. It’s such a wonderful and exciting time! You’ve got a wedding to plan, but it will be fun, right?

Here are the top five tips to ensure that the planning process– not to mention your wedding day– remain just as fun as those first days of engagement.

#1. Dream and Enjoy!

Your eyes are as sparkly as your ring, and they should be! Take it all in and bask in it– including Pinterest, magazines and blogs. This isn’t a fact-finding mission, but a chance to think about all the possibilities. Anything that catches your eye, wedding related or not, pin it, tear it or mark it. Every once in awhile see if there is a trend, style, or colors coming through or ideas that stick with you. {image}

#2. Where to Marry

This is always a for discussion and is the first step in the wedding process. This can also be traded out for “What Time of Year?” but they are related. If you are under specific time pressure, then a place that is nice that needed time of year might dictate a destination wedding. Many couples chose a city or state that is important to them, and this helps decide what time of year. {For example, my husband and I chose to be married in Florida, and Feb/March are the most beautiful, narrowing our window.} There may some compromise here, but once this is decided, everything else can start– and you can see which of your ideas from #1 might really work! {image}

#3. Go Dress Shopping

This is seriously fun and is often kept for later in the process– for no reason! Right away make some appointments, gather your girls, drink champagne and spend a day(s) getting dressed up like a princess. Really, do I have to twist your arm?  Bring some pictures of dresses you like, but be open to new ideas, too. Once you decide what style of dress looks good on your body and fits your style, you may go back to the magazines looking for an entirely different kind of dress than you thought. More reasons to do it early on? Many wedding dresses take at least 6 months to get made/shipped, so give yourself plenty of time to make a decision. Also– the style of your wedding dress may change the style of your big day– it may be more or less formal than your originally thought. So gather your girlies and go do some shopping! {image}

#4. Engagement Photos

Dress up and be cute with your partner in some of your favorite spots while a photographer follows you around, framing you beautifully. Sound like fun? It is, even if it’s a bit awkward at first. This seems like an easy, not important detail to give up, but we love ours, and still use the engagement photos more than the ones from our wedding. We just look a couple of kids in love, rather than super fancy in wedding clothes. Do it. You won’t regret it.

#5. Think About What’s Important

This conversation will start you on the path of creating a budget, and you are probably about there. Keeping it context of your priorities will help guide the process of putting your numbers together. After dress shopping, photos and looking at images, you are probably realizing you can’t have everything {even those with luxury budgets}. If your heart is set on a couture dress and crystal glasses, then maybe a smaller guest list is in order. If having all your friends attend is the most important, then location might be the priority, and your budget would need to reflect a larger venue budget, than, say, invitations. Remind yourself throughout the wedding planning process of these priorities to ensure you stay on track, both to stay sane and enjoy, and budget. {image}

So go enjoy! Congratulations! And have fun planning!