The First 10 Steps for Wedding Planning

The First 10 Steps for Wedding Planning. Congratulations! You're about to embark on two amazing adventures - the first, of course, being your life as a wedded couple and the second being the exciting, yet often overwhelming process of planning a wedding. A wedding will probably be the biggest and most involved party or ritual either of you have ever put together. Before you get overwhelmed, take a deep breath, then do these ten things.

Enjoy Being Engaged: Kiss each other a thousand times. Jump up and down saying, "We're engaged!" Stare at the engagement ring. Take the time to write down in detail how you got engaged. (We'd love for you to share your marriage proposal story with us!) Contemplate the wonderful things ahead of you. Take pictures of yourselves with the engagement ring. Kiss each other a thousand more times. Read more about making your engagement special

Tell Your Parents: You should tell your parents of your impending nuptials before anyone else. (Unless of course, you are estranged.) Both of you should be present and ideally you will tell them in person - they'll have a chance to see your happiness up close, look at the ring, and start talking about the wedding. Traditionally the bride's parents know before the groom's do, but any order is really fine. (If you're a traditional couple, the groom may already have asked her parents for her hand in marriage.) Then share the news with a few close friends - the ones who are likely candidates for maid/matron of honor and best man, or definite attendants in some capacity.

Purchase a Journal If You Don't Already Have One: This will be a time of ten thousand moments you won't want to forget, as well as some frustrating times that you'll need to vent about, and not necessarily to your partner. The journal you keep while planning your wedding will not only help you through this time, but it will be something you cherish for the rest of your life. If you're internet savvy kinds of folks, you may also consider doing this journaling online at a site such as Livejournal, tumblr or your own blog.

Announce Your Engagement:
- Tell everyone the good news! There are many ways of doing this, and no way is more correct or better than another.
- Read about engagement announcement etiquette and see samples of engagement announcements

Consider:
- Announcing your engagement in print publications
- Mailing announcements to your family and friends
- Creating a wedding website

Set the Date: One of the most important decisions you will make as you plan your wedding. Not only will it be the first question everyone will ask you, but you'd be surprised how difficult it will be to make any progress on planning your wedding without knowing the date. How to Set Your Wedding Date