A few years ago I was there. Newly engaged and a little overwhelmed having no idea where to start or how to process this exciting season. After being a wedding photographer for 8 years, I remember sitting down to start wedding planning and having no idea where to begin. ”Engaged… now what??!” were the words I typed into that google search bar. No, seriously.

1. Get that gorgeous ring re-sized (if needed) and insured! Yeah yeah, it’s not near as fun as drinking champagne with your girls+flipping through the latest wedding magazines. BUT. I probably hit my ring more times in that first month than I have in the last year as I was not used to having it on my finger.
2. Create a separate wedding email. Seriously. As you begin emailing with locations, vendors, signing up on the knot.com or entering draws at the local wedding show, having ALL your wedding emails in one place was so helpful during planning, but also to turn off the wedding “spam” after your big day.
3. Create a new Pinterest board for wedding inspiration! Sure, you have that board you’ve been adding pins to for years daydreaming of this day. Chances are, your vision has changed quite a bit over the years so starting fresh was a great way to simplify ideas and brainstorm with my hubby-to-be.
4. Figure out an approximate guest list. Again, not the most glamorous item on the wedding planning list, but figuring this out early in the game was a huge help for a few reasons! a) It is a great way to figure out who YOU want to celebrate your day with before the oh-so-many questions begin and those long-lost friends start reaching out.   b) It will help you know approximate numbers when looking for venues too.