Here's What To Do Before You Formalise Your Engagement

If you know that you’ve found ‘the one’ you might already be talking about the rest of your lives. Getting married offers plenty of advantages to a busy couple. Sharing your lives together as husband and wife means you will always be able to enjoy life’s ups, downs and surprises as a couple.

So what do you need to do make it official? And what is an engagement anyway? How long does it need to last? Who do you tell? All these questions crop up when a couple is ready to secure their relationship in a lifelong commitment. They can be distracting and uncomfortable. Instead, try to do what feels right for you both. Even if there are members of the family that would like things done in a particular way, this is your time and your life.

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Traditionally, an engagement ring is offered at the time of a proposal. There aren’t many girls that would want to avoid this one! You can choose from thousands of designs or commission a bespoke ring. Why not make the most of it and also design a unique custom wedding ring to match it? It saves you hours trawling websites and stores for something that isn’t quite you. If you are both creative people, then designing something that comes from within you both is the perfect start to any engagement.

Your engagement period will last as long as it takes to become married. That date is dependent on many things. Your availability may be limited, and some of your family members may not be around as much as you’d like. It’s usually the availability of your preferred wedding venue that determines your wedding date. Once you have your heart set on a place, you will probably be happy to wait up to a year for the date to come up. Waiting this long gives you enough time for the wedding planning.

Whether you use social media for this or not, there will be certain members of your family who would like to be told in person. Often, the father of the bride chooses to pay for the wedding. Whether this is the case or not, you might want to take Dad out for a meal and announce your happy news to him. He may want to know what your plans are for the wedding. Your parents are also likely to have some ideas about who to invite!

If you haven’t done so already, now is the time to announce publicly your engagement. You will need help from your family and friends, and you will also need to invite everyone to the wedding. Announcements can be made in person at an engagement party. You might also want to make a public announcement in your local or national newspaper.

Getting engaged is only one small part of your official union as a couple. Some couples like to stay unofficially engaged for months or even years. Others never marry, but prefer to stay committed by intention. This might suit you, or you might be keen to have a dream wedding to make your lives together official. To the happy couple!