Hey readers, in case you didn’t know, I just got married yesterday!
Yup, that’s right, I’m officially a M-R-S and off the market! Sorry frugal epicurious dudes. I’m in Tennessee right now, likely sleeping off a few too many celebratory glasses of wine.
But let’s start at the beginning…
I’ll tell you a story, your typical love story of guy-meets-girl and they become friends. Close friends. Like hang out every day, eat lunch together, celebrate good things, shoulder to cry on, soulmates without realizing it yet friends.
Everyone around them knows before they do, that they should be together. And then finally one day, they realize it. You may relate to this.
First date. (Laser tag). First kiss. Long talks. Long walks. Dinner, lunch, breakfast. First road trip. Facebook official (gasp!). First vacation together. Meet the parents.
Lots more dates and more trips and moving in together. Move together. Move again. And again. Get some dogs. And move yet again, except this time more than 1200 miles away.
Oh wait, that last part is probably just us, because we are crazy people.
Whatever your story is, whether you are high school sweethearts, aging young-at-heart geriatrics, divorcees, blind dates, met online, star crossed lovers, friends who decided to give love a shot, you now find yourself at that point of life of which romance movies, books, and songs are written: you are engaged.
Betrothed. Afianced.
Meaning… you two are going to be married!
So your lover has finally “popped the question” and you may or may not have a shiny object on a certain finger that rhymes with “thing”.
Which, by the way, if you don’t have a ring because of finances or other reasons, that is totally fine! Don’t buy into society’s hype that it isn’t real or official if there aren’t several hundred (or thousands, ugh) dollars adorning your left hand.
You two promising your love to each other and planning to set a date to make it official is all that truly matters.
Depending on how public or private your engagement was, you now have a few options.
Mostly, you will follow these steps:
Step 1: Decide who you want to know, and in what order
Step 2: Tell those people yourself, in person or on the phone
Step 3: Be prepared… for allllll the questions (oh and showing off that bling, if you have it!)
Step 4: Relax and Enjoy!
You need to decide how to spread your own news or social media will do it for you. Take control and tell those who matter the most first (probably mom & dad unless you want it to be held against you for all of time that they heard it from their cousin’s neighbor).
Go see them in person, everyone loves a surprise visit with good news, or call them and tell them. You will probably hear mixed reviews depending on the people’s opinions of this other person, such as “About time!” or “Why did you say yes??” but almost always “Congratulations!” and “So when’s the date?!?”.
Once you have each notified the family and friends most important to you, then you can turn to social media to notify the more peripheral circles of people you know and the world at large.
It is best to take several photos of the jewels involved and the two of you and decide together what ones you want to use.
Ladies: don’t worry about going out for a manicure, but make sure your nails are at least clean looking. No polish at all looks just fine. Cracked nails with bloody cuticles and dirt underneath, not so fine.
Once you have notified everyone, just sit back and enjoy this time!
Being engaged is a thrilling, exciting phase in life. People will try to push you into thinking ahead and immediately getting to the planning, but stand strong if that isn’t something you want right now.
I strongly recommend taking at least a few days or weeks to just be together. You will have plenty of time later to plan and think and stress out. Just enjoy each other and this first/next step you are taking on the road of life together.