Engaged to Be Married? Tips and Ideas to Help You Plan the Perfect Celebration!

Congratulations! You're Engaged...!

...and about to embark on the exciting journey and often overwhelming process of planning a wedding! Your wedding celebration will most likely be the biggest and most important 'party' you have ever put together. So, take a deep breath, and follow our list of what to do next!

Number One (and most importantly) - Enjoy being engaged! Say 'I Love You' to each other a million times and then shout from the rooftops "We're engaged!" Make sure you take plenty of pictures of yourselves with the engagement ring, they will make great shots for you to use when you start planning your engagement announcements, wedding stationary and invites later on.

Tell your parents and family - If they don't already know, make sure the first people you tell are your parents and those close to you so that they too can share in your excitement. It will be great for them to see how happy you are and to help you with the beginnings of your great adventure and planning your big day.

Announce Your Engagement - Tell everyone the good news! There are so many ways of doing this and the best way will be by announcing your engagement party! Put your heads together and practice for the big day by organising a gathering of your family and friends to celebrate!

You can design your own invitations with a picture of you both looking extremely happy! Or use images of you and the ring, colours for the theme of the party and much more - the possibilities are endless.

Set the Date - One of the most important decisions you will make as you plan your wedding is the date itself. This may be a year from the day of your engagement or another date that is special to you. Once you have decided on the date you can start the planning...

Send Save the Dates - Wedding Save the Dates are generally sent out six to twelve months before the wedding date, and are usually followed by a formal Wedding Invitation. You can create so many stylish designs and there are hundreds of themes to choose from including, floral, cartoon, woodland rustic, garden, beach, location and formal designs. Save the Dates are a modern keepsake that your guests can cherish and not throw away, there are some truly unique ways to announce your wedding or event to family and friends and make sure that they keep your big day free in their diary months ahead of receiving their official invite. If you were feeling clever and looking to save a little money on stamps you could always combine the invites to your engagement party and your save the date all in one hit!

Engagement Party Ideas!

Anyone invited to your engagement party should ultimately be invited to your wedding, so the size of your celebration may be dependent upon your wedding numbers. Whether you have only a select few that you would like to celebrate with or if you fancy a full-on party... here are a few ideas that may help you on your way to the perfect engagement celebration!

Up, up and away... Why not do something completely out of the ordinary and book yourself and your close family & friends onto a Balloon ride. Make sure you go for the champagne special for a real treat, take along a picnic and a few extra drinks too!

Top up anyone...? Gather your closest group of friends and book onto a wine tour! There are so many fantastic wineries in Australia that you will be spoilt for choice. I am sure that there will be a spot nearby for a day trip or you could even go interstate for a weekend away! Whichever you choose, make sure that you tag on a couple of breweries too!

Shake things up... With a wild cocktail party, this would work for both a small group with some homemade concoctions or if you fancied something bigger at a swanky bar in town. Either way, make sure that your party has a cocktail theme to suit your venue and some funky decorations!

Grab your ice box... For a Casual BBQ or Beach Party celebration call up your family and friends and get everyone to bring some meat and beer on ice! Let everyone know the time and place so that you can rendezvous at your favourite beach side barbeque. Be sure to pack plenty of sunscreen for the ultimate beach engagement.

Something Formal... Looking for something a little more formal, then why not book a swanky restaurant or your favourite eatery for your family and friends. If you have large numbers coming then you could consider a gift on the tables that is a combined place card so that everyone knows where they are sitting?

Once you have picked your theme for your party the only thing left to do is enjoy yourselves...! oh and prepare for the next steps to planning your wedding...

The After Party; Steps to planning your wedding...

Now that you have organised your engagement party, set a date and sent your 'save the dates' you can get stuck into the planning of your big day! Here are a few more pointers for what comes next!

Choose Your Bridesmaids - Bridesmaid choice will be different for everyone, some will have one special friend or sister and others will have a bunch of best mates, you could even choose a 'Man of Honor' if you had a close male friend or brother that you wanted to get involved! You are of course the best person to make the choice, you know who will be excited to get stuck into the wedding planning alongside you and who would have a better time as a guest.

Buying Your Dress - If you have enough time between your engagement and your wedding the recommendation is to buy your wedding dress six to eight months before the big day. That way you will have no drama close the wedding! The dress will be a personal choice and there are so many different styles, colours and tastes to choose from - consider your wedding theme when you select the dress, perhaps you have a black and white theme in mind and can tailor your outfit to match.

Choosing the Bridesmaid Dresses - It is more than likely that your theme or colours will be based around your bridesmaid dresses, so once you have decided on a final look and feel for your wedding you can start looking for the perfect dresses. Trends worn by celebrities on the red carpet is a great place to start for what's hot and what's not! Whether you go for bold and striking colours or subtle taupe or champagne, I am sure you will find the perfect dress for each of your girls!

Your Seating Chart - Depending on the number of guests you have coming, the venue, and how you have planned your big day will depend on whether you will need to organise a seating plan. If you do have a formal dinner arranged then you may like to consider how you will display your guest names, will they be dotted on the tables as a combined gift or bomboniere idea?!

Choosing Your Flowers - Book your florist early and check for the latest trends in flower types, bouquets and colours to help you decide on what will be best for your wedding, make sure that the flowers and colours you choose will be available at the time of year you plan to get married.

The First Dance - Choosing Your Song! - You may already know what song you will choose, perhaps it is the song that was playing when you got engaged or the first track that you danced to together?! Whatever song you choose will be special to you.. you can even consider subtly using the words somewhere in your wedding decorations or invitations as a running theme for the day!

Planning Your Honeymoon - It once was traditional to leave for your honeymoon straight after the reception or the day after your wedding, lots of couples are now waiting until a few weeks or even months after to give a little more time to save for their dream holiday! Your honeymoon should be a place that is magical and special to you both so that you can embark on a fabulous trip and a lifelong journey together!

About the Author, Gemma Barritt is Marketing Manager at Coolaz Stubby Holders.

Original article

Why Are You Getting Married?

We all want to find someone special, fall in love, get married and live happily ever after. Which is a nice Hollywood type dream to have, and people do achieve it, unfortunately a lot don't and they end up adding to the divorce statistics. When you get married you should know everything that there is to know about your fiance, they likes, dislikes, wants and needs, what makes them tick, you know the thing, you know the thing after all if you are unable to understand them then living with them is not going to be easy. You have to be each others best friend. And when you marry each other it is because it is what you both want, and there is no-one that you would rather share your life with. Okay that's the theory, now why are you getting married?

Are you lonely, is everyone you know married or getting married and you feel left out, is your biological clock ticking and you have to find someone if you ever hope to have children...is that why you are getting married? Just because you are lonely or feel left out, it doesn't mean that you have to grab hold of the first fiancé that you can grab hold of. You need to be compatible with each other, you need to have some kind of common ground or shared interests. Marrying someone who is not right for you will lead to a miserable relationship and another addition to the divorce statistics. Marrying because you want your own child is a big gamble. A child needs a loving, secure, happy family in which they can grow and develop. If you and your husband are not right for each other have you thought about what the effect on your child will be? So take your time and wait till you can find the right person, no matter how long it takes.

Is it a wedding that you are after or a marriage? Before you get married you both need to make sure that you have similar ideas as to how the marriage will function and how it will develop. Where you'll live, who pays what bills, when you'll have a family, that sort of thing. If your visions of the marriage are to far apart from each other, then you could struggle to make your marriage work, as it is a recipe for conflict and resentment.

For a marriage to work and to stand the test of time you need to be compatible with each other. This usually happens best if you have common interests or beliefs, something that you can share. You cannot build a marriage based on looks or infatuation, a marriage is much deeper than that. Opposites might attract, and some relationships might work, but on the whole they are the ones most likely to find themselves attracted to the divorce court.

Each of you is going to have your own wants and needs for the marriage, these may be similar to those you had in the relationship, or they might have changed. You have to be able to communicate these to each other so that you spouse is able to fulfil them. If you cannot communicate what you need, or if you are unable to talk about the marriage and the future, then I would have to ask, why are you getting married? If you don't know what yours or your partners needs and expectations are, how can you know if they can be met?

If you love someone then you have to accept the whole package! There might be things that you can tweak, but a persons good and bad points are what makes them who they are, if you change them to much then you not only lose their individuality, but you lose the person that you fell in love with. If your partner is making to many demands of you, if you are being forced to make decision that affect friends, family and career, then it is not worth it. You had your own life before you came into this relationship, and you cannot be expected to give it up just because you are getting married. You need your own life and space so that you can develop as a person otherwise you will stagnate.

If you are carrying around unresolved issues from previous relationships or marriages, then it is vital that you deal with them before you marry again. If you start married life carrying baggage then it will colour your perceptions of your relationship and in how you interact with your spouse, it could poison your marriage, and you could lose a chance for happiness.

If your reasons for getting married are to improve things between you, then don't do it. If you also seem to be arguing, if your fiance doesn't treat you properly, if you are being abused, getting married will not make things better, it will make them worse! Before you got married it would have been easy to leave, now your are effectively trapped with each other, and in situations like that, behaviour that was bad before can get much worse. Getting married does not change who people are!

When looking for a potential mate there are people who will try to be something that they are not, just to impress. Now this might be down to insecurity or something else, but if they remain in their alter-ego whilst dating, whilst engaged, then they are going to have to maintain it when married, and that won't be easy. If your alter-ego is significantly different from who you are then when your deception comes out, your spouse will find themselves married to a stranger.

If you have any doubts you need to talk about them before the wedding. It might be just pre-wedding nerves or it might signify something more significant. When you get married you have to be absolutely certain that this is the right move for both of you, and that both of you want to make it. Once you get engaged you are on a final countdown to the ultimate in commitment. If you have something to say then don't worry about hurting your fiance's feelings, they might also be having exactly the same thoughts. If there are issues that you cannot resolve then it might be better to go your own ways or to remain happily unmarried. If you leave it until you are married before you start to talk things through then the only way out is divorce. So talk, work things through, and make sure that you are right for each other before you are stuck with each other.

Everyone wants to find someone special, some to give meaning and purpose to your life. Unfortunately things do not always work out and you are faced with situations that could wreck your relationship, and ruin something special. Okay, so it could be the natural end of your relationship, but if you want to try and save your relationship and get your life back on track then go to http://www.reviewthemagicofmakingup.com/.

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