I remember the moment I got engaged. I felt like I was on top of the world. I was so giddy, envisioning my future with Andry. But we got engaged when I was twenty two and Andry was twenty five. We were the first of our close friends to get engaged, and we had each only been to probably two weddings in our lives. We had absolutely NO idea what we were doing when it came to wedding planning.

This time of year is proposal season. I’ve seen so many engagements pop up on my Facebook timeline. So I wanted to put together a helpful guide for any couples like Andry and myself were, who need a little help with knowing what to do first after getting engaged.

Celebrate!

You don’t have to start planning your wedding the moment you get engaged. Take a moment (or as long as you want) to just celebrate the fact that you get to spend the rest of your life with your best friend! Don’t let the stress of planning overshadow the importance and excitement of being engaged. Celebrate not only with your fiance, but with your friends and family as well.

Determine your budget and guest count.

These are the two most important decisions in wedding planning. Every other decision you make with stem from these two decisions. Ask both sets of parents what they are willing to contribute to the wedding, and then determine what you’re willing to contribute as a couple. The number one thing you can do to increase how nice of a wedding you’ll be able to have for whatever your budget is, is to reduce your guest count to the smallest amount of people you and your fiance feel comfortable with. A higher guest count means extra money spent on a bigger venue, more food, more linens, extra chairs, tables, centerpieces, etc.

Select your venue and wedding date.

You can’t set your wedding date without knowing the dates the venue you select has available. I would recomend finding a few venues you love that are within your budget and going and touring them. Look through photo galleries or check out their tagged photos on Instagram to make sure you love the way it looks in the season you’re getting married.

Hire vendors that will make your wedding day stress free and give you an amazing experience.

Once you have your venue and date, you can start looking for all of your other vendors. Couples usually reach out to me right after they book their venue. When hiring vendors, make sure you not only love their work, but you love their personalities and you feel comfortable working with them on the most important day of your life. The biggest piece of advice I can offer here is to hire a wedding planner! I’ve never talked to anyone who regretted hiring a planner, but I’ve talked to plenty of couples who regretted not hiring a planner.

Relax and let your professionals take care of all the details.

If you hire amazing vendors (especially your wedding planner!), you won’t have to worry about anything! Your vendors will tell you everything you need to know, ask the important questions, and make sure everything is taken care of! The rest of your wedding planning will be stress-free!