He finally asked! He popped the question! He asked me to marry him!

I’m finally engaged!! * cue the single ladies song no more ‘cause he put a ring on it!! *

First, you may be thinking of telling absolutely everyone you know. But we recommend keeping it to yourselves for at least some hours (maybe even 12-24 hours). Why? I want to shout it off the top of a mountain!!

we get it. But, This is your beautiful news that only you both and God share. Relish in it, enjoy it! Everyone else can wait. Remember, this is not about everyone else, or their thoughts, or showing off your ring or proposal story. This is about something bigger. So, after getting engaged, you may be thinking, now what?? Well, we are going to share our tips on what to do after engagement (based a little a lot of what we did and how we approached our engagement).

1. Enjoy it

First, we encourage you both to just be. Cry. Hug, Kiss. Pray. Hold hands. Take it in: this means that soon, you will be a family. Your soon to be spouse and you are going to commit to each other in a whole more meaningful way— a way that means, truly, forever. We waited about 24 hours before telling everyone, and during that time, it was so amazing to hold such a beautiful truth, all our own.

2. Share the good news!

Next, after you enjoy just being engaged to each other, and you are both ready to, go ahead and tell everyone who matters! It may be tempting to go on social media right away and change your status to Engaged and share some cute pictures (which is totally okay to do!!). But before you get there, we encourage you both to make meaningful phone calls and visits to those people who matter—to those people who love and support you both and your relationship. Telling them with your own voice, and hearing the excitement from them, makes it all more tangible and special.

We both told our parents first before anyone else (turns out Stephanie’s parents already knew, because Tim had asked them for their permission! *awwww). Then came close relatives and close friends. We think it was about a couple of days before we even posted on social media about it.

3. Start planning the wedding

Partner for life. check. ring. check. tell everyone who matters. check. now.. planning… ehhh?? Kinda overwhelming, yes. We were there and it could have totally been super duper overwhelming. But when it came to planning, we made sure to do everything together. After all, two heads are better than one, and remember, this is now going to be about the both of you, forever, till death do you part. Serious stuff, deserving of dedicated attention from both.

As photographers ourselves, and being very visual people, we value photography. With that, this was on the top of our list for finding the right photographer. Along with the church! Of course, every step of the way, we prayed and made sure it was agreed upon by both of us.

Then, came venue, bridal gown and groom’s suit, music, and other details, with the very last of the details being flowers, hair and makeup, and transportation.

If we could have done anything differently, we would have made sure to include a videographer in our budget—again, since we are both so visual. A helpful tool we used for wedding planning ourselves was a wonderful timeline and wedding planning planner given to us by a friend. Another tip: pick a day of the week to dedicate to planning, so it doesn’t consume your thoughts or time. After all, it is going to be wonderful, no matter what it looks like, because on that one day, you and your best friend, will be one before God and your family and friends.

4. Start planning the marriage

Oh yeah. really this is number one. plan for your marriage. Together. This is actually the most important thing to do when you are engaged!! The wedding is just one day, but marriage will be for many days, a lifetime in fact. And if you are like us, marriage is forever. What God has brought together, no man can tear apart.

Drop us a line! We’d love to hear your engagement story and help with any ideas as you prepare for the next steps.

You are in our prayers! and congratulations!