You're engaged! A beautiful chapter of your life is about to begin as your unofficial title changes from girlfriend to "fiancé"! The feeling of watching the person you love the most say those four little words, "will you marry me", is overwhelming and exciting. Those first few hours or even days after getting engaged are often filled with happy tears, smiles, laughter, love, and gratitude. Who says that these feelings have to eventually change to stress, anxiousness, and frustration as wedding planning commences? This period of time in your lives is sacred and should be a constant celebration!

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See below 10 ways you and your fiancé can enjoy being engaged and really cherish this time together.

1. Take Time To CELEBRATE: This might sound obvious but just like our apple watches remind us to pause for a deep breath here is your reminder to pause and celebrate. Immediately following engagements is the "press tour" of phone calls, visits, and parties with friends and family. This is such a fun and special time but is often where the wedding planning stress first starts to rear its ugly head. Friends and family begin asking about dates, venues, "will you allow kids", etc. These questions can be overwhelming. When this happens take a moment to plan a day for an intimate celebration with the love of your life! Weather its a afternoon date, short getaway, or staycation, allowing some special time for just you and your fiancé is so important.

2. Plan Your Marriage: Notice we didn't say wedding ;) Be sure throughout your engagement and wedding planning you create dedicated times to sit down with your loved one and plan your marriage! This could be creating a married bucket list together, map out your first year of goals, or discuss roles and responsibilities in marriage.

3. Savor The Process: Be intentional about making every part of wedding planning fun! Discuss what aspects of wedding planning you both find exciting and focus on those. This helps to stretch out the celebration and create lifelong memories. Here are a few ways to savor the process:

• Select all your ceremony and reception songs together! Make a nice meal, drink a special beverage, and spend an evening just listening to music and planning out all the special songs for your big day! From walking down the aisle to first dances and the last song of the reception - the DJ will want to know your preferences!
• Make attire shopping fun! At Ava Laurenne Bride we focus on creating the perfect experience and environment to make wedding dress shopping one of the most fun days of your life! Both our Virginia and South Carolina locations are filled with gorgeous decor, special surprises, and breath-taking gowns.
• Food & dessert tastings are a great way to have fun when planning your wedding. Maybe invite a close friend or relative to join you for the afternoon!
• Venue shopping is often stressful because budgets and dates are being discussed. Get dressed up, explore the surrounding area, and maybe grab lunch between venue tours to make the day more enjoyable and feel like an activity rather than a task!
• Planning on pre-marital counseling? This is another opportunity to have fun with your fiancé. Get coffee or a drink together before or after counseling! You can discuss what you enjoyed about counseling that day or what you look forward to in future visits.

4.  Set Boundaries: Boundary setting is an important step to protecting your peace and happiness during engagement. For the most part our loved ones mean well but the constant deluge of advice and opinions during wedding planning/engagement can be overwhelming! Remember this is YOUR journey and the opinions that matter the most are yours and your fiancé's. ‍
5. Don't Forget Self Care: Life doesn't have to turn into a constant loop of work and wedding planning. Don't forget to take time for yourself! Weather it's reading, yoga, running, or reality TV - finding moments to indulge in activities that bring you joy is so important!
6. ‍Have Fun Registering: Guests are going to spend money on you so why not make it items you really love and need? Take time as a couple to put together a registry that serves you both.
7. ‍Trust Your Vendors: Trusting the people you hired to create your magical day is important and can really help you enjoy not only the wedding day but the weeks leading up to the wedding. Allow your self to soak up moments, relax, and cherish your engagement by trusting the professionals you hired!

The time you are engaged is a million special moments leading up to one truly unforgettable day. Enjoying the engagement journey can be challenging at times but is so important! At the center of it all is your very unique and beautiful love story, cherish each other and cherish this time in your life journey.

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