What No One Ever Tells You About Getting Engaged

It's been almost 2 weeks since the proposal and the shock, I think, it's finally starting to wear off (in a good way might I add) so now we're realizing….we're getting married!! We're getting married? So what are we supposed to do now? So far we've been content just calling each other "fiancé" and that has been enough to amuse us so far. As avid Seinfeld aficionados, we are constantly quoting this very funny video clip where clearly, Elaine is not impressed. Don't worry guys, we're not THAT bad.

So we've got engaged. Now what? Everyone and their mother has asked me, "do you guys have a date yet?" No, we do not have a date yet, I've barely been able to think straight let alone book a date. We're engaged, let us savor this moment for a moment! That, I was not prepared for. But what I did do was indulge myself by buying my first wedding magazine (I'm allowed to read this now?!) crack open a bottle of wine and started flipping through. I hopped online and found this great article which made me chuckle and I totally wanted to elaborate on.

10 Things No One Ever Tells You About Getting Engaged

1. You'll have a big zit on your face the day he proposes. Or you'll be in a piss poor moody mood. See previous post for the details. My bad!

2. You won't be able to stop staring at your hand. Or taking pictures of it. Or changing your nail polish color to see what goes best with your new ring. Which by the way, the above color is Essie's "Got Engaged" so I just had to. Found here. Some cons to this include staring at your ring while you're driving, which means I need to get my act together and stop distracting myself from traffic signals.

3. You'll have to tell your proposal story a million times. And I have. And now I have it in a blog post to share with you all :)

4. People will ask you "have you set a date?" before you even had a chance to think about it. I mentioned this before but, YES. This will happen. But no reason to get annoyed, people are just genuinely happy for you and eager to set the date. I've learned to graciously tell people, not yet, we're just enjoying being engaged right now.

5. There might be a few sours….. as in people who aren't happy for you, or who did not give you well wishes. Hey, it happens. And it's happened to me. But I'm committed to focusing on the people who ARE happy for us rather than those who aren't. At the end of the day it's about us and our happiness, so that's all that matter. Haters gonna hate!

6. But your best friends will be there for you! Yes, they will :) And that will show true friendship shining through.

7. Married friends will all of a sudden become wedding planners and offer (sometimes unsolicited) advice. Yup. "I wouldn't wear a dress like that" "You shouldn't get married there" "You should…." You get the picture. Take everyone's advice to heart, and at the end of the day, your wedding day should reflect two people, you and your other half.

8. You'll watch wedding movies and wedding shows differently. GUILTY. Since getting engaged I've watched Father of the Bride (old classic with Steve Martin and Diane Keaton) and may or may not have indulged in a marathon of "Say Yes to the Dress." Oh the shame. I was never the girl who had her wedding planned since childhood so I certainly never watched those stupid bridal reality shows. And now all of a sudden I'm like, "that's a really pretty dress, I wonder if I could pull that off?" What has become of me??

9. You'll have a hard time not jumping into wedding planning mode and just enjoying "engagement time." Partly true. I have to admit reading wedding magazine instead of my Us Weekly or Instyle magazine has become my new guilty pleasure. It's also been really fun bonding over this with my mom as we fold down pages of "I like this dress" or "oh this is a good idea." At the same time I don't want to rush and want to savor the moment. Plus, D might need a little break from wedding talk overload. According to this article they mention, "be sensitive to him. He more than likely just spent a lot of money and time planning out the proposal. So give him a little time to relax if he needs it. A few things you can get started on right away: planning out the guest list (at least your family and friends) and documenting your proposal story."  Great idea. D, you're off the hook for a while :)

10. Your relationship will feel different, even if you have been together/lived together for years. YES! I always knew that when D proposed I would be excited and happy, but I really didn't think I would feel "different." I mean, we've been together for almost 5 years and lived together for going on 4. We've pretty much established ourselves as a solid couples. Our families know each other and hang out. It feels like we're already married. So it really did surprise me that it felt different. I had a physical symbol of our commitment to each other, as well as a promise to spend our lives together. And now I no longer have a boyfriend, I have a fiancé! (still have to get used to that one).

And there you have it! What no one ever tells you about getting engaged. For you ladies out there who have already gone through this period, or are already married - I would love to hear your words, stories and advice on navigating this exciting time!

xo Steph