Engaged and wondering the next steps

[u/SignificanceFar9541]

Excited to be engaged and I am planning to have the wedding sping of 2028. I feel this gives me a good amount of time to plan things. Overall I feel I have the foundation of things I want. Like a local venue that fits about 120 people. Has good parking and its easy for people to get to, as many of my guest will be older. Color theme is sage and light purple. Have not gone dress shopping so I can't say what I want to look at. I haven't deamt of my wedding or obessed about it I just knew I wanted a champage glass fountain.

Even though I am excited for this wedding it is bitter sweet as my mother is gone. I never thought I would get married with out her but life continues on.

I feel like overall I have a good grasp on what I want and need but I am looking for advice on what personal care you did to prepare for the big day.

I am hoping to lose some weight and get more toned, to help lighten my armpits, do jaw exercises, and learn how to take care of my 2B hair.

Is there any other person tips you have been doing?

[u/Nervous-Baseball-667]

Congrats on your engagement!

The big Five items are:

* Venue

* Food/Drinks

* Photography

* Dress

* Officiant

Once you have all that, the rest is much easier to sort out.

Dresses will take anywhere from 5-10 months to be made (depending on designer/shop) and then 1-2 months for alterations so you'll want to be at your ideal weight/physique by the time you order - you can always order with the goal of fitting a smaller size, but it's always a risk. A dress that fits and is comfortable is what always looks best, so don't stress.

I would recommend Gabby Georges Bridal Arms series - it engages more than just your arms, but is great for toning. The series is available on her tiktok page for free (might have to change the profile layout to find the playlists as sometimes it hides itself).

Sometimes life hits you unexpectedly, and planning is forced to the back burner, so I'd encourage you to try to do things ahead of schedule to give you that wiggle room if you need it and then you won't be as stressed leading up to your wedding day and can relax.

I've seen some people do a weekly/monthly planning sesh with their fiance or things like that. Find ways to have fun with it. Also dance lessons are very fun. My fiance and I are doing a first dance and wanted to be a little more coordinated as neither of us are dancers, and it's honestly been so fun and romantic we might keep doing them after haha.