Getting engaged is probably one of the happiest moments in your life. Someone loves you so much they want to spend the rest of their life with you! You want to celebrate. You want to shout it from the rooftops, you want to post on all of your social media accounts, and you likely want to begin wedding planning immediately. But when thinking practically about what to do after getting engaged, you may want to handle it differently.
Your emotions will probably be in overdrive with all of the excitement pumping through your body post-proposal. You may not even be thinking straight due to all of the happiness coursing though your body. But, take it from some women who have been engaged, there were some things they wish they handled differently. From telling family too quickly to breezing past how wedding financials will be handled, it could get way overwhelming real fast. I spoke to a few women on what they would advise other people do differently from their own experience.
Their main takeaway? Don't post on social media immediately after getting engaged. I know you'll want to, but just know that you'll get all of the likes and comments whenever you do post it on social, but you'll want to enjoy the moment with your fiancé(e) just between you two for some time. These women say people will flood your phone, which will distract you from one of the most exciting days of your life.
Read on to see what these women had to say.
Soak it all in.
When Ilana, 24, got engaged, she and her fiancé were in Disney World with their closest friends. She suggests you take some time with your new fiancé, though, and enjoy the celebration for the two of you alone.
"We sat down at Disney and just like processed it, and he told me why he wanted to do it then, and how he planned it, and what it meant for him and us and it was the most beautiful conversation we’ve ever had."
Follow a one-day social ban.
Sally, 27, says that you should tell whoever you want when you're ready, but to hold off on posting on social media for at least a day.
"I really appreciated giving myself a day to just bask in the light of this new chapter with my partner before getting bombarded with messages and calls and congrats from friends and family," Sally tells Elite Daily.
Spend some alone time with your fiancé(e) before sharing the news.
Once you tell people, they probably won't stop (at least initially) bombarding you with congratulations. While Sally did follow a one-day social ban, Emily, 26, wishes she had waited longer before telling everyone.
"When I got engaged, we did wait until our parents and close friends knew before we announced publicly, but I would suggest taking more time to celebrate as a couple," Emily tells Elite Daily. "Our phones didn't stop for hours and it did cause quite the distraction."
Emily and her fiancé told his family within the hour of the proposal, and publicly shared the news within about two hours.
"I wish we had at least waited until we came back from our dinner," she says. "We got engaged late in the afternoon and I wish we'd had whole evening to mainly just ourselves and let everyone else know the next day."
You should share the news with your close friends early on.
"Definitely take time to celebrate with your fiancé before getting everyone else involved and posting on social media," Sharon, 24, tells Elite Daily. "Believe it or not, weddings and wedding planning can become really impersonal, and involve everyone else way more than expected. So enjoy those first moments with your fiancé! Also, let the people closest to you know before posting on social media, so you have time to celebrate with them too."
You have forever to post on social media and likely a couple of days to tell everyone in your network. The moment of getting engaged only happens once, so make sure to treasure that fleeting moment with your partner while it happens.
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