5 ways to spend your Engagement Period

Whether you have only just got engaged, are planning to at some point, or are even in a long engagement right now, I strongly recommend making a list with your fiancé of all the things you both would like to do together to enjoy your engagement before setting out to plan the big day.

After getting engaged in April 2018, we didn't start planning for another 9 months. So here are 5 suggestions from our own experience:

1. Go on holiday together

Our engagement holiday was in fact our first holiday together as a couple. Tenerife it was. And it was definitely one to remember! The sun was beaming down on us, quad biking up Mount Teide, nights out on the strip, boat rides out to sea, day out to Siam Park, we couldn’t have asked for a better way to celebrate and forget everything and everyone else but us. We simply enjoyed each other and made great memories together, and that is the main thing to remember when you book yours.

2. Make time to spend with family and friends and celebrate with them

This was easy enough on my side as Ronan and I were living with my parents at the time, and all my friends are in England; but Ronan’s family are in Ireland and I had not even met Ronan’s parents before getting engaged! Daunting, I know! So, the next step was ensuring that we booked a trip to Ronan’s hometown in Galway, Ireland, where I got to meet Ronan’s loving parents, who threw us a spectacular engagement party, sister, grandparents, and friends. It felt like I had known his family and friends forever! The warmth, fun and laughter of the Irish was oh so familiar; the similarities between our families became apparent to me, and I only fell in love with him even more.

3. Take advantage of an upcoming event, and book a holiday for it!

We decided to go away to Edinburgh for New Year’s Eve and this was a great way to end the year of our engagement, and welcome the new year of our wedding! But you can use all sorts of events around the world as an excuse to get away together; from Oktoberfest, La Tomatina, to Chinese New Year – the world is your oyster! Maybe take it a step further and if you already know which season you are tying the knot in, it might be exciting to go away in that same season the year before. (If you have that long of course!) So, for all of you with Christmas weddings, why don't you go away to a German Christmas market in the previous year!?

4. Date nights. Lots of date nights

If there’s one thing I regret not doing enough of during the engagement period, is going on as many date nights as possible; because once you start planning, date nights only happen if the budget permits them. But this can also mean date weekends! You might feel you can afford to have frequent date nights, or feel better investing in fewer weekend dates away. Or, you could do both! But you'll find that weekends will mostly be taken up with wedding planning so this may not be practical; although taking some wedding planning with you on a weekend trip might just be the ideal thing to do!

5. Book an engagement photo shoot!

We found our wedding photographers pretty early on as they were recommended by my parents. So, we booked our engagement shoot for May 2019, a good few months before the wedding in order to enjoy the build-up. Even if you don’t find the right photographer until much later on, make sure you book an engagement shoot at a studio and take this opportunity to pamper yourselves, buy new outfits, and simply enjoy each other in this wonderful and romantic build-up. However, it is often a better idea to have your engagement shoot with your wedding photographer as this gives both parties the opportunity to figure out what works best for both. It’s like practice for your wedding day and a chance to rehearse being in the lime light! Ronan and I decided to make a weekend of it; after our photo shoot on a Friday, we drove up to Stratford-Upon-Avon for a picnic, drinks, and some sightseeing!

The photo above shows the bridge in the back on the River Thames - this is where it all happened on the Punt in April 2018!

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