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8 %uf098 A l a s k a B r i d e & G r o o m %uf099 2026Announce your engagement. Share the great news first with your immediate family, followed by close friends and other family members. Make sure to tell your family and close friends before making a public engagement announcement; don%u2019t let them find out the news on social media. They all want to hear from you first.Float on Cloud 9! Enjoy being engaged before you dive into wedding planning. Celebrate with loved ones, pop the champagne and flaunt that ring!Pick a date. As soon as you announce your engagement just about everyone will ask you if you have set a date. Don%u2019t set it for them though. The date you choose may impact decisions you make on the venue, flowers, theme, attire %u2013 and budget. Also, think about your work or school schedules, and when you can easily take time off from work to be able to really enjoy your wedding and the honeymoon to follow. Try to avoid conflicting dates such as your brother%u2019s graduation, or large crowd-drawing events if you%u2019ll have visitors in need of hotel rooms. Keep these things in mind when picking this important date. Once your venue site is set (see %u201cResearch wedding venues%u201d below), a solid dateis possible.Set a budget. The number you set will impact every decision you make from now until your big day. Sit down with family and determine who will be contributing to the budget and for how much. Do you want a big wedding with all the bells and whistles or a smaller affair with just your closest friends and family? What can you really afford? These are questions you need to consider You%u2019re probably feeling a little overwhelmed by all of the planning ahead and not sure where to start. So, to help keep you on track, here are some of the first steps and must-dos to begin your big adventure.You%u2019re engaged! Now what?before you start moving into the actual planning phase. It%u2019s important to nail down a solid overall budget before making any big decisions, and definitely before signing any agreements with vendors. (To help you allocate your expenses, check out our Wedding Budget Worksheet here: AlaskaBride.com/pdfs/budget.pdf.)Determine your theme or style. Modern, classic, romantic, rustic or all-out glam? Formal, casual or somewhere in between? To help you get a better idea of what you want (and what you don%u2019t want), spend some time gathering inspiration. Having an overall style in mind before you research potential wedding locations will help eliminate wasting time on venues that do not fit within your vision. It will also help you better communicate your vision to your vendors so they can create the event of your dreams.Start working on a guest list. Prior to looking at wedding venues, you must have an idea of approximately how many guests will be in attendance. Helpful hint: 10-20 percent of the RSVPs may decline %u2013 remember this when giving a minimum guarantee to your venue.Research wedding venues. Keep your budget, the size of your guest list, and the formality of the event in mind. (Our Reception Guide on pages 42-43 will help you determine the local facilities that meet your needs.)Make sure to determine and book your venues as far in advance as possible, as many popular wedding and reception venues can be booked a year or more out.