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The Phases of Engagement

I came across this post via The Artsy Bride on her post here a while ago.

BridalCheek wrote about the different phases of engagement that she and her friends had experienced {I've added my comments}:

1) Pre- Engagement
You spend as much, if not more, time looking at wedding magazines and browsing bridal fashion shows
{never did this before I was engaged at all, seemed like bad luck or something}, and inordinate amounts of time staring at engagement rings, whether in store windows {I did this with Graham in tow on a couple of occasions, just so he could see what sort of thing I liked of course} or on people’s fingers. But all secretly, and with a “no pressure” attitude {there wasn't much secrecy going on once we reached the 5 year mark!}.


2) Engagement
Completely exhilarated, you call everyone you know
{I called the parents and my sister straight away & text everyone else I know}, buy an enormous stack of wedding magazines {bought my first one at JFK for our flight home, just cause I could}, say the word “fiance” as many times as you can even in inappropriate situations {i still forget to say it most of the time}, and drive recklessly while staring at your ring {don't think I ever did that but did stare at it a lot during our stay in New York}.


3) Initial Planning Phase
Beaming with hope and expectation, you ask your fiance “So what were you thinking for the wedding?” most likely illiciting an overwhelmed look because your wedding planning energy is radiating like a force field
{we did get the church & venue booked fairly quickly in our planning, to get the actual date, which was closely followed by the photographer & cars}, and he knows that you’ve probably already picked out the linens and designed monogrammed cocktail napkins {I'm sure Graham would tell you that I had a pretty good idea how I want some things to look, but not everything!}.


4) Apathetic Phase {guess we are around this time just now although since I'm still really excited about the wedding, its not apathetic}
Maybe this is only in long engagements, but after about six months of frantic planning and then realizing the wedding is still a year away, the less fun tasks like bullying home addresses out of people or recalculating the budget (again!) seem tiresome
{we do seem to be just plodding along at the moment though as nothing seems too urgent just now}. Can also be accompanied by a short lived substitute obsession, like interior decorating or shoe shopping {insert card making here, my latest time-consuming obsession}.


5) Re-engagement Phase
What?!?! Five months left?
{still over 8 months for us!} Guess it’s time to start those D.I.Y.’s {think sending the last save the date's and starting the invite mock-ups}.

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