What to Do in the First 30 Days After You Get Engaged in Dripping Springs, Texas
Congratulations on your engagement! What an exciting time filled with love, joy, and anticipation for your future. But once the initial euphoria settles, you might find yourself wondering, “What next?” Planning a wedding can be overwhelming, but taking it step-by step will help you enjoy every moment of this beautiful journey.
Here’s a Hill Country guide with essential wedding planning advice and tips to get you started in the first 30 days after getting engaged.
Share the News
Before you rush into wedding planning, seriously, relax, take a moment to savor the engagement. Share the exciting news with your closest family and friends first. Consider how you’d like to announce your engagement to the wider circle—through a social media post, a small gathering, or even a fun engagement party!
Celebrate with a night out at 12 Fox Beer
12 Fox Beer in Dripping Springs, TX, is all about good vibes, great brews, and celebrating love in the heart of the Texas Hill Country. Okay, we may be a bit biased, but just ask our friends ~ they agree, it’s the perfect spot to kick off your wedding journey! You and your favorite people gathered under the twinkling lights of the outdoor patio, sipping on craft beers brewed right on-site, and toasting to the next chapter of your love story. It’s a laid-back atmosphere, with live music & amazing food offered by Gummies BBQ. It’s sure to be an unforgettable celebration, leading to love, laughter, and happily ever after!
Hill Country 12 Fox Brewery couple toasting engagement
Se a Date (or a range)
One of the first questions people will ask is, “Have you set a date?” While you don’t need to have it nailed down immediately, having a rough idea can help during the initial planning stages. Consider the season, the venue availability, and any special dates that are meaningful to you as a couple.
Hill Country Venue choosing your wedding Date
Discuss your Investment
When planning your wedding, it’s important to focus on where you want to invest to create the day you envision. Start by sitting down with your partner to discuss what you’re comfortable spending. This will shape all your other choices, from the venue to the guest list. And don’t forget to set aside a little extra for any surprises that might come up along the way.
Wedding Near Austin TX outdoor wedding signage
Start a Guest List
Drafting a preliminary guest list will help you decide on the size of the venue and overall scale of the wedding. It doesn’t have to be final, but having a rough estimate is crucial in the early planning stages. Discuss who you’d like to invite and consider any family obligations.
Research Venues
Your venue will set the tone for your wedding day, so start researching locations as early as possible. Do you envision a hill country rustic barn with a boho flair, a beachside ceremony, mountain retreat, or a glamorous ballroom? Once you’ve narrowed down your options, schedule visits to see them in person. We’d obviously LOVE if you had your heart set on a rustic hill country venue with a stunning and peaceful outdoor ceremony space and an ambient indoor barn that invites laughter, dancing, and joy to celebrate your reception ~ We’ve got that covered for you and look forward to showing you around!
Vista West Ranch outdoor Ceremony Site and Barn
Create a Vision Board
To help make your dream wedding a reality, you need to visualize it first. Create a vision board with wedding themes, color palettes, and decor ideas that resonate with your personal style. Platforms like Instagram or Pinterest can be a treasure trove of inspiration.
Book a Photographer & Videographer
Photographers can book up fast, especially ones in high demand, so start your search early. Most importantly, look for photographers whose style matches your vision and check their availability for your chosen dates. While you’re looking, remember to review portfolios and read reviews. We’ve got some great photographers on our preferred vendor list and urge you to check them out!
When it comes to a videographer, this is the one vendor we’ve seen couples regret not hiring if they skip it! Really think about it—you don’t want to miss out on capturing those once-in-a-lifetime moments and reflecting on them with your family throughout the years. The videographers on our preferred vendor list create stunning masterpieces for our couples and we highly recommend them for your big day.
Rainy Wedding at Vista West Ranch
Choose Your Wedding Party
Decide on your bridal party and groomsmen. These are the friends and family members you want by your side throughout the planning process and on the big day. Once chosen, you can start discussing responsibilities and involving them in planning.
Vista West Ranch Dripping Springs TX Couple with Wedding Party
Consider Hiring a Wedding Planner
Hiring a full-service wedding planner saves you time and stress. Planners bring expertise, vendor connections, and can ensure everything runs smoothly from the beginning. Even if you choose not to hire one for the full planning process, most venues require you to hire a “day-of” coordinator! This is a requirement as a minimum at Vista West Ranch and The Creek Haus, because we’ve hosted thousands of weddings (yes-thousands) and we know from experience that if you don’t have this person in place, it falls to your mom, sister or bridal party, and that’s just not what you want happening on your big day! We actually require a coordinator, since they start working on the basic processes via phone or a face-to-face meeting 30 days before your wedding to communicate your plans and desires, hold a 2-week final meeting, show up to run your rehearsal, and they will be the point of contact on the ‘day-of’ your wedding to be sure you and your crew can relax while they make sure everything goes as planned.
Explore Wedding Insurance
Most venues that we are aware of require you to have wedding insurance. While not the most glamorous part of planning, it can provide peace of mind. Look into coverage options that protect against unforeseen circumstances like venue cancellations or weather disruptions.
Planning a wedding should be a fun and memorable experience, not just a checklist of tasks. We encourage you to settle in and enjoy this unique period, lean on your loved ones for support, and remember that the ultimate goal is to celebrate your love with those who matter most!
For more wedding planning tips and advice, stay tuned to our Vista West Ranch & The Creek Haus blog. Cheers to a beautiful engagement and a wonderful wedding day!
Thank you so much for stopping by our blog, we hope you found this information helpful. We want to use our blog to increase awareness and support for locally-owned wedding venues. Locally owned wedding venues tend to provide a higher level of expertise, service and dedication. They also have far less turnover than corporate-owned or investor-owned venues. As you plan your wedding we hope you will consider a locally owned wedding venue like ours. You can find locally-owned wedding venues on this wedding venue map.
Below is a shout-out to fellow locally-owned wedding venues around the country!