The first five things to do now that you’re engaged to be married.
Unless you're planning a long engagement, once the fuss about your wedding announcement has died down you need to start thinking about just how and when you want to marry. No one is expecting you to sort out all the details in a matter of days, but you do need to think about a few basics if you're to have the wedding of your dreams. These are the main things to consider:
Decide on a wedding date
Do you see yourself as a summer bride or are you dreaming of a winter celebration with all the trimmings? The season will not only dictate the style of wedding you have, it will also have an effect on what is available. Summer is still the most popular time to get married and some venues are likely to be booked up several years in advance. If you do have a particular place in mind, you might have to be flexible and consider marrying at a different time of year. Other factors will also have a bearing on your choice of date: if you're inviting lots of people with children you might want to avoid choosing a date in the middle of the school summer holidays when many of your guests are likely to be away, and it's always a good idea to skip the Saturday of the FA Cup Final if you don't want your male guests to be wearing radio headphones during the ceremony!
Work out the wedding budget
It's very easy to get carried away when planning your dream wedding, and before you know it you've spent a small fortune. Before you commit yourself to anything, sit down with your fiancé and work out what you can afford to spend, what your priorities are and where you could cut costs if necessary. If either set of parents is contributing, it makes sense to involve them in the discussions too. The average wedding now costs nearly £20,000 but only you know what you can afford. Decide on a budget and then make sure you stick to it. If you over-spend in one area, work out how you can economise somewhere else.
Think about the wedding venue
Do you want a religious ceremony in a church/chapel/synagogue, or would you prefer a civil ceremony at either a register office or licensed premises? And where have you envisaged holding your reception? If both ceremony and reception are in the same place it will be easier to sort out a date, rather than having to liaise with two different places over availability. (You also won't have to worry about transport between the two.) The location of your venue - close to where you live or near your parents' home - will also have an impact on guests who may need to find overnight accommodation or make travel arrangements.
Compile a guest list
You don't need to have the names finalised but it does make sense to work out exactly how many friends and family you want to invite. The size of your guest list has a huge impact on where you can marry. If you've set your heart on tying the knot in the local village church near your parents' home but it only holds 50 you're going to have a rethink if a rough totting up of guests is running at 150. Likewise your choice of reception venue and the type of function you have will be determined by the number of guests - a sit-down do at your favourite hotel might be perfect for 80 but a cocktails-and-canapés party would accommodate 120.
Start looking at wedding dresses
Obviously you don't need to make a final decision on what you're going to wear right now, but it could take you a long time to find the wedding dress of your dreams so it makes sense to start your research now. Look through magazines and mark any dresses that catch your eye, then you can begin to narrow down your choices. Once you've got a better idea of what you want you can start making appointments to try on different styles. Allow yourself plenty of time to find the right one - you don't want to be panicked into making the wrong decision.
Photo Caroline Arber
译文:
订婚后该做什么？
订婚后你需要先做的五件事。
除非你计划的订婚期很漫长，一旦你宣布结婚消息引发的喧闹渐渐消失后，你就必须开始考虑何时结婚以及如何结婚的问题了。这样做并不是指望你在短短几天内理清所有细节，但如果你想要举办一场梦中的婚礼，就确实需要考虑一些基本方面的问题。下面是一些你需要考虑的主要的事情：
决定结婚日期
你希望自己成为夏日新娘还是梦想有一场充满各种装饰品的冬季婚礼？季节不但决定你的婚礼风格，同时还影响对可以利用的事物的选择。夏季依然是最受欢迎的结婚时节，有些结婚场地很有可能在几年前就被提前预定了。如果你心中确实有一个特殊确定的结婚场地，你可能必须比较灵活，考虑在一年中的不同时节结婚。还有一些别的因素也会影响你对婚礼日期的选择：如果你请了许多有孩子的客人，那么你最好能避免选择学校放暑假期间的日子结婚，因为那时候许多客人可能不能到场。另外跳开足总杯决赛的周六也是个好主意，你总不想你的那些男宾们在整个婚礼过程中都带着无线电耳机吧！
设定好结婚预算
在计划你梦中的婚礼时很容易就失控而超出预算，而且在你意识到之前你已经花了不少钱了。在投入地干任何事之前，先坐下来和你的未婚夫一起算出你们能承受多少消费，你们的优先物品是哪些，如果有必要的话看看哪里还可以节省开支。如果任何一方的家长也肯帮忙，那么请他们一起加入讨论是很有意义的。现在一般婚礼消费为约20000英镑，但只有你自己知道你可以承受多少费用。设立一个预算，然后确保能严格执行。如果你在某一方面超支了，那就想办法在别的地方节约开支。
考虑结婚地点
你是希望在一所教堂/小礼拜堂/犹太教会堂里举办宗教仪式呢，还是在结婚登记处或者经过许可的地点举办登记结婚？你在哪里举办宴会？如果结婚仪式与宴会在同一个地点举行，会比较容易选出日期，（同时你也不用担心两地之间的交通问题了。）而如果结婚仪式和宴会在两个不同的地点的话，与两个地点保持联络继而确定时间就会比较困难。你的结婚场地的选址--靠近你的住所或是你父母的住所--也会影响到客人，他们会考虑要不要过夜留宿或是安排旅行。
列出宾客名单
你不必定出最终的宾客名单，但算出具体邀请的朋友和家人的人数是很有意义的，因为你名单的厚度会对你的结婚场地有很大的影响。如果你下定决心在当地的离你父母家很近的乡村教堂里结婚，而它最多只能容纳50人时，你就得重新考虑下你的来宾人数若是150人会不会太紧张。同样的，你对宴会场所的选择以及仪式的类型都会受到宾客数量的限定--如果宴会在你最喜欢的宾馆中举行，那么宾客人数为80人最佳，但如果举行的是鸡尾酒和开胃菜派对的话，就能容纳120个客人。
开始关注结婚礼服
当然你不用现在就做最后的决定穿什么好，但你要找到适合梦中的婚礼的礼服是需要很长的时间的，所以现在开始研究是很有必要的。翻阅浏览各种杂志，标注任何吸引你眼球的礼服，然后你就可以缩小选择的范围了。一旦你想到要穿什么了，你可以开始预约尝试一下不同类型的衣服。给自己留有足够多的时间，找到合适自己那件衣服--你可不希望因为做错了决定而惊慌失色吧。