Dear engaged friend,

It feels like every time I turn around lately there’s another proposal on Instagram. I wish I could sit down with every single engaged person and talk for hours about how exciting this season is and give them all the advice I have, but I know that isn’t always possible. And I also know that when you get engaged advice starts flowing in from every single direction, and that can be so overwhelming. But just a few weeks ago when one of my best friends got engaged, she asked me “what is your best engagement advice?” and I knew it was time to put all my thoughts, advice, and encouragement out there.

I’m still in my first year of marriage so I can’t say I’m an expert on marriage advice, and all I really know about engagement is my own, but I do have quite an incredible community that taught me so much (and even some Instagram followers who gave me their input), so here we go!

Here is my advice to all my engaged friends:

• Go ahead and have ALL the hard conversations now: holidays, chores, sex, money, kids, family, and anything else that you might be putting off talking about! You’ll be so thankful you already talked about it when it comes up later in your marriage
• MAKE A BUDGET NOW!! I can’t emphasize this enough!! Talk about your money, make plan for spending it, make a plan for saving it, make a plan for handling it!!
• The only thing that will really matter at your wedding is you and your spouse saying “I Do” to each other before God. Your dress: extra. The food: extra. The decorations: extra. Everything else: extra. As long as you and your spouse are there, the rest of the extra stuff will be perfect, so don’t worry about it
• Your wedding is for YOU!! Do it your way.
• Prioritize date nights now, and don’t let married life change that.
• If you have roommates, soak up every single moment of your time with them. Soak up all the late night milkshake runs, clothes sharing, and girl talk. You’ll miss it. I promise.
• Get premarital counseling. Get mentors. Talk to people that have been married for 1 year, 5 years, 25 years. Learn from them all.
• I know this is hard for some of us, but let your friends and family celebrate you. Let them buy you gifts. Let them throw you showers. Let them pray for you. Your engagement, your marriage, deserves to be celebrated.
• Ladies this one is for you: if your friends offer to throw you a lingerie shower, let them. And if not, buy yourself some. Sex is for you too and you so deserve to feel sexy!
• Plan your marriage more than you plan your wedding. Your marriage is for a lifetime, your wedding is only a day.

Finally, not everybody’s opinion matters. You are gonna hear so much advice, and so many marriage stories, and have so much input, but you get to decide what’s for you. You get to decide what you want your wedding to be like. You get to decide what your marriage is like. You get to decide what your life is like.

Engagement is so fun, and is such a special season for a relationship. There is so much excitement and anticipation building for your wedding day and your marriage and so much going on. I am so thankful for the friends who shared that season with me, and I am so excited for all my friends who are in it now! Enjoy every little moment of this season. It will only last a moment.

If you want to know more about engagement or marriage, leave a comment below or send me a message on Instagram! If you have any awesome engagement or marriage advice, leave a comment so other’s can enjoy it! HAPPY ENGAGEMENT FRIENDS!!!