Congratulations! No matter which side of the ring you find yourself on, your engagement period is one of the most exciting times you’ll ever have. While planning and preparing for your big day can be fun, many questions come with it. When’s the wedding? Who’s at your party? Where’s the ceremony? Have you registered anywhere? Take a moment to breathe and think about what to do now that you’re engaged.

Protect Your Ring

If you were able to find the ring of your dreams, you should look into insuring it. When there are potentially thousands of dollars’ worth of metal and stone sitting on your finger, you don’t want to lose it or damage it. Insurance policies for individual items tend to be rather low, between one to two dollars for every 100 dollars in value per year. So, a 5000-dollar ring would cost between 50 and 100 dollars a year to insure. This works out to between five to nine dollars per month, and it’s worth the peace of mind. You can also take steps to protect your ring from extreme weather to ensure it won’t endure more wear and tear than necessary.

Choose Your Party

Now that you know who you’ll be marrying, it’s time to decide who you want to be up there with you. It’s always an honor to join a wedding party. You can choose friends, family members, or a bit of both. Choose carefully, though, as the pictures of your wedding will live forever (for better or worse, depending on the festivities).

Enjoy It

One of the things many couples neglect to do is enjoying engagement itself. Don’t let yourself get so excited that you immediately start planning. Give your engagement some time before you begin to stress over the details. This is critical for what to do now that you’re engaged. You have the whole rest of your life to be married!

Engagement is an incredibly exciting and busy time. For most, it’s the shortest period of a relationship. Enjoy it while it lasts. Make sure you have protection for your ring in case you lose or damage it somehow. Then, you should be ready to choose the party and start planning!