1. Enjoy being engaged. Kiss each other about 1,000 times. You’re about to embark on an amazing adventure.

2. Tell your parents. If possible, in person is best. They’ll have a chance to see your happiness up close, look at the rock and start talking about the wedding.

3. Purchase a journal. Keep it while planning your wedding. You’ll end up cherishing these recorded thoughts for the rest of your life.

4. Announce your engagement in the newspaper and online through your favorite web site.

5. Set the date. It’s the first question everyone will ask you.

6. Set the tone of your event — formal, casual or a theme wedding, religious or secular. In short, decide what you want your wedding to look like.

7. Set the budget. Look at your finances and figure out how much you already have in savings and how much you can save each month.

8. Choose the attendants.