No One Tells You This About Being Engaged
Written by Melissa Woods
“Excuse me… what job?”
Planning your wedding, of course.
“Oh. Right.”
And just like that, you’ve been handed a role you didn’t technically apply for… but are now fully responsible for.
No experience required.
No training provided.
But you will be expected to manage:
Budget.
Timelines.
Suppliers.
Emails.
Design decisions.
Logistics.
And approximately 472 micro-decisions you didn’t know existed until now.
The hours? Uncapped.
The pay? You’re the one funding it.
It Starts Off Feeling Exciting… Until It Doesn’t
A new kind of wedding planning experience, taking place in London this May.
At the beginning, it’s all good energy.
You’re engaged. Everyone’s excited. You’re excited. It feels like something big and meaningful is happening.
And then, quite quickly, it becomes… a lot.
I remember this shift so clearly.
What started as this really special moment slowly turned into spreadsheets, notes, timelines, and a running to-do list that never quite went away.
At the time, I was working long days in the city. Twelve hours, plus a commute either side.
And somehow, I’d also taken on the full responsibility of planning our wedding.
Not because anyone told me to.
It just… happened.
Ben was working too, but we fell into that very familiar dynamic where I became the one “handling the wedding”.
I don’t even think we questioned it.
The Bit No One Really Talks About
I don’t think I enjoyed being engaged as much as I could have.
And that feels like quite a big thing to say.
Because I loved our wedding.
It was everything I’d hoped it would be. Emotional, full of love, genuinely magical.
But it’s also over in a day.
The part you’re actually living in?
Is the lead-up.
And for me, that part became very task-heavy, very structured… and at times, quite overwhelming.
There wasn’t much space to just exist in it.
To feel excited without also thinking about what needed to be done next.
Why Wedding Planning Can Start to Feel Like Work
Because, honestly, it kind of is.
You’re making constant decisions.
You’re managing people.
You’re spending money.
You’re trying to get it “right”.
And all of that sits alongside your actual life, your actual job, your actual responsibilities.
So what starts as something joyful can slowly take on a different tone.
More pressure.
More expectation.
Less space.
And suddenly, you’re not just engaged.
You’re managing a project.
Even If You Get Help… There’s Still a Difference
Even if you hire a wedding planner — which can be an incredible support — there’s still a distinction that I don’t think gets spoken about enough.
There’s organising a wedding.
And then there’s actually experiencing being engaged.
They’re not the same thing.
Because being engaged isn’t just a phase where you plan something.
It’s a moment in your life.
And it deserves to feel like one.
The Part That Gets Lost
Being engaged should feel like:
A bit of a bubble.
A special time in your life where something bigger is happening.
But when everything becomes about logistics, that feeling can disappear quite quickly.
You move straight from:
“This is exciting”
To:
“What do we need to do next?”
You step into a version of wedding planning that’s been normalised for a long time.
This Is Why We Created MNT Live
This whole feeling — the shift from excitement to pressure — is the reason MNT Live exists.
Because being engaged deserves more than a never-ending to-do list.
MNT Live is designed as an experience, not just an event.
A space where you can:
Celebrate
Feel inspired
Plan without overwhelm
And experience what your wedding could feel like — not just what it needs to look like
It follows the natural journey you’re already on:
The Engagement
The Planning
The Celebration
From the moment you say “yes” to long after you say “I do”…
This part matters too.
Not just the day.
All of it.
Join the MNT Live Waitlist
If you want a way to plan your wedding that actually feels good while you’re doing it — not just when it’s over — this is for you.
MNT Live is taking place in London at The Ministry and Ministry of Sound on 31st May 2026 — an immersive wedding planning experience for modern couples.
Tickets for MNT Live are being released on 28th March, with first access going to those on the waitlist.