First things first: I got engaged this weekend. It was romantic and special and perfect and just… us.

I could not be happier. I can’t stop smiling, and I can’t stop looking at my hand and thinking about our future together.

It’s only been a few days, but already all sorts of funny things are coming out, things I never knew about the first couple of days of being engaged. It’s a new and amazing experience. So here it is – my list of things no one tells you to expect when you first get engaged.

1. It’ll take your finger a while to get used to wearing such a huge rock. Just kidding, maybe I’m bragging. But seriously now, it will feel really weird to be wearing something on that forbidden finger, the one finger of all your fingers that you’ve never been allowed to wear a ring on before. Enjoy it, and get used to it. And for the love of god don’t stare at your hand too much while driving. (No? Just me?)

2. People will expect you to have a date, location, dress, and color scheme picked out when you announce your engagement. So be ready for that, and be ready to tell them you haven’t started planning yet. Unless you have, in which case screw you. Slash will you plan my wedding?

3. Wedding magazines are expensive. I mean seriously Real Simple, fourteen bucks? That’s a freaking book. But I don’t want to buy a book, because then what happens once the wedding’s over? It will sit on my shelf unused and unloved and slowly become irrelevant.

4. Weddings are expensive. So put off looking into costs if you can. Enjoy the flush and joy and happiness of first being engaged for as long as possible. It may be tempting, but trust me. Enjoy it before you have to get real and think about all of the dirty logistics. Really makes me want to elope (just kidding!).

5. No matter how chill your mom is, she *will* start planning your wedding the minute you get engaged. I’m serious. I never would have guessed that my mom would be sending me possible locations just three days after I got engaged, but there you go. Oh, and did I mention she knows we want to wait for at least a year? Yep.

6. The F word. At first, you will feel to shy to use it. You may even miss your first chance because you’re caught off guard or maybe you’re just awkward. But then: out of nowhere: you will be dying to use it. You will be dying to call him your fiancé.

7. Even if everyone knows you’re getting engaged because you’ve been talking about it for months, they’ll still be ecstatic for you. Happiness is contagious, I guess :)