Top Tips for Announcing Your Engagement on Instagram
Once upon a time, newly betrothed couples would squeeze together for a tiny, stamp-sized headshot together for a black-and-white announcement in the local newspaper. These days, there are much more efficient ways of getting the word out – even if the classic beringed-hand-to-shoulder pose hasn’t gone the way of the dodo just yet – and most of us are already reaching for our phones before the bubbly has gone flat.
Still, as exciting as it is to prepare to announce your brand-new fiancé/fiancée status to the world – and however long you’ve been dreaming about having the opportunity to do so – it’s not always the easiest task in the world. Figuring out what to post – a close-up ring shot? An old selfie? A picture of the moment itself? – as well as what to say, and how big a circle to say it to, can all have your thumbs hovering tentatively over the screen for longer than initially planned.
The good news is that you needn’t read too much into it. This is one of the biggest announcements you’ll ever make to the world, and getting it right is paramount.
Make the Individual Announcements First
Posting anything on Instagram is a little like walking into a crowd of friends and acquaintances with a megaphone. It’s fun, convenient, and gets the word out there, but it’s not the most personal thing you could do.
It practically goes without saying that, before you make any public announcements, you should make your private announcements first. Family members and friends will love seeing your post once it finally goes up, but they’ll love it even more if they felt ‘in on the secret’ before it’s let out.
Consider an Engagement Shoot
Even if you caught the big, down-on-one-knee moment on camera, plenty of people prefer to keep that moment away from social media and, instead, take the time for an engagement shoot. We’re not just talking about a couple of close-ups on the ring (although we’d never say ‘No’…), but a fully-fledged photoshoot between the two of you.
There are plenty of reasons to get an engagement shoot, with the added benefit being that you can both get used to being in front of a professional photographer – maybe the professional photographer for your wedding – way ahead of the big day.
Remember that it’s all for you
It’s easy to get caught-up on the announcement itself – the act of putting it all out there for your followers to see, comment, like, and share. Nobody will blame you for obsessively refreshing your screen every few minutes after the post goes live, or overthinking wording and hashtags twenty times before you’re ready to click post.
But, at the end of the day, this is about the two of you – and what is, inarguably, one of the most exciting new chapters you will embark on together.
If you find yourself overthinking it, just remind yourself there’s no right or wrong way to do it. Worried about posting too much engagement content? Don’t. From photo dumps to posting multiple times in one day, no one is going to criticise you for being caught up in the emotion and joy of it all. Besides, once the confetti starts to settle on this chapter, having plenty of posts commemorating those dreamy-days means you will be able to print your Instagram photos into a photo book dedicated to your engagement.
This isn’t something that needs to be contained within one or two carefully planned posts. It’s a beautiful moment destined for beautiful memories.
Remember there’s no ‘perfect’ caption
How you write your Instagram captions probably says a lot about you. But, whether you’re an emoji-only kind of person, a paragrapher, or a fan of the movie quote or witty one-liner, all that really matters is that the words you write are true to what you want to put out there.
We’re big fans of the phrase ‘a picture says a thousand words’, primarily because it frees all of us from feeling like we need to agonise over our captions. If you want to ‘play it cool’ with a snappy quote, song lyric, or “We did it”, then go for it. If you’ve got 500 words’ worth of joy-filled prose ready to spring from your fingertips then, once again, go for it.
If it’s there, people will read it; if it’s not, people will still love looking at your photo, soaking up the news, and zooming in as far as their phone will let them in order to appraise the ring.
In other words, be yourselves, and see it as another chance to celebrate – not a task you need to feel stuck on.
