I'll be the very first person to admit that it's so easy {and wonderful!} to become close friends with your coworkers. You likely spend 40+ hours together every week, you recap your weekends, you chat over lunches, you share a lot of the same stressors throughout the week. You may even go out for a cocktail after a rough day. You start to depend on each other and slowly, you become friends.
Then you get engaged and suddenly those lunch-time chats veer off into wedding land. Your coworker is giving you feedback on your fiance's crazy, overbearing aunt. She's weighing in on dress options, keeping you company while you run wedding errands on your lunch break. She has now become pretty invested in your wedding planning. And then comes the time when you're addressing wedding invitations....and your work pal notices they are not on your list.
Your coworker's feelings are inevitably going to be hurt if you involve them in so many of the wedding details and let them help you with planning, and then choose not to actually invite them to the wedding. It's like having a friend over to help you cook a 5-course gourmet dinner, letting them smell the incredible food the whole time, and then expecting them to leave before appetizers. OUCH! If you don't plan to include your coworker on your guest list, DO NOT involve them in the wedding planning.
Another issue between work and wedding could arise when you use company time to plan your wedding. This seems like common sense, but there's a good chance that, at some point, you could get caught up in making calls to vendors to set up appointments, sending emails to bridesmaids to coordinate bachelorette party details, and searching Pinterest for the perfect color of roses for your bouquet. Before you know it, you've wasted the better part of a work day on wedding things and you're behind on your actual work. This CANNOT HAPPEN. We all know that wedding planning can be stressful enough without having to worry about getting reprimanded at work. Or worse, potentially losing your job!
Do whatever you have to to set aside time specifically for wedding planning. And make sure you have the resources to take care of this OUTSIDE of work.
One more thing to remember when you get engaged: Everyone is so happy for you. And I mean that. Your coworkers included. However, no one wants to hear about your wedding plans CONSTANTLY. Try to be considerate enough to ask your coworkers about things involving them as well. Ask about their weekends, their grandkids, their trips with loved ones. And LISTEN when they talk. They'll be more apt to show their excitement for you too!
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