There are definitely some things that change when you get engaged. You join Pinterest and start a board of all your wedding inspiration, even though yesterday you didn’t know what a mason jar is. You catch up with a friend you haven’t seen for awhile and the first question you get asked is how is your wedding planning going. If there’s a holiday coming up, you’ll have to figure out a plan to see both your families or face the consequences. You are going to get a lot more manicures now that you’ve got your fancy ring. For the first time in your life you understand how an outfit may or may not match said ring.

But will your relationship change?

Sometimes, yes, but in most cases, it’s actually a good thing! In fact, we think your relationship won’t so much change as evolve and that’s exciting.

Before you’re engaged, your relationship always has an element of uncertainty. You might have been together for five years and share your entire lives, but a new kind of security happens when you get engaged. All of those small things? Well they don’t matter half as much anymore. You don’t need to second guess your feelings, your level of commitment or your future together. And if you ever do, you’ve got something shiny to distract you with! Your engagement means you’ve promised to spend the rest of your life together and that? Well it lets you breathe just a little bit easier.

Most couples also find their focus shifting a little. No, we’re not just talking about your new found love for Pinterest. What we may is that couples find themselves becoming a “we.” You’ll find making decisions together more and these decisions might be different ones to what you’re used to. Last week, you might have thought it was okay to spend half your pay on a night out. But now? You’ve got a wedding to plan for! We’ve seen it before – you’ll make promises to cook and stay in more, even if you might not actually follow through.

You’ll also find yourself in the middle of very serious conversations far more frequently. Those topics that might have been off limit up until now will suddenly become vital ones – do you want to have children? Do you want to live overseas? Many newly engaged couples find themselves getting to know their partners even more and their families too. After all, the plan is soon to be merged into one family, so you might as well start! Because of this, you will probably find yourself spending less time with your friends, particularly your single ones.

But if you don’t want things to change? Then you don’t have to let them. Though being engaged is a big step, a lot of being engaged is just like being not engaged. No matter what happens, we recommend spending just a little time in your new founded bliss!