i came across this fantastic post and i found myself furiously nodding to it. gonna remove the pre-engagement part 'cos i never did browsed thru wedding mags/attended bridal shows prior to owning THE ring.
engagement
completely exhilarated, you call everyone you know [it took me a couple of days for the entire event to sink in, so i dun think i called anyone, except entered my house with a BIG smile and flashed the bling to my mom and sis!] buy an enormous stack of wedding magazines, say the word "fiance" [i'm just weird, i STILL havent used it, even though it has been more than a year.] as many times as you can even in inappropriate situations, and drive recklessly while staring at your ring.[i just stare at it.]
initial planning phase
beaming with hope and expectation, you ask your fiance "So what were you thinking for the wedding?" most likely illiciting an overwhelmed look because your wedding planning energy is radiating like a force field, and he knows that you've probably already picked out the linens and designed monogrammed cocktail napkins.
apathetic phase
Maybe this is only in long engagements, but after about six months of frantic planning and then realizing the wedding is still a year away, the less fun tasks like bullying home addresses out of people or recalculating the budget (again!) seem tiresome. Can also be accompanied by a short lived substitute obsession, like interior decorating [YES!] or shoe shopping.
re-engagement phase
What?!?! Five months [2 months!???] left? Guess it's time to start those D.I.Y.'s