Do people think "decided to get married" and "getting engaged" as separate things?

[Fressia123]

Wondering as future MIL had a tiny fit because she thought we hadn't told her we got engaged (we made it official on FB) but we told her we had decided to get married back in May.

Literally engagememt is having agreed to marry but some people like to make it into a big hoo-ha before they want to see it as being engaged.

Same with marriage, for a lot of people getting married is some romantic day in a big dress and make up and flowers with a party, but literally it's just signing a contract.

We're not very romantic people, so were engaged (without a proposal or ring) for 5 weeks and then went to the registry office (again without a ring because they weren't ready yet). MIL still feels like we did it wrong, but we feel very much married 😁

It's the same intention, and we are way past when it used to be a binding legal contract.
Congratulations.

OP, about the ring.
Nice if you can afford it, or prioritise it, but it isn't necessary.
By that I mean people put too much pressure on themselves to conform to what others do.
We had the cheapest wedding rings we could find, made my finger go green
Still together more than 30 years later.

@Calligraphy572

Deciding to get married is 'engaged'. No rings or proposals necessary.

This 100%

What is "getting engaged" if it's not deciding to get married? It's not a separate thing.

What is "getting engaged" if it's not deciding to get married? It's not a separate thing.

I've still to figure that out but some people have different views. I have a friend who's been engaged for decades!