Hello Rich, and welcome to SRP

First up, your razors from Invisible Edge WILL be shave ready, oh and well done on your early shave(s). As Jeremy pointed out the pasted strop / hones are really personal preference and it should be some time before either will need re honing. My set up includes a Belgian Blue Whetstone and a pasted strop and this works for me (although I do wonder if the 12K would be better than BBW) As far as practising honing goes, I think the general advice given here is to pick up a cheaper razor on Ebay or somewhere to practise on before working on your current razors.
Good luck and enjoy, Ryan