Here comes the bride!

So, as i mentioned in my last post, i'm getting married next year! And as you can tell, i'm really quite excited!
We got engaged this year whilst on holiday in Egypt, and pretty much as soon as we were back home, we had decided that we wanted to get married next year in the summer.
Being a person that quite enjoys organizing things, i went into wedding planner mode, looking up timelines and various other helpful information online. The only experience and knowledge i had of weddings was the handful i had attended as a guest, and trashy (and amazing) television programmes such as 'Don't Tell The Bride' and 'Bridezilla'. Judging from these shows, i was expecting wedding planning to be a totally stressful and terrible experience, involving lots of crying and screaming. How wrong i was! I have been totally calm, with only a few stressful moments, usually involving the groom, and have actually been enjoying planning our special day.
Planning your wedding shouldn't be a laborious task, it should be something you enjoy doing! So i decided i would pass on some tips and tricks to you guys and gals, to get the most out of your engagement, and planning your wedding!

Get yourself a good wedding planner binder!

These are available in many places, and really are a huge help! They have sections on different parts of wedding details, such as the budget, clothes, rings, venues, cars, cake etc that help you keep track of everything as the months go by. It is really easy to forget things when you have so much to plan, but if you break it down into small sections, it makes it so much more manageable!

My mum sent me this vintage inspired wedding planner. It's small enough to take in my handbag, but has everything of importance in it!

Be open to change

Most people will get engaged and then have a good few years before they start planning a wedding properly, and in that time colour themes can change four or five times. A lot girls, and even some guys, will have the image of the perfect wedding in their mind, and will have had it there since they were a child! My number one tip would be to try and push that to the back of your mind, and start with a clean slate. In reality, your budget may not stretch to that Vera Wang wedding dress! 

Other people WILL get involved

Like it or lump it, mothers are going to get involved in the planning. Some do it because they want to help and be involved in all aspects of the wedding, and others do it because they want to make sure that your Satan worshiping, black metal loving friend with that huge mohawk, isn't sitting next to dear old Nana. Either way, there will be times when you do want to turn into your inner 4 year old fairy princess, and stamp your foot on the floor in defiance shouting "Its my wedding and i will do what i want!", but its better to refrain from that, and just pretend that they are getting their own way. Nod and smile and then change things back after they have gone home.

Don't be afraid to say no 

This goes hand in hand with the tip above. There are times when you will have to put your foot down and politely say no to things. When we were making a rough first draft of our guest list for the ceremony, we suddenly realized that there was no way we were going to fit everybody into the church. We made the decision that young children would only be invited to the reception after the church, to save space. Most people were understanding, as there are a lot of children in the family, but of course a few kicked up a fuss. One of the hardest things to do, is say no to family, but in times like this you can't be afraid to. It's a cliche, but it is your day, and what you say goes!

Don't let it take over your life

I really do think this is how Bridezillas hatch from the lovely ladies they once were! Remember that it doesn't all need to be done right now. The more you try and squash in to doing here and now, the more stressed you become, the more scales you grow, the more you turn into a Bridezilla. In most cases, you have plenty of time! There are some fantastic planners you can find online that tell you month by month what you should be doing. One of my favourites is this one from Your Wedding Magazine which you can print off and put into your wedding planner to help you visualize what you need to be doing and when. Take a break once in a while!

                                                   

Don't be afraid to DIY

The wedding industry is a HUGE business, and along with helping you make the most of your wedding day, they are also there to rinse you of every penny you have! You can make huge savings by doing things yourself instead of going through a company that does exactly the same thing. 

Hotels will all have wedding packages that they want to sell you, and they are hideously expensive for what they offer. Just as an example, when we were looking for a reception venue, we went to one hotel who wanted to charge us over £8,000 for 50 guests. We explained that we didn't want to have a formal wedding breakfast and were told that we "have to have a wedding breakfast" if we wanted to book their hotel. So with two fingers up to them, we walked away and that's when we decided we would plan all aspects of the wedding ourselves. But you can just cut corners here and there if you don't want to do it all yourselves, such as making the save the date cards and posting them yourselves, instead of paying someone upwards of £100 to do it for you!

Book your Honeymoon as early as you can

Your honeymoon is probably going to be a huge chunk of your wedding budget, but the sooner you book it, the cheaper it is going to be. Trying to decide where to go is difficult. With the time of year you will be getting married, your desired location might be in tornado season, or in the dead of winter, just as ours was! It's helpful to go into a travel agent and get them to help you talk through some ideas of what you want your honeymoon to include. I found this especially helpful as there isn't much help found online for where to go in each season with what you want included. Remember when booking to make sure they plaster the word 'honeymoon' all over your reservation, so you get all the little perks of a newly married couple!

Don't be afraid to ask for help

Sometimes there are things we simply don't know how to do, or don't know how to start, or simply just need an extra pair of hands doing. That is what your bridesmaids, groomsmen and family are for, so utilize them!

Last but not least, enjoy it!

I hope these few tips help you when it comes to planning your own wedding, whether you are already engaged, or are hoping that you will have a Christmas engagement! 

I am totally excited to get married next year, i only have a few bits and bobs left to plan, and it's all going swimmingly well. I'm sure after Christmas its going to fly by!

Peace out, brussel sprout,

xoxo