It’s just under 6 months until my big day, and I’ve spent a good two years planning it to make it into my dream wedding. As you know, from my wedding diaries series there have been endless decisions that I’ve needed to make, so I thought with my big day fast tracking ahead I would write up a little wedding update.
Admittedly, and I’m sure many soon to be brides or married brides will relate to this, it has been stressful. There have been so many people questioning what there is to be stressed about, my other half also falls into this category. Obviously they just don’t get it. For most grooms it’s a case of just leave it to the bride and just turn up. I’ve got to give him some credit for this though, my fiancé has helped me quite a bit with the planning side of things.
For those who don’t know what there is to get stressed about, let me break it down slightly within this wedding update – the cost, seating, who to invite, do you give someone a plus one, if I don’t invite them then what will they think of us, where to go on the honeymoon, picking the perfect dress, now I’ve picked the perfect dress I CANNOT put on a single pound, bridesmaids dresses, invites and that’s just a tiny percentage of things that need to be dealt with.
The stress comes more from trying to please every single one of your family, whilst not coming across as bridezilla – which is the assumption so many people make of you as soon as you have an opinion. What I have learnt, however, during the process of planning the wedding is that although people – and this is talking about family in particular, may try and plan things for you, just take it as they are giving you an opinion. You don’t necessarily need to do what they say, as long as they know that you have thought about it.
During the two years I spent planning the wedding, I pretty much knew exactly the type of wedding I had in mind, creating mood-board after mood-board on Pinterest, I kind of went a bit pin-crazy. But there is always that saying that you do have your real wedding, and your Pinterest wedding. That could not be any more true. However, what I did want to do was take my ideas to vendors and suppliers, and ask them what made them so different to their competition. Could they step up their game and give me my vision per Pinterest. That’s how I narrowed it down to who was committed to helping me with my big day, and who just wanted to take my money. A bit of advice for you right there, if a supplier is not willing to compromise with you, or find ways to make your dream happen, your just another customer in their eyes.
I was, and still am, a bride who knows what she wants when it comes to our wedding day. I’ve experienced some vendors not really liking this as a trait, whereas some vendors have really welcomed and appreciated the idea of this. It’s those who I went with.
The low down:
Theme : When we initially started thinking of the theme for the registry and reception we really didn’t want to follow suit to other couples, who had opted for an enchanted garden theme, or flowers. Ever since Kim Kardashian-West posted her wall of roses gifted to her from her husband, it seems as though this has really been a big trend in the world of wedding planning.
This wasn’t really for us, in my mind I wanted something clean, clear and elegant. When I said those exact words to my fiance it was very much, define a “clean theme”. In my head this made sense – I didn’t want an faff, I didn’t want anything over the top. I just wanted a theme that flowed through the room and showed off our venue in it’s entirety.
We’ve gone for crystal centerpieces and globes, with simple candle light and LED lights within them. There isn’t really a colour theme, we’ve decided to keep it neutral and leave it to the DJ’s to decide on what goes best with the room.
Dress : For the dress, I’ve chosen two outfits. One traditional white dress for the registry, which I got from Wed2Be. I cannot recommend this shop enough to anyone who is looking for a wedding dress, but wants to stick to a budget. The shop runs on a no appointment basis, so they welcome walk ins. As soon as you find one dress you want to try on, the assistants will take this and put this on the rail – which reserves your place in the queue for the changing rooms. The ladies are so attentive and helpful, and the dress I ended up buying was actually a recommendation from one of the assistants as opposed to one I chose myself.
You can try on as many dresses as you like, without feeling rushed or pressured. I went during the week, to avoid weekends, as I have heard the shop does get very busy during the week.
