Wedding Blog, Part 1.

by Alice Steventon
(England)

Hello everyone!

This is my first non food related (sort of) post, I'm writing to share some of the experiences I'm having whilst planning my wedding. There will be a few posts like this over the coming months, so consider this the first in a series!

So, as I said, I'm planning a wedding.

Originally I had set my self one year to save up, from £0, to plan and go through with my wedding. That was July of 2009, my birthday in fact, and the day I became engaged.

I think it's fair to say that I was a little overwhelmed with excitement, and for a good few months truly believed it to be possible. After having a few heart to hearts with my lovely man, my family, and my maid of honour, I came to the conclusion that you cannot go through with such an elaborate plan without a job! So for a while I lost hope, believing that I would never get married.

Recently I got a fantastic new job, one that I adore, and I began remaking plans, resetting deadlines and generally rethinking the entire thing. I'm still on a modest wage, I still haven't got anything saved up and I'm still utterly clueless.

So here are some things I did. First, I thought to myself "what is a realistic deadline?". I know now that one year is barely enough time to plan a wedding, even with the money all ready to go! So I have set a new date, February 2012. This gives me plenty of time to go through plans, and more importantly, to save enough money so that I'm not a bankrupt bride after the honeymoon.

Now another problem I have is a serious case of indecision. Shall I marry in England? Abroad? If I'm to be married abroad, where? One minute I'm set on Hawaii, The next Venice. So, I brain stormed. Sit down, get all your ideas on paper. Look at what you have in front of you and directly compare them, what's realistic? What means more to you?

Make sure you have looked at everything you wanted to do, and focus on what makes you happy! This is your wedding we're talking about. So there it is, Second point is see the big picture!

Thirdly, as I mentioned, this is YOUR wedding. I spent a lot of time in the early stages of planning worrying. Not about the dress, or the vows, or even the location. In the beginning I was worried about the guests. Who shall I invite? Should I put my money behind the bar for them? Do I have to make favours? If I don't will my guests think my wedding was awful? And then I thought, wait. This is my day, my way. I'll do what I want, and if you don't like it? Don't tell me, because I'm too happy for you to bring me down!

If your wedding makes you feel like a princess, if you have butterflies the entire day, if you leave for your honeymoon feeling as though your at the beginning of an amazing adventure? Who cares if a couple of sour faces poked fun at the food, or made a nasty comment on the music. If your surrounded by the people who love you, they wouldn't be thinking of themselves anyway.

Focus on you and your man, and if you are ever stressed along the way to your big day, think of his grin on the other side of the aisle.

I hope this mini blog post helps you guys and girls, it's pretty much a huge jumble of my thoughts over the past year, but doesn't yet cover things like the cake, the dress, venues, menus or any of the magic glittery fun to come!

Check back soon!

Alice xxxxxxxx