After two years of wedding planning, it’s blowing my mind a little that I can almost count the days away to my wedding on just one hand.
I thought that in between the midst of last minute wedding errands, I’d sit down today to chat all things wedding planning with you. Over the past couple of months, I’ve had quite a few messages about planning a wedding, so I thought I could answer some of the questions that I’ve been asked the most (also keep your eyes peeled for a couples’ wedding Q&A going up on my YouTube channel this weekend) but I’ve included a few more bride related questions in this post.
So grab a cuppa, and let’s chat weddings shall we!
How Did You Manage Any Wedding Planning Stress :
First of all, let me say that wedding planning has been one of the most stressful things I’ve ever done. It’s up there with buying our house and trying to get One Direction tickets.
No, but in all seriousness, it is pretty stressful.
I would recommend giving yourself time to plan, I know they’re royalty and all that, but I have no idea how Harry and Meghan have planned a wedding in just five months.
We’ve had over two years to plan ours, which has meant we’ve done things in stages which I think has helped with stress management. I would recommend to be organised as this helps with stress, Henry made a very efficient spreadsheet which helped with budgeting and keeping us on track/knowing when things needed to be paid, etc… which helped me to feel more calm/in control of things.
Don’t let yourself get too overwhelmed and don’t spend too much time on Pinterest, focus on what you and your fiancé want from your wedding and take breaks from planning. Your whole life doesn’t need to be wedding planning 24/7!
Oh and don’t let other people’s opinions on your wedding stress you out, it’s your wedding not theirs!
Do You Have Any Advice On How To Choose Your Wedding Venue?
Choosing your wedding venue is potentially the biggest part of planning a wedding. There are so many options and you’ll want to make sure you get it right.
First of all, you need to decide what kind of wedding you want as this will determine what venue you choose.
You may want a DIY wedding, so you’d look at hiring a field/village hall/marquee that you could decorate and do everything yourself. Or you may want a more traditional venue or somewhere that is like an ‘all in one’ so somewhere where you have the whole day, and then there’s the option of getting married abroad.
So let’s look at these in more detail:
The DIY Wedding :
We started looking for a DIY venue when planning our wedding two years ago, we wanted to do a festival type wedding, but in the end decided this wasn’t for us. However, if this sounds up your street, I’d recommend looking for village halls, fields to hire, marquees, tipi’s and yurt’s which all are blank canvases for you to decorate your way.
You do need to ask important questions though such as where are the generators, would you need to hire these? Toilets for guests, decorations, tidying up, caterers, etc… so make sure you know how much work you’ve got to do. There are so many options with a DIY wedding and you could really make it your own.
An Abroad Wedding :
The next option is getting married abroad, which would be a great option if you are perhaps having a smaller wedding, or if you didn’t want to worry about something like the weather which you maybe would with a UK wedding.
I know people who have booked a wedding abroad with TUI who help you to arrange the whole thing and offer many different destinations for weddings (I’ve just looked it up and they offer over 100 venues across 16 counties.) From looking at the options you could choose to have a wedding under the open sky in Italy, to getting married at The Blue Lagoon in Iceland (yes really!) or perhaps go for a dreamy beach venue over looking the Riviera Maya in Mexico.
Weddings abroad seem quite affordable too, and all of TUI’s cater for any budget, which is good to know when choosing your options, as weddings in the UK can start to mount up. I think weddings abroad are a lovely idea, as you can find some really unique venues that you can’t get in the UK. And with the weddings being carefully created by TUI’s expert staff, and having it all arranged for you, it does seem very stress- free. You have to book in store though, so pop in to your local TUI to discuss further, if a wedding abroad sounds like your dream wedding.
Also TUI are currently running a competition on their Instagram page to win a £2500 voucher towards a destination wedding, or honeymoon or holiday, I’ve included more info at the end of the post. But now, let’s move onto another venue option:
The All In One :
The all in one venue- which is the route that we went down. We decided to do this as we liked the idea of having everything in one place, we also decided to stay in the UK as we had family members who we wanted to share our special day with us, but aren’t well enough to travel.
I liked that there was lots to do at the venue as it means that if the weather isn’t great, people will have plenty to do, and everything was in house, meaning we didn’t have to look for different suppliers such as caterers, drinks, etc…
Choosing your venue is tricky, but I think once you have narrowed down what kind of wedding you want in your head, it then becomes a lot easier. The world is quite literally your oyster!
Make sure you ask lots of questions, about things like deposits, contracts, the payment schedule, catering, drinks, suppliers, etc… literally just ask everything! It’s better to know everything first, before signing a contact and finding out something later down the line.
Do You Have Any Tips On Dealing With Family Opinions About Weddings?
I’m going to be completely honest with you, when I say that you will have to have at least one awkward conversation with your family about the wedding. Whether its about the guest list, the venue, or the food, you will probably have to reinforce that it’s your wedding. There are elements of our day that aren’t too traditional but as we are mostly funding the wedding ourselves, we have decided to be totally selfish, and do things for us. Which is what your wedding should be about anyways.
I would explain rationally to any family members about how it’s your day/your choice, if they have a difference in opinion to you, and hopefully they’ll understand. All of our family have been great and very understanding to our wedding choices. They totally get why we have made some of the decisions that we have and just want us to be happy. I can totally understand why wedding planning may get stressful because of family, but just stand your ground, but stay calm. Don’t get worked up!
Did Henry Help With A Lot Of The Planning And Decisions?
Yes he did, from the get go, the wedding has been planned very much by both of us. We both have very similar ideas/opinions on stuff, so planning has been quite easy as we both wanted the same things for the wedding- which is good! A lot of Henry’s friends told him how they regretted not being more involved with their wedding, so we decided that we didn’t want this to happen. At the end of the day, it’s both your day, so why shouldn’t the groom be involved too?
We want the day to represent the both of us, and hopefully that’s what our wedding will be. It’s been really lovely planning it together though and has alleviated stress as we’ve both been planning the wedding so it’s not just fell on one person.
How Did You Choose Your Wedding Dress? Did you try lots of styles?
My wedding dress is pretty much how I imagined it would be, but it did take me a little while to find it. I tried on quite a few styles, but mainly stuck to the style that I had in my head. I worked in a wedding dress boutique for five years when growing up, so I had a good idea of what I wanted!
I saw my dress by chance on a rail when I was shopping with my sister in law to be for her wedding dress, it was a last minute appointment so I think it was fate that I saw it on that day. I went home and looked it up, and decided that I had to try it on. The next week I tried it on and I knew instantly it was the one, as when I looked in the mirror as I suddenly felt a bit nervous and my legs felt a bit shaky.
I ordered my dress in late September, and I can’t wait to wear it. I’m genuinely so excited to put it on! It’s my dream dress and I’m in love with it. I can’t wait for you guys to see it!
With wedding dress shopping, I’d try on every style, and go to lots of places, I tried on loads of dresses before I found mine, and felt frustrated a lot as I couldn’t find any that felt ‘right’ – but then I found mine and I felt so relieved! But seriously just go try loads on and take pictures to look back on when you get home.
Have You Had A Workout Plan / Diet In Place For The Wedding?
I’ve been going to the gym, but that’s not been because of the wedding. I do think it’s bad that there’s this almost pressure put on brides to work out and slim down for their wedding, your fiancé is marrying you for you. Planning a wedding is stressful enough without having to worry about dieting/working out. I love going to the gym so it’s not anything out of the ordinary for me, but don’t ever feel pressured to do so if it’s not for you.
Are You Doing Your Own Hair & Make Up For Your Wedding?
No, I’m not. I’m having my hairdresser do my hair, and a very talented make up artist do my make up. I wanted to be a bit pampered and think you can’t beat a professional doing your hair and make up as it lasts so much longer. I’ve had both my make up and hair trial and they both went so well. I’m going for a look which isn’t too different to my normal hair and make up look, but just a little more glam. I wish I could have them do my hair and make up every day! Wouldn’t that be the dream?
Where are You Going On Honeymoon?
We haven’t decided yet, as we felt like there was just too many decisions with the wedding that we couldn’t focus on booking the honeymoon too. There’s almost too many places that we want to go!
We’re stuck between somewhere like The Maldives for an ultimate luxury holiday or a multi centre trip including a city then a beach break. We’ve discussed NYC and Barbados as a possibility.
Honeymoons aren’t cheap though, and we’ll be putting any money from the wedding towards it. As I mentioned above, TUI are currently running a competition on their Instagram to win a £2500 voucher to go towards either a destination wedding, honeymoon or holiday. Here’s the link to enter and T&C’s can found on TUI’s Instagram. I’ll race you to the entry page!
So phew, there we go, all of the questions answered, that I get asked a lot about the wedding. I’m sure that I’ll do a post wedding Q&A too, but hopefully this has answered any planning questions, and given you an update to our day!
I genuinely can’t believe how close it is now, I go from being stressed one minute, to super excited the next!
What would be your number one piece of advice for Brides To Be? And don’t forget to enter the TUI Instagram competition!
*Post sponsored by TUI, but all opinions and thoughts remain my own, find out how I work with brands in my disclaimer here.
