We’re 174 days away from our wedding which really doesn’t seem that long! With this in mind, I wanted to do a little personal wedding planning update as well as some of the tips and hints posts that I’ve been sharing just in case anyone is interested.
This is our day and we’re doing things our way so just bear that in mind that just because this is how we want our day to be this doesn’t mean that I’m judging however you want to do you day and I’d expect the same in return. I don’t know why weddings can make people so touchy so I just wanted to put those positive vibes out there to the universe. Your day, your way!
Venue
I obviously started furiously Pinteresting and online shopping for wedding styles and dresses as soon as we were engaged as my head was so fuzzy and crazy with the thought of getting engaged! But, the venue was the first thing that we really sorted, we were actually at the venue when we decided on our date. We had no idea when we wanted to get married but started chatting to the planner at the first venue that we saw and we found out that November – January was considerably cheaper than spring and summer weddings. November is our anniversary so we just decided on that day!
Our venue is a local restaurant with a private party space which is a really short walk form West Bridgford registry office, where we’re actually getting married.
As our venue helped us decide on our date, it also helped us decide on our guest list size. This would be one of my top tips if you’re not sure whether to go big or small. Find a venue you love and work from there. Our guest list is around 30 for the wedding and then another 30-40 for the party which is what our venues allow for.
Flowers & decor
Based on our Pinterest inspiration we decided on keeping it simple with minimal flowers and we love greenery and eucalyptus and this was our main vibe for the day and our decor. It also complements where we’re having our reception as they have fairy lights and greenery all around too. We’re not having crazy flowers, we playing it by ear and seeing what we can get our hands on nearer the time and my bestie is also growing some flowers for her wedding a couple of months before mine so I’m banking on grabbing some from her to be honest.
Decor wise with this theme we love the lights, rustic wood and greenery vibe and are renting a load of goodies from Light It Up Hire a local (Worksop based) business. We’re getting gigantic LOVE lights, a greenery wall and some other amazing bits for our wedding party.
Outfit
For my outfit I have a high street bridal jumpsuit which I love and was actually the first one I ordered and saw. I’ve done a post with four high street wedding dresses and jumpsuits which I think are beautiful if you’re on a budget for your wedding.
Obviously I won’t share that yet but I wanted to share this amazing Prezzybox personalised clutch bag which I was kindly gifted as another piece of work with these guys. I love Prezzybox, their products are amazing quality and I just love this, it’s perfect as a memory for the big day and also super useful as I’ll definitely need a bag to keep my phone and lipstick in on the day!
Shoes
If you follow me on Instagram you’ll know about the drama with the Choos. I thought I’d treat myself to some gorgeous designer shoes as my outfit is high street but they arrived in a bit worse for wear condition so I’ve sent them back and ordered a couple of pairs from Topshop to try. They just simply weren’t worth the money for me.
Invitations
We opted for cute save the dates and invitations from Hobbycraft as the Kraft style fits our overall relaxed vibe of the wedding and paid around £35 for them all. We also have a matching guest book. If you’re wanting designer or hand made invitations it’s best to get in there super quickly with designers as these also get booked up quickly.
Hen Do planning
I’m not having ‘proper’ bridesmaids simply because I can’t be bothered – in the nicest way possible! I don’t need them, all of my best friends will be there and I don’t need them to specifically have a role and be forced into wearing the same (or similar) dress. I’m totally chill about this and don’t feel like I need them to have a label to be there to make my day special.
The Hen Do on the other hand is a different thing, this is obviously happening! I put all of my best gals into a Whatsapp group, told them what I don’t want and gave a few ideas and I know there’s some awesome planning going on. I’m just getting their goody bags together and loving doing this. I’ll share these after the Hen because I don’t want to ruin any surprises!
I picked up these super cute PJs from Primark to wear on my Hen and also probably when I’m getting ready on the actual day itself.
Playlist
This was so fun! We’re not having a band or anything so we just sat on the sofa one night and both whacked loads of songs onto a playlist which we’ll organise with the venue to have played at our party section. We also have a dinner playlist and a ceremony playlist of a few songs too which we’ll sort out when we have our rehearsal meeting with the registry office.
Cake
If you’re wanting a mega super fancy cake you’ll have to book a professional cake maker super far in advance as they get so booked up! But, again, this isn’t something that we were too fussed about so we’re planning to get Colin & Connie the Catepillars for £100 for them both plus maybe some of the baby ones because they’re too cute.
Extras & more…
Obviously we have loads more little bits and bobs to organise. We don’t need to sort food as our party venue is catering our wedding breakfast after the ceremony, we’ll just need to ask guests to choose their menus and do that ourself.
We also need to organise entertainment for our wedding breakfast and any speeches we want – but really we want a pub quiz so we need to write that!
I’m sorting my hair and makeup and all of those other bits and Luke is sorting his outfit and stag do. I also need to order my wedding band and I have one in mind that I love so that’s next on the list.
For anything I haven’t understood or even thought about I’ve listened to the Rock My Wedding podcast which is really insightful and super helpful for things that I’ve needed reassurance for or sometimes not even thought about. This is where we are roughly with our planning and hopefully it was interesting! Let me know if you want any more specific tips or insights into our planning.
