everything about my wedding!

2023, wedding

Hello!

It’s now been over three months since I got married and I’ve been thinking about doing a big post talking about everything that went into it, so now I’m finally doing it!

I set up a ‘joint’ Instagram account (that my husband never uses) when we got engaged to document the process of planning our wedding. Now I plan to use it for more general couple things – being soppy about him, if we can ever buy a house I want to document that, our life together etc. But just to conclude the wedding, I’ve spent the last week and a half making a bunch of posts about different aspects of the wedding so I thought I’d expand on them here!

Here’s everything you could possibly want to know about our wedding!

THE VENUE

Our venue was absolutely stunning, there’s a reason I didn’t feel the need to see any others after we saw it.

One of my favourite things about it wasn’t actually the suite where our wedding took place, but a suite in the main hotel called the Windsor Suite which is essentially a massive apartment with a kitchen, three bedrooms (one ensuite, one family bathroom) and a massive living room area – the night before our wedding we had all of Lucas’s family, my entire bridal party and his best man in there for dinner and drinks. The morning of they brought breakfast to the suite (so I didn’t cross paths with Lucas by accident!) and there was plenty of space for us all to get ready without feeling smothered by the photographer or videographer so they really could be flies on the wall. It was an incredible space and I feel very lucky to have been able to use it.

THE FLOWERS

My favourite thing about my flowers is that they look exactly the same to this day – in a beautiful vase in our living room with the cake topper popping out the top!

THE OUTFITS

I’m considering ways in which I can have my dress adapted to be more subtle so I can wear it again, but I honestly can’t describe the way that I felt like a proper princess – the hair, the veil, the dress; it was everything.

THE RINGS

Considering they’re arguably the biggest symbol of marriage, they were one of the easiest things to sort and I can honestly say my wedding ring is the most comfortable piece of jewellery I own.

THE ROOM DECOR AND DRESSING

Magical. It was all just magical.

THE CRAFTS

I couldn’t fit all the crafts into one post, so here is part 2!

Although stressful at the time, spending time making all of these things with my husband was an experience I will truly treasure. As well as making me learn skills I have already used since – my Cricut and I will go a long way together!

THE CEREMONY

Again, an aspect of the day that was often forgotten in my mind – definitely the shortest part of the day ringing in at about 30 minutes, but everything from our fabulous registrars, our wonderful witnesses and the readings and songs – perfect. I can’t describe it any other way.

THE CAKE

I wish I could eat it all over again.

THE MEDIA SUPPLIERS (I can’t think of a nicer way to word it lol)

And that’s everything I can think of! We got engaged two years and ten months before we got married. Luckily we never had to postpone because of COVID because we picked a date so far in advance. But we went through our own array of issues with our venue changing hands and being passed through several wedding coordinators, being told we couldn’t have fireworks then we could but we couldn’t afford it, then I lost my job and everything felt very bleak.

But everything came together perfectly, it was the best day of my life and I felt like I was on cloud 9 (pretty much) all day long. I wish I could do it all over again!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx

I’m Getting Married in 4 Months!

2022, wedding

Hello!

If you’ve ever gotten married or know someone who has, you probably understand that it becomes all consuming, especially as the big day gets closer and closer!

In the last couple of weeks, my partner and I attended the wedding of one of his oldest friend’s and we then had a week off work together, in which I properly got my act together and made a lot of planning developments because attending a wedding had both inspired me and freaked me out a little. But after reviewing my to do lists and making some decisions, doing lots of research and making my partner actually get involved in some of the choices, I feel like the mental switch flipped and I’m really excited about it all now.

The biggest thing is the dress, always the dress, and since ordering it four months ago, I’ve been getting increasingly more excited about getting my own – the one I tried on was absolutely not my size and I chose a different colour so I just can’t wait to see it and wear it and feel like a princess. Although we’ve been engaged since January 2020, it hasn’t started to actually feel real until very recently and I think being in the dress will be the icing on the cake.

Speaking of which, I had a very in-depth and serious conversation with my mum about our wedding cake today as she is very kindly making it for us and we’ve come up with something that feels much more us than what is considered ‘traditional’ but fits all the right vibes perfectly and will no doubt be delicious.

It doesn’t have to be a wedding for me to be excited about cake.

And now that we’ve sent out the majority of our invites, we can properly get excited with other people and our friends and family are sharing their excitement with us and it’s honestly so lovely. There really is nothing like a wedding!

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lot of coordination and planning and figuring out all the finances and seeing some of the quotes of anything wedding related can be mind blowing, but if you’ve ever read any of my posts before you’ll know I love a list, I love goal setting and I love planning so actually, whilst at surface level it feels stressful, it all just feels like one big problem solving exercise that I’m very much enjoying watching slot into place.

The thing that’s really hitting me at the moment is that I will have a different name by the end of the year. I’ll be a Mrs. I still feel too young to be living in a house with a ‘real adult’ let alone to be a Mrs! Honestly baffling.

Alongside important discussions about cake, mum and I planned things like getting our nails done, getting massages and buying gifts for my little bridesmaids (I say little because they’re 6, 9 and 10, not as a reference to their height 😂) and it’s been really lovely to feel everything fall into place.

Honestly, I feel a little bit emotional thinking about it all – I’m in such a wonderful place right now to be able to marry my best friend and have such wonderful support network of friends and family that are genuinely so excited for me and I feel incredibly grateful. Nothing’s perfect, but it’s pretty good.

Thank you for reading!

Sophie xx

how I’ve planned my wedding planning!

2021, organisation, wedding

Hello!

My partner and I have technically been engaged for a year now (we picked a date we wanted to get married this time last year but we didn’t ‘propose’ to each other until much later in the year, I could write a whole blog post about it…), and after two wedding fairs and a pandemic, I’m starting to think more seriously about planning.

I’d say ‘we’ but anyone who’s planned a wedding with a man knows they probably don’t have a lot of opinion. I know mine still doesn’t feel like it’s real because it’s nearly two years away. To clarify: this isn’t me saying he isn’t allowed an opinion, oh no no – he just is vastly indifferent to anything I try to talk to him about.

But now that we are inside of two years away from the day and we’ve paid the full deposit on our venue, it’s time to really start thinking about planning! I know nearly two years in advance is probably a bit eager, but surely the earlier I start the less stressful it’ll be right? Apparently wedding planning is super stressful and I’m sure I will get stressed and nervous the closer the date gets, but the more I can plan it advance the better, right?

So starting from the beginning, deciding what date we wanted to get married was a very casual decision, we told our parents over the next month or so and immediately my mum booked us tickets to a wedding fair in Birmingham and another local one near our home town and luckily we managed to go to them both in the two weekends before the first lockdown in the UK. Mum also treated me to a wedding planning folder which has been helpful! I found a venue I loved at the local wedding fair, then after showing it to my fiancé we booked a viewing tour thing in July and confirmed the contract with the final part of the deposit this month.

One of my 2021 goals was to make some progress on planning the wedding, so over the New Year I went through and made a long list of every step and every task I’d need to do to plan the wedding – not including payment deadlines and things like that because those are finer details that I’ll know more about closer to the time.

Knowing what I’m like I’ll make a spreadsheet of some sort because that’s who I am as I person.

I made my master list using the wedding planning folder I got from Paperchase and the recommendations from Bridebook which I’ve found really useful, but I’m not using every suggestion it makes (it’s been very useful for budgeting guidance though). I then split that up into tasks that can wait until 2022 and what I want to do (or at least start) this year and now I’ve got 10 tasks I want to start this year (and I’ve already ticked one off).

My 2022 list currently has 19 things on it but it makes sense that there’s more tasks in the year of the wedding right?

I still don’t know how the heck to plan a wedding. How are people ‘good’ at this, or do they just get wedding planners?

I’ve found having a longer list and knowing everything that I have to do in the long run makes it easier and feel less daunting. Wedding planning is daunting – it’s such an unknown and it’s not something you tend to get practice in, as well as being a huge financial commitment. And if you’ve been following any of my other posts, you know I love making a list more than anything!

I’m excited to start planning and for it all to feel more real as we get a bit closer, fingers crossed 2021 takes a different path to 2020.

Thank you for reading – I hope you and your loved ones are happy, healthy and staying safe!

Sophie xx

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attending my first wedding show!

2020, lifestyle, wedding

Hello!

In my head, I’ve not stopped talking about how my partner and I have decided to get married and we picked a wedding date and we’re kind of engaged but there wasn’t a proposal (yet?) and there’s not ring, but every time I post about it someone new comments saying ‘how did I miss this?!’ so here it is: my boyfriend Lucas and I are engaged. I’m going to make a video talking about ‘how it happened’ and answering any questions about the whole thing this weekend so if you have any questions let me know!

My mum has been super excited about it all ever since I told her and last weekend we went to our first wedding show together – we attended the National Wedding Show in Birmingham and I thought I’d collate a few thoughts on the whole thing because… it was a lot.

The reason we decided to go to a wedding show was because the whole ‘planning a wedding’ thing is very overwhelming – the date we’ve picked isn’t until the end of 2022, but everyone keeps telling me it will fly by but it still feels a very long way away. So going and speaking to lots of exhibitors, seeing what I’d need to be thinking about and getting some inspiration was a really great way to start.

We went into it all with a very open mind – with nothing booked and over two and a half years to go I’m in the very early stages of planning. Most of the venders I spoke to were venues because that’s the first thing that needs to be decided (I think?). Most of the venues we spoke to were surprisingly local for a National wedding event, so they were all based around Birmingham – this isn’t an ‘issue’ per say, as neither of us are dead set on a location, but it did surprise me a little whilst also making a lot of sense. I don’t know if I’m making sense, but after speaking to 10-15 venues and picking up loads of brochures, there are a couple that I really liked the sound of that I would like to consider in the long run.

The most annoying thing about the whole show was that there were loads of music venders that were super loud – they were dotted all around the stalls and it made it really difficult to hear anyone you were trying to talk to. Personally, we thought it would make more sense to have a stage that cycled through all the musical performances as the day went on (like the catwalk show that was going on in the middle of the event) and would have been fairer on the other venders who must have really struggled to get as much business when no one can hear or wants to shout to have a conversation with them.

It might make me sound like a grandma, but it didn’t make me want to work with or hire any of the performers that’s for sure.

On the brighter side, there were so many freebies – from loads of cans of lemon flavoured drinks, make-up and skincare samples, sweets, vouchers and even a bottle of rosé, we definitely made the cost of the ticket back in the free things that were handed out.

Overall, the event was busy, really crammed into an unnecessarily small space (there was another half of the hall that was completely empty at the back?) and I feel like it may have been too early to really make the most of the deal and offers for a 2022 wedding, even though the venders said it wasn’t (though that might have been because they wanted my money).

But we had a lovely day out none the less! Though, in most of this wedding planning process I’ve not decided if ‘we’ is my and my boyfriend (fiancé?) or me and my mum? In this situation is was me and my mum!

I’m actually going to another wedding fair this weekend so hopefully I’ll continue to get more ideas and really figure out all the steps I need to take to plan ‘the big day’.

I don’t plan on going to wedding fairs every weekend between now and 2022, just to clarify, if just happens that these two were consecutive weekends!

I’d love to make lots of wedding planning based content around here, particularly when it gets a bit closer to the day but let me know – do you want to see that kind of content? What planning I’m doing, spreadsheets and lists etc? I’d love to hear from you!

Thank you so much for reading,

Sophie xx

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