More than a handful : Rock your Rolls

Wannabe brides and grooms, you may have thought you know what you want for your big or small day. I promise you… you will never have so much choice again in your life, you have no idea what you actually want.

Aside from those of you who don’t want to get married. I can’t really cater for you in this post… because … well.. there wouldn’t be one.. so read on out of interest or mild indignation. We operate and equal opps blog!

Wedding Planning tips GO:

+ Pick your Date. Think about the seasons: what is available, what do you think you’d like to wear. What would you like to eat.. etc. Thest will give you a good indication. Also think about what day of the week. Mid week and Sundays are often a bit cheaper but a total bitch for getting everyone you want, to attend.

+Make a budget. Speak to your parents as they may want to help out. Talking about money isn’t vulgar, not if you approach it in a sensitive manner. Make a spread sheet.

Tweak one to how you need, what you need but stick to it and update it regularly. It takes ten mins to make one … no excuse!!

+ Pick the Venue. Barter for a deal. Most venues make you use their own caterers, so make sure they will through in a discount. Also consider the wedding planner that maybe thrown in as a freebie. If you don’t like them, don’t use them.

+ Consider a Buffet. Make your life easy, Everybody has different tastes. Yes you can spend 10k on a sit down meal, trying to look flash. But lets’ be realistic, your lobster bellini’s are not everyone’s cup of tea. Nor is the grim French onion soup… Why pay out your ass to look like one?

Make your food choices to please you and your partner. Buffets give a great range, cater for allergies, cultural needs and varying palette. Buffets don’t have to be crass, so get off any pedestal you are on!

+ Make a Guest List. Your guest list, your rules. Don’t be swayed by family members, who other people invited, etc. YOUR WEDDING. It’s nice to have an even spread of guests for both parties, but hey, it’s a wedding not a competition.

If budget is tight, restrict plus ones. Do you really want your little sisters boyfriend of 2 weeks coming? You won’t be able to cut him out of the photos you paid the earth for if the relationship days a death in 6 months.. especially if it ends badly. YOUR WEDDING.

Budget saving idea: most evening receptions give a discount. IE you only pay for 80% of expected guests if you had your wedding reception dinner at the same venue. So if you want a day and night do. Consider this.

+ Pick a Team. Specifically TeamBridesmaids/BestWomen/BestMent. Again, think carefully. It’s YOUR WEDDING. Pick who you want and trust. It is a massive consideration and an honour that comes with mucho responsibilities. You need people you trust and who are supportive.

So many people have told me that they really regretted who they picked. Bridesmaid Remorse is an actual thing! One less thing you need.

+ Invites. I totally screwed up here. The UK has a two tier postal system based on size and weight of postage. Despite getting a cashier to weigh them, 10 of my guests had to pay to receive their invites. CRINGE.

Also, don’t send your invites to early. 6 months is good notice, maybe a bit more if poss if the wedding is during popular family holiday season. You will rework your guest list, I promise you! You don’t want to invite someone who was a maybe and then regret it..

You could have spent that money on better shoes!!

+Get Crafty. Can’t recommend this enough. This is not just a money saving process. This is building memories. Literally with your own fair hands. There is so much inspiration out there on sites like Tumblr, Pintrest, Pose… You can make anything from invites, to favours. Dresses to flowers. Decorations to rings. This wedding will only happen once, so get involved!

That’s enough for now but there will be more wedding related nonsense in the future

It’s been a mad year. I’ve moved. Started a new job. Made redundant. Proposed too. Nearly bought a house…. but the redundancy killed that off.

So here I lie (tummy first, whale stylee) facing my work siesta, ready to chuck myself in the deep end of wedding planning.

Truth be told, within 3 weeks of becoming engaged, we had already picked out and booked the venue, selected the date, informed the registrars and worked out the food, drinks and guest list. All within a very tight budget.

From engagement to wedding day, less than 10 months.

From today’s date, less than 6 months.

It’s been a mine field and I will be writing some points for planning your big day, your way, in the near future.

My last job was pretty legal.. as in law orientated… not that anything dodgy and I lived from door to door, sleeping somewhere in between.

So, yet again, I have dutifully neglected Tumblr.

I discovered Twitter - Torlilah - which is basically a paradox of the worst things in the world and messages of love. If you haven’t jumped in to this social media whirlpool, DON’T, unless you have a strong stomach.

Right enough prattling and on to the good stuff:!!!