My tips & hints..

Weddings will NEVER be stress free; there are far too many people involved for everything to go smoothly, but there are some ways you can reduce the worry!! So here are my 5 top tips!

Tip 1

Make a budget based on what you can afford – you most probably will go over what you originally wanted to spend, but don’t spend more than what you can afford to. Paying bills and putting fuel in your car is far more important than getting a reel of ribbon! However, if there is something you REALLY want, work out areas you can cut so that you can afford it. I wish I’d have spent more on my photography; my photographer was lovely, but you can tell they weren’t taken by someone who’d been taking wedding photos professionally for 10 years.

Tip 2

Only spend money on things that will either be used (i.e. food), or you know you can sell afterwards (i.e. faux fur shawls from winter weddings) or something that you’ll use in your home. All the decorationy bits I bought for our wedding I will use throughout our house so I can justify spending slightly more on something I really love.

Tip 3

Dont let the wedding turn you into a bridezilla; you hear so many stories about people falling out over something petty. The wedding may be your world, but it’s not everyone else’s. Take a step back and think about how you’d have felt pre-engagement about matching ribbon to bridesmaid dresses!

Tip 4

Don’to let people rail road you into decisions you don’t want to make. One of the areas I was most disappointed with was my bridesmaid dresses; they’re everything I didn’t want. And when I look at the photos I have to look past them. The girls looks nice in them, but they aren’t what I wanted at all.

Tip 5

Include your fiancé! Yes, some of the ideas Dan came up with made me cringe in the run up to our wedding, but he also came up with some really good ideas, and things I might not have thought of or dismissed. It’s only fair to let them have their input in a day that is about the BOTH of you!!