Getting Hitched!

Hi everyone, 

Sitting there in the darkened corner of the dancefloor I watched as the bride and groom skitted across the parquet flooring watched by all their family and friends I thought about how that would be me one day. As Mr Warehouse sat beside me I could tell he too was getting emotional as their children joined them in their union to become a family once again and that was it. Hearts stopped! As my fiance and I joined the happy newlyweds on the dance floor surrounded by twinkling lights and disco music we thought about how our day would be. With less than eighteen months ago it was certainly whizzing by in a flash. 

What with Vivienne being a right off and getting a new car, as well as work and social life, planning our special day, was put slightly on the backburner and it had been some weeks since I had checked our emails. Having a little peak in the inbox I realised that we had yet to try and secure our caterer and after a meeting with him at the Stagsden Village Hall where we will have our reception and our wedding breakfast, we have yet to hear back from him. 

Mr Warehouse and I had indulged in wedding planning and had booked the bar, the ceremony and the reception venue. I had researched into the perfect dress and been to try quite a few on too. My fiance had looked into suits and I think we have a colour scheme in mind. The flower-girl has met her dress and demanded her shoes to match ( as it should) and the mother of the groom outfit has already been chosen. 

But there is still so much more left to plan. The wedding planning website "Hitched.co.uk" says that when it comes to wedding planning there’s no right or wrong way to do it. However, there is a simple way to organise your wedding planning tasks that’ll reduce your stress levels and ensure you actually enjoy this exciting time!

One of the websites top tips is to create a budget - And stick to it! Like most couples, we sat down together and had an open discussion about finances and realistically after buying a house and managing debts, how much we could both afford and how to save over the coming years and months. Unlike some newly engaged couples, we are not fortunate enough for our parents or other family members to help pay for the wedding, and I think to be fair I wouldn't want them getting involved financially as it becomes a bit too messy in terms of who is paying for what and when and how much. This is our special day and we will finance this on our own. 

When it comes to wedding inspo, "Hitched.co.uk" has got you covered with their helpful website and suggests making mood boards to gain a theme or style. There are so many sources of inspiration out there which can make everything a bit overwhelming sometimes, so I choose one medium and have stuck with it. You can’t beat Pinterest – it’s a great way to gather ideas and create boards for each aspect of your wedding. The great thing I love about Pinterest is that you can collect all of the table décor, dress, cake, photo ideas all in one place that takes your fancy, and I can share them with friends and family, although Mr Warehouse doesn't love it as much as I do. The social media platform comes into its own when getting closer to the big day as I can ping across ideas and thoughts to suppliers when the time comes for a better understanding of what I want and how I want it!

Another tip from the wedding planning website is that before the hunt for the venue begins, the Bride and Groom should sit down together and talk about what wanted from the wedding venue and this is certainly something we chose to do very early on in our wedding planning process. Nothing else could ah[[en until we found it. And so we searched and searched but nothing was perfect enough. Mr. Warehouse and I knew we needed somewhere fairly sizable as our wedding party would be at least seventy. We ideally wanted some outside space to enjoy the hopefully warm setting sun and space for the kids to exhaust themselves. A bonus would have been a separate area for dinner and dancing but not essential. A bar would have been nice as well as some additional space for a quiet moment whereas parking and accommodation nearby was a must. Luckily we found most of it all in the Stagsden Village Hall. 

Some more helpful advice from "Hitched.co.uk"  was about the wedding party and choosing well. Now I instantly knew who my bridesmaids would be and wanted to ask Mr. Warehouse Neice, the only little girl in both our families if she would like to be my flower girl. However, Mr Warehouse had a bit of a harder time choosing between his brothers as who would be Best Man and so just settled and chose both. My advice would be if you’re not sure then don’t feel rushed into your decision. Think carefully about who will be the best people to support you and your fiance on your special day and in the run-up to it.  You may also want to consider the cost as your bridal party will need outfits, bouquets, buttonholes and thank you gifts, so the more people you have, the more this could impact your budget.  They will be in your photo's on your mantlepiece forever so be sure to make a wise choice. 

There are so many more decisions to make, most of the ones I talked about both Mr. Warehouse and I have already done, and more. Here's hoping that the next few weeks I can get the catering sorted and maybe even onto some more exciting things!

'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx