Wedding planning 101

The day Adam and I got engaged was one of the happiest of my life. I felt so incredibly humbled and excited at the thought of the two of us getting to spend the rest of our days together.  Within hours of us sharing the news, questions started flooding in from both the northern and southern hemisphere about our forthcoming nuptials.

Had we set a date, what colour scheme might be choose, would I wear white, and the big one – where would the wedding be? It all suddenly felt a little overwhelming.  There were so many things we had to make decisions on!

I was never the little girl who dreamed of her ‘big day’ and had in her mind what she wanted. Of course the occasional bride/wedding related picture would pop up in my Instagram or Pinterest feed, but my reaction was generally to think ‘I like/dislike’ that and then move on, never really giving it a second thought.

I bit the bullet and bought myself a few wedding magazines from the supermarket. Some of the articles/language was a little sickening to read to be honest.  There was loaded commentary, over-the-top suggestions and even a cosmetic surgery guide (???!)  So many things that other seemed genuinely worried about didn’t bother me in the slightest. All Adam and I wanted was for everyone to have a wonderful day and for us to be legally married by nightfall.

Instead of making a list of ‘wants’, Adam and I started making a list of ‘don’t wants’. Adam’s background and experience in the events industry was a huge help here. We also started making a rough guest list to work out which continent we’d say ‘I do’ in.  Neither of us wanted a big wedding, just our nearest and dearest.  In the end after much deliberation and discussion we decided we’d get married in England. For our set of circumstances it made sense. Our compromise was, we’d hold an engagement party in Australia, allowing friends and family who wouldn’t be able to make to England the opportunity to celebrate with us. It was a really tough decision, but now we’ve made it, it feels so very right.

Planning is now well and truly underway. We’ve set a date, found a venue (after a good week of viewings) and are trying to get a few details sorted before we move back to Australia, to make it a bit easier.  I still haven’t made decisions about a lot of things, but now Adam and I have a definite vision in our minds about how the day will look and feel.

If anyone’s ever planned a wedding from abroad, I’d love any tips/hints/tricks you can offer.  I’ve got no doubt, it’ll definitely be a bit of a challenge at times!