The Lovettes (Suzannah) – Trying not to lose the plot whilst preparing to tie the knot

In my last blog post, I happily tapped away about all of my ideas in a happy little trance feeling quite content at how organised I thought I was with so much time ahead of me. Whilst this may technically still be true, we still have over 10 months to go, I can’t quite help but feel ever so slightly panicked at the almighty task ahead of us, my wedding is beautiful in my head and on my ever growing Pinterest boards but how do I make that a reality?

Now I am most likely being over dramatic – I am the first to admit that, and I do hope that I am not the only bride to be going through this ‘phase’.

Having what I would call a very long engagement (since October 2013) meant that after all of the big ‘must have’ details were booked (venue, photographer, videographer etc), I’d be able to take a step back from wedding planning. Not necessarily because I wanted too, but because I couldn’t have every single aspect of the day booked, signed, sorted with years to go, I would almost have certainly changed my mind.  I think that’s the thing – wedding planning is so personal/individual/yours that for me, now is the time. (Panic!)

I couldn’t have planned the finer details any sooner than now because it wasn’t current, it wasn’t realistic and it wasn’t 320 days away! (I remember a time that figure was well over the 800 mark! – HOW HAS THAT HAPPENED!?)

At this point I can’t help but feel the pressure; I have lost count of the amount of times we’ve been told, ‘it’s only a day,’ ‘It’ll be here and gone before you know it!’ (Ouch!).  Well, yes it may only be one day, but it will be the day I will have been waiting for, for two and a half years, the day that we will remember for the rest of our lives be it rain, shine, or thunderstorm (emergency brollies are definitely on my to-do list, along with wellies for that matter).

In trying to ‘keep frosty’ as my Father has always said, I’ve taken comfort in the decisions that we have made and loved, setting myself small tasks to piece together the finer details (such as hair accessories, chair covers, jewellery, gifts, confetti, rings) in an effort to bring everything together seamlessly in the end. The biggest and most important thing I have found so far in my journey is the importance of finding trusted suppliers. True professionals who are good at what they do and who love doing it too.

These ‘magical’ people that have listened to my ramblings and made helpful suggestions, given honest advice and recommendations over many cups of tea, cake (and a little bit more cake) have been invaluable. I’ve come away from meetings feeling reassured, refreshed and excited about the prospect of our day.

When this all began, I never ever realised the amount of ‘stuff’ that there is to do, thankfully I have quite a willing group of family and friends who I am incredibly thankful for.  My oldest brother has designed our wedding stationery and I was super pleased with how my brief materialised into the most beautiful ‘Save the Dates’.  I can’t wait to get going on the rest of our stationery now. My younger equally talented brother is a keen photographer so we hope to incorporate his kit into the day, making a DIY photo booth with a vintage backdrop which should create some fabulous prints to cherish.

The girls and I are going to give floral crowns a go and recently, I have been filling my Pinterest boards with DIY favour ideas – I love the idea of crepe paper flowers, handmade with love, ivy leaves with handwritten names as escort cards and handmade confetti wrapped up in lace doily cones.

I have no doubt that the next few months are going to whizz by just as quickly as the last two as we have lots planned including a big family wedding, evening receptions celebrating with good friends, a mini break away in August with our nearest and dearest pals and James will be turning the big 3-0 in October! (Uh oh Mr G!)

Hopefully next time I write I’ll be feeling a little less panicked and have embraced all that is being thrown our way but right now I definitely feel better for getting all of that wedding related stress out into words. For now, I have a week off of work, so back I go to my Pinterest boards, the gym oh and a spa trip tomorrow, marvellous!

I’d love to hear from other fellow brides to be on how they’re getting on, at whatever stage of the planning process you might be at.

Cheerio for now,

Love Suzannah x

 

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Suzannah Elizabeth Smith is marrying James Goodfellow in June 2016. Beverley Harrison will be taking their wedding photographs

You can connect with Suzannah via her website and Pinterest and view her previous blog posts on Love My Dress here.