The wedding clock has just struck five months! What a difference a day can make. As soon as we reached 12:01am on New Year Day, it all suddenly felt really very soon and like plans must be made with urgent attention.
In 2016, we are now closer to 2030 than the year 2000. And yet celebrating the millennium (and of course waiting for that bug to eat all computers) seems like yesterday. So if ‘yesterday’ was 16 years ago, then five months is going to whizz by in the blink of an eye. There is a lot to do – a perfect groom suit to find, wedding dress to be finished (made by the lovely dressmaker Anna Fink), rings, vows, readings, bridesmaid dresses, a pretty dress for a flower girl, invites to get out, flowers, table things, sourcing A LOT of candle-based items… the list goes on.
But fear not; one of the things over the last few months I have achieved is the creation of the mega spreadsheet of colour-coded organisation. If you like organisation, you will find it to be quite marvellous.
Today I came across a “Wedding Planning Calendar” – quite a useful little thing that charts month by month what you need to do in the build up to the day. Even with the mega spreadsheet, I felt quite compelled to check I hadn’t missed anything.
Looking down I felt quite chuffed; by 12 months we should have done our save the dates down, set a budget, made a date, booked a venue – tick, tick, tick tick! By 11 months we should have put together our wedding party, booked our main suppliers, found a photographer – tick, tick, tick! All going very well, until 10 months “begin your beauty regime and start an exercise plan”… woah, wait a minute, that’s not in the spreadsheet of organised fun and we are already at 5 months…yikes!
Since we got engaged, the social media I frequent (mostly subtle side-bar advertising I must add) has made it perfectly clear to me that if I’m going to be a bride, I should probably start to follow only the best beauty “regime”, shift a few pounds and at the very least do more squats so I can have toned bridal buttocks.
Now, I’m all for having a healthy and happy lifestyle, but it’s the assumption that this is synonymous with wedding planning that narks me.
Over Christmas this went up to a whole new level when I was served a sponsored post (not from this fabulous blog, I hasten to add), about how, as a bride-to-be, you can avoid gaining weight from your Christmas dinner. Well this was a step too far. I would like to enjoy my 10 (thousand) pigs in blankets without anyone wading in on whether that is 10 (thousand) piggies too many.
In many ways I do actually find our wedding as a great motivator to get my trainers on. I recently bought a spiraliser, which will no doubt into its own over the coming months with courgetti a-plenty, but I would like, as with my pigs in blanket, to enjoy my courgetti without a stream of media and advertising that implies I should be doing so specifically for our wedding.
The most important matter is surely that we look after ourselves?! Squats may form part of that, but ultimately that’s just a personal lifestyle choice you make. And while we all try to stay calm balancing life along with planning a wedding (worse still – being accused of being a “bridezilla”… a word which I’d put into room 101 along with weight-loss adverts), I suggest these additional pressures can just jog on.
So as Mr Darcy says to Bridget, all I would like to say to brides and grooms-to-be out there, is that I like you very much. Just as you are.
For all those getting married soon, enjoy every second of your day! For all those with mega spreadsheets of planning, I hope it goes well! I would love to hear from you – whether that’s about weddings, weight loss, spreadsheets of organisation or great courgetti recipes. Pop a comment below and say hi!
Love Kate x
P.S. One of the (many) reasons why I love ‘Love My Dress’ is that it is all about celebrating beauty of every kind and there are loads of great discussion articles. This feature is a personal fave of mine.
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Kate is marrying Tim on 2nd June 2016 in Tuscany. You can connect with Kate on Pinterest and Instagram and read Kate’s previous Lovettes features here.
Kate, I’ve never before commented on a blog post but I simply couldn’t resist a huge *THANK YOU* …as 2016 rang in I’ve hit the 7 month mark and like you have had the ‘diet chat’ mumbled quietly but now it’s been rammed down my throat quicker than the cheese on Boxing Day. I hope, like you, I can maintain a happy healthy approach so I feel my absolute best on the day, not my absolute skinniest. Mega jealous of your mega spreadsheet, I will attempt to muster one up over the next week (any tips vastly appreciated) whilst eating any leftover cheese and perhaps doing the odd squat. X
Hi Jen, thank you so much for your comment. So lovely to hear from another bride-to-be that this resonates! I am also sticking with the cheese – though had the last of the Christmas Brie at lunch (so sad).
It is a difficult one to not let it sink in that you need to diet and do all these beauty things, it’s there. I even had an auntie at Christmas say “I expect you’ll be buying an exercise bike won’t you? Lose that last bit of weight before the wedding” – so it comes from real people as well as media, but I am trying to keep that balance…. I mean today yes I had a roughly healthy lunch (Brie and salad?) but when a free box of chocolates was offered to me this afternoon OBVIOUSLY I ate plenty. I mean I might be getting married but I’m not stupid?? 😉
My spreadsheet is mostly scarily colourful, and in categories. I think most would be blinded to even look at it without sunglasses. Creating it was almost like doing all the organising, but I am starting to see now less than five months to go that writing it in a spreadsheet is definitely not the same as actually doing it!
I hope your plans go fabulously! You will look beautiful – and cheese is good for the skin… probably X
Hi Jen,
Thank you so much for replying to my post, it means a lot that this resonates with another bride-to-be too! I agree with you, the ‘diet chat’ can be so noisy and I’m not sure whether it has actually increased, or I’m just more aware of it. It’s not even just the media either… I even had an auntie at Christmas say, “I expect you’ll want to get a hula hoop or exercise bike won’t you? Lose that last bit of weight before the wedding.” I had to laugh, it’s quite ridiculous!
So yes, let’s have our cheese are eat it. I actually had the last of the Christmas brie for lunch, bit of salad there too, to keep it balanced. And when my colleague came round with a box of chocolates, of course I helped her eat them… I mean, I’m getting married, but I’m not stupid.
With the spreadsheet, I’d just go for it. Get stuck in with the colours and the categories. I actually think you might need sunglasses to look at mine – it is VERY colourful. I am quickly realising creating a spreadsheet of organisation is not quite the same as actually doing things… as the list seems to grow daily and without too much ticking off. We’ll get there in the end!
You will look absolutely beautiful on your wedding day I have no doubt…cheese makes your skin glow 🙂 Enjoy every second x
Just realised I posted twice, oops! Sorry thought the first one hadn’t sent xx
I struggled so much with this issue. I remember one article which advised only pat drying hair with Egyptian cotton towels to ensure it wasn’t damaged, and ensuring I booked chemical peels and facials each month for 6 months before the wedding. I wasted so much time and money trying to look and be perfect until about 3 months before the wedding where I was so stressed I had actually gained weight and a hell of a lot of spots to boot. A friend of mine said to me ‘but, (fiance) knows who he’s marrying and asked you as you are. There’s much more fun to be had being engaged’.
I quit worrying, popped a few bottles, spent time with friends and got excited. I still exercised but only to feel relaxed, not because I had to have Kate Hudson’s body, and I used very simple skincare processes that had worked for me right up until my mental engagement freakout! The spots slowly went, my weight levelled out and I ENJOYED being engaged, and looking forward to getting married.
Ladies, if you’re going through the same please remember, you will be beautiful if you are happy and wonderfully YOU. Don’t change and don’t get sucked in like this sucker did! xx
Hi Louise,
Thank you so much for your reply to my post. I can’t believe I haven’t started egyptian towelling my hair down! I read you should get a toothbrush and brush your lips every night for three months, ha ha. Some of it is ridiculous. BUT it is so hard to not get sucked in – all these tips, and products that are ‘must haves’. I brought a load of new make-up the other day because they were ‘wedding beauty must-haves’.
I think you are completely right, best to just enjoy it than worry about a few pounds/having the skin of a goddess! Big old smile on the day will do a lot more than any chemical peel will.
Lots of LMD love x