A non-guidey guide from a 'Soon-to-be Bride' Part 11

We've been on Steph's wedding planning journey for almost a year and we've loved her story and loved sharing it with you - and it's especially relevant to so many of you as her wedding plans have been affected by the Coronavirus pandemic meaning her original plans have had to change significantly.

In Steph's last blog, she shared her invaluable top planning tips following her wedding being rearranged due to the Covid - she's had a couple of months off...and has since had to postpone her plans for a second time, which means she will now have planned a wedding for 3 different seasons!

___

"I’m baaack!

I hope everyone has been holding up OK over the last couple of months and trying to enjoy the little things in life!  

We managed to take our puppy Benji on his first holiday to Devon for a few days and made the most of spending time with some family in between whilst trying to arrange everything for our new wedding date in November and trying to decide who our 30 people would be (well 23 after suppliers etc!)...I was getting my head around an intimate affair until the latest announcement meant reducing our guest list down further to 15, so the decision has been made to postpone our wedding a second time to July 2021! 

I feel sad to no longer be a 2020 Bride, and almost feel defeated, but also relieved that the pressure has been taken off a little and the world has a little more time to return to some sort of normality. So even though we don’t know where we’ll be by July I am now back in my familiar territory of planning a warmer wedding!

Just to recap, our first wedding date was 22nd May 2020, our second date was 20th November 2020 - and we’re now on 2nd July 2021.  We just need to postpone once more to winter and I will have planned a wedding for all 4 of the seasons!!

For anyone who has decided to change seasons to fit in with Covid, you’re not alone and trust me, Pinterest is your best friend!! It took me a while to get my head around the fact that we wouldn’t be having kids running around in the fields surrounding the venue or playing giant snakes and ladders, croquet and boules on the lawn...but after a couple of hours on Pinterest and talking to people who have had winter weddings I was suddenly sold on fairy lights, candles and little tipi craft tents for the kids, paired with red wine and cheese boards galore. 

There’s lots to get excited about no matter what season you end up marrying in, you just have to be open-minded! I now have to flip this back on it’s head and think about ordering that giant snakes and ladders again now. Maybe this time round I’ll get the bouncy castle I wanted?!

I can honestly say people's attitudes to all of this has astonished me! From the people who have brought their entire weddings forward and arranged everything in a matter of days before the new restrictions came in, to people who are happy to wait another 2 years when they’ve already been waiting, to seeing normal everyday posts on the bridal groups I’m on about people stressing over the little things brides should be stressing over - like being worried about choosing a makeup artist, or arguing over cake flavours, I’ve missed those normal wedding dilemmas!

So keep doing what's right for you, take people's advice on board, and admire what other people are doing - but remember, none of them are you and in your relationship, so be selfish and do what's right for you two!

Your bride-to-be

Steph x"