Congratulations FIANCÉ!..but now what?! 👰🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

Happy New Year Bridal Diaries Gang! 🤍 

I know I’ve taken a short hiatus from writing these Bridal Diaries newsletter... if I’m being honest, life has just caught up with me lately. We’ve expanded our team (officially have a #Pristeam guys, how exciting!), bought a new place (which we’re moving into next week!), planned our honeymoon (T-3 months and I’m desperately trying to shift my Christmas weight #struggleisreal) and then everything else in between! But don’t worry we are back now and ready to give you guys all the best tips, trends, inspo and advice for 2024! 👰🏻‍♀️

Did you know, according to surveys and statistics, that the Christmas period is one of the most popular times for couples to get engaged? I do think Christmas is a really romantic of year; the lights, the music, the candles and the general energy of everyone around you, so it makes complete sense. Also, what a way to avoid January blues by “rocking your new rock” and starting Wed-min! 💍

Congratulations to any of you who did get engaged over the last couple of months and welcome to your wedding planning journey as an official fiancé! With that in mind, I thought I’d share 10 things you should seriously consider once you’ve (slightly) come down from the epic engagement high:

1) Insure Your Ring

Girls I cannot stress this enough, INSURE YOUR RING. Don’t put it on your ‘list of things to do’ that you never get around to, just insure it the same week you got engaged. It’s just not worth the risk. Ask your jeweller or even any other engaged friends for their insurance recommendations or do a quick google search to compare what’s out there for yourself.

2) Discuss 5 Non Negotiables Each

I often get asked where to start with wedding planning, and this is the answer I give. Sit down with your partner alone (i.e. not with parents, siblings, friends or anyone else around) and both think about what your top 5 priorities are for your wedding. They won’t necessarily be the same as each other and that’s okay, it’s just important to know what means most to each other. If you’re unsure where to start with this, think about all the weddings you’ve been to so far and what you noticed/focused on the most. Was it food, decor, music, outfits, favours, stationery, cocktails? Once you know your priorities you will know what to allocate the majority of your budget towards.

3) Discuss An Initial Budget…Then Add A 10% Buffer

Whilst it’s easy to get carried away when you’re in wedding mode, please do remember as much as your wedding day is THE day, it is also ONE day. Set a realistic budget that is within your means and add a 10% buffer on top which you can dip into if needs be! It’s also a good time to discuss a saving plan for your wedding by you both putting £X a month aside to go towards it.

4) Set A Date…But Have Back Ups!

If you know what season you want to get married on, or if you have a specific important date you’d like to get married on, then use that as a starting point. Always have 2 or 3 back up dates though and try to be flexible, especially if you want a particular venue!

5) Discuss Guestlist

This is another discussion to do together, just the two of you, before getting family involved! Guestlist is super important as it will impact both your budget and venue choice. Think about whether you plan to invite children and plus ones of guests also.

6) Start Categorised Moodboards

Even if you’re not a Monica Geller, categorising your moodboards will help you in the long run, trust me. Taking screenshots of things you like is all well and good until you’re trying to find it in your camera roll and have no idea where it is. The minimum categories I’d suggest creating moodboards for are; decor, outfits (including bridesmaids/groomsmen if applicable), stationery (including guestbook, card boxes, signage and menus), and then miscellaneous for everything else.

7) Book A Wedding Fair/Show

This is a great place to start as it helps to give you a feel of what you like and what you don’t. It’s also good to get to know suppliers in real life rather than email and you can also bag some good discounts as well. Even if you don’t book or buy anything there, it’s a fun day out to do with family or bridesmaids and helps you get into the wedding spirit.

8) Make A Wedding Whatsapp Group & Email Address

This may sound weird, but I SWEAR by separate Whatsapp groups. I’d recommend having a separate Wedmin whatsapp group for just you and your partner where you discuss anything wedding related in (I did this and now have a separate honeymoon and flat related Whatsapp group with Nim which works so well). It means you can search conversations easier and everything is in one group (documents, screenshots, invoices, links etc) and that you can still speak normally in your regular chat. Also, make a joint wedding email address from the beginning so you both have access to all correspondence and email threads.

9) Think About Your Wedding Party…But Don’t Ask Them Just Yet!

Start your discussions on maid of honour/best man/bridesmaids/groomsmen but don’t jump the gun and ask them straight away. Picking your wedding party is an important decision that should not be taken lightly. You should also consider if they can take on the added responsibility of being in your wedding party. Many Brides I’ve met have asked people in a hurry and then later regretted it when they felt let down!

10) Don’t rush..ENJOY it!

If you’re anything like me, it’s easy to feel you need to go at 100MPH and send a million emails, edit hundreds of spreadsheets and constantly be doing wedmin. However, remember the wedding planning journey should be as enjoyable and fun (for the most part!) as the big day! Take regular breaks, still go on date nights, pause and enjoy the fun parts like food tasting or dress try ons. It all goes by so quickly!

Hope that helped ❤️ 

Love,

Pristine xo