Tonight me and my boyfriend are going over to his cousin’s to congratulate them on their recent engagement, especially as my boyfriend is going to be his cousin’s best man. However, we are faced with huge dilemma of what to take with us as an engagement present. At the moment they live in a fully furnished 2 bedroom flat so there is nothing we can really buy them for their flat as it is pretty full of stuff. We have decided on a John Lewis voucher but it just seems so impersonal to buy them a voucher, especially as the groom is my boyfriend’s cousin, I feel we should buy them something more sentimental. But now that we have the dilemma of how much to spend on them, I am totally unaware what the engagement amount should be?! Obviously we don’t want to spend too little as they are his family but with the wedding, accommodation, hen and stag do’s, plus the wedding presents, it soon adds up to a lot of money! Oh decisions, decisions!!

I was recently bridesmaid for one of my best friends which was such a fantastic honour, when she asked me to be her bridesmaid I was so excited about being involved in her wedding and helping her plan her big day. However, I was not prepared for the fact that I actually would not be involved in any aspect of her wedding.  My friend suddenly became very secretive about every aspect of her wedding, claiming that it was tradition for her to plan everything and not tell anyone else about it. When me and her three other bridesmaids went for our first dress fitting we were all told that we were not allowed to tell anyone the colour of our dresses or the style of our dresses. When I asked my friend if I could take a photo on my phone to show my mum (as she was not invited the wedding) my friend went mad, saying that everything had to be kept a secret. Obviously we were not allowed to see her wedding dress or even know what colour it was. As her bridesmaid I felt quite left out and I think that it is important for the bridesmaids to be involved.

So you have your dress all sorted for your big day, you have chosen the bridesmaid dresses too, you’ve picked out your shoes (that you know will kill you by the end of the night) and the bridesmaids have their shoes sorted too but there is just something missing - the accessories!

It is often the little finishing touches that will decide whether or not a dress is stunning or just ‘nice’. A friend of mine had chosen her own jewellery but she could not find anything that would match the bridesmaid dresses as she has picked a colour that matched nothing. Eventually she found the necklaces that she knew would be perfect for the bridesmaid dresses but unfortunately the shop only had 1 necklace in stock and she had four bridesmaids! So just a week and a half before the wedding she found the necklaces online and ordered them from America. She was panicking when 2 days before the wedding they still hadn’t arrived then just 1 day before the wedding they arrived and looked stunning.

My advice is to treat the accessories with the same importance as the dresses themselves as they will both be on show and in all the photos from your big day.

A friend of mine very recently got proposed to on a week holiday in Ireland. They had booked a lovely hotel in the Irish countryside and she thought that they were just going over to Ireland to visit his family. Then 2 days into the holiday, after a beautiful meal in a local restaurant, he got down on one knee and proposed! He had the ring ready, he was clearly optimistic that she would say yes. Luckily she did say yes and they are now busy arranging a wedding for 18 months time.

But this got me thinking - what would make the perfect proposal?

Another friend of mine was proposed to in a restaurant in the Lake District, which sound romantic but when you consider that they live in the Lake District anyway and it was in front of room of strangers who were all trying to eat their dinner, it turns into a nightmare! For me this would be the worse way to be proposed it, as I think it needs to be personal and private between you and your boyfriend/girlfriend. For me the wedding is the social celebration of your love and the proposal is a personal moment between the two people involved.

One of my biggest worries for the big day is whether or not it will be a lovely sunny day or a typically British wet, gray day. I did consider getting married abroad purely for the fact that you are guaranteed lovely sunny, hot weather but the logistics and the cost of getting my family and my fiance’s family somewhere nice and hot was going to be a nightmare so instead I have taken a massive risk and opted for a UK wedding instead.

A friend of mine recently got married in the , she picked the venue specifically because of the beautiful grounds and the stunning lake at the bottom. The grounds were going to be the basis for the majority of all her photographs but in typical British style, it rained on her bug day! It had been pouring down for several weeks before her wedding so the ground was completely drenched which completely ruined my shoes, which had been specially dyed to match my dress. Luckily she did managed to get a few photos in the grounds as the rain held off for about half an hour but we were all cold and a bit damp when we got back to the champagne, but it didn’t spoil what was one of the best days of last year, and for my friend was the best day of her life.

I have my fingers and toes crossed that the rain holds off on my big day but if it doesn’t who cares, so long as everyone has a great day!

Do you go for the traditional? The wacky? The weird? The safe? Or do you just go with the flow and get it over with?!

Either way, there are thousands of options out there. And in this day and age, you are only limited by your imagination, and wallet (and that can often be gotten around - nice bank manger, or willing newspaper can often swell the coffers of most “Wedding Fund” accounts).

So, what to choose?

I think I’d like to keep it simple. A slight “hippy” feel - in the great outdoors, maybe a hillside or field in the lovely Lake District, with a simple floaty dress, flowers in my hair, just a small gathering of friends and family, and then back to the homestead for a BBQ and marquee (in case of rain).

From the outside, quite cheap. But the marquee, field rental, willing registrar to go to the great outdoors, getting friends and family to walk to your wedding… all mounts up!

But what a day - sharing something you love, with those you love, and making the day truely yours. None of this “I want the same as Mrs Jones’ youngest had” - you get a day that tells people exactly who you are, and those that love you for you, will be happy to share in it.
Overly complicated days can drag and feel exactly the same as the wedding your friends went to last month. Stand out from the crowd - make your wedding theme your own!

The next Big Question (after the proposal!) - where to have the Big Day?

Church? Hotel? Village Hall? Field? Underwater? Jumping from a plane? The list is now endless! ONce upon a time, the only option you had was a church or a registry office.

Now you can go anywhere (as long as you have someone willing enough to perform the ceremony itself!). The newspapers and magazines are full of crazy vicars and registrars that help happy couples have a memorable wedding day.

As long as they sort out the paperwork (and their is lots!), you can pretty much get married in a bin at the end of your road if you fancy it.
That doesn’t sound to much fun to me, but I’m willing to bet there is someone out there that would!

I like the idea of getting hitched somewhere meaningful - a favourite walk, or where you met, or somewhere your favourite but frail Granny can get too easily. I’m not a big fan of gimmicks, but then again, if you can’t afford to get married in the style you really want, and doing something nutty will get you in the papers and get some money towards it, then why the heck not?!

Yes, you’re selling your big day to all the world to see, but the ultimate goal - getting hitched - is still achieved. And surely that is all that matters.

This has got to be one of the hardest decisions ever!

It is bad enough feeding family and friends when they pop round for tea, let alone feeding 50+ people, all of which probably like their dinners ‘just so’. How do you keep them all happy?!

Honest answer? Don’t.

Seriously. It is YOUR big day!! Order what you want people to share with you - yes they may grumble, but if they love and care about you (as they should if you are inviting them to your wedding) then they may mutter, but won’t really mind.

However, if you are one of those that prefers to keep the peace rather than take the risk of keeping yourself happy, then follow some hard n fast rules, and you can’t go wrong:

• do not over season anything - no spices especially
• make sure there is a veggie option
• make sure there is an alternative too fish & nut dishes (in case of allergies - and if you know someone in the party has a massive allergy to somethnig, warn the kitches - the smallest cross contamination can set some people off, and an A&E visit on your big day is the wrong kind of visit!)
• if there are any religious reasons for certain foods to be served or not served, check and plan for that accordingly
• try and avoid overly alcoholic tastes - some don’t like it

Just a couple of tips to help you out!

Your wedding shoes and wedding dress above everything should complement each other. This doesn’t mean to say that you have to have them matching exactly. Most dresses will come in neutral shades of white, ivory or cream, though you do get more vibrant shades, bold colours or metallic colours and can become their own individual feature of your wedding attire. No matter what you do you’re ready for some major shoe shopping once you know the style, colour and fabric. To be ideal you will have a swatch from your wedding dress ready for when you do shoe shopping in order to have the colours perfectly matched. You could also have shoes bought especially that are ready to be professionally dyed. If you are to have your dress made and fitted by a dressmaker it is very important that you take along your shoes, this way your dress will be made to fit your shoes, and the hemline will be the correct length. It’s best to pair up simple shoes with an extravagant dress and vice versa. Take into consideration the length of your dress the shorter the dress the more of your shoes will be on display and things like ankle straps may look good but then can also make your legs look shorter.

At the Reception, your reception will most likely begin with the receiving line, this is a great opportunity to take the time to say a few words of thanks to all your guests and it will give you time to relax as you are wished well by all you happy, smiling guests and family. Many people say that they forget they find it hard to remember their wedding day it goes so fast, an idea for you to remember it is to ask someone to set an alarm to go off every hour to help remind you to take a good look around and take in your surroundings. Also it’s a special day that is shared, so talk about what your partner has seen, heard and felt throughout the day it will bring it all back. Another way to help you remember things, is to relax enjoy yourself and laugh, the laughs are always memorable, even incidents quips and near disasters will be remembered for the laughs. Don’t drink too much either; drinks can dull the mind so for a lasting memory of the big day remember to at least pace yourself, with the drinks. Toasts can become a great excuse for drinking champagne, but don’t sip it drink it.