images from my Instagram

Hello loves,

As I've mentioned a few times recently our wedding planning has finally kicked off in a big way. I am so relieved and excited although it is quite nerve-wracking as our date is only 10 months away! It's taken us a fairly long time to get our plans off the ground but it all seems to be going really quickly now and I'm certain the next few months will fly by.

There are so many reasons why it has taken so long - readers from the very, very early days may recall when Jon proposed to me while on holiday on the Cote d'Azur back in 2010, just before the final year of my degree. I also posted about my fabulous diamond cluster ring (with a very dodgy photo here, and a much better photo here!) but other than that, things have been rather silent on the wedding front. Almost straight after leaving university we bought a flat so there just hasn't been the budget to put into a wedding, although we started looking at venues a couple of years ago just to gather ideas. After hours of countless Google searches, frustrated phone calls, wedding fair after wedding fair, tears, strops, arguments... we have finally set the date, finalised the registrars and most importantly of all, agreed on a venue.

It feels as though it has been a long hard slog to get to where we are now - our initial visions of fairytale castle grandeur (Jon) and French chateau elegance (me) have slowly been whittled down to a relaxed, family-style garden party with a restored barn, rolling lawns and the sweetest Monet-inspired bridge. It's not what either of us imagined at all, but the moment we visited our venue we just knew it was the perfect place to say our vows.

 I keep flicking through my pile of wedding magazines (the A4 size ones are all stored in a fancy magazine rack I picked up at Sainsbury's) and nervously poring through the checklists, but it honestly feels like the big things are all sorted now. We have a date, a time, a ceremony and reception venue, even a photographer... and my dress! I have individual posts planned for these topics and will keep you updated on our progress as I'm bound to become more and more consumed by wedding planning. We are forgoing a lot of the expected traditions - I'm not a fan of being told what to do! - but the basics will likely be the same as weddings across the board so hopefully my experiences will be helpful to someone.

I will leave links to some of my wedding Pinterest boards below if anyone is interested:


My next post will be all about my dress hunt - it's a bit of an essay so be warned!

Love Dani
xoxo