Life is a little weird right now, to say the least. Planning a wedding in amongst all the craziness can certainly take away from the fun and excitement of it all. Wherever you are on the timeline, a lot of the build-up to your wedding will be changed, but it doesn't mean you should just accept that you can't do any of the fun build-up. We are getting married in March 2021, and for the past 6 months or so, I had just blocked our wedding out. Haven't done any planning or pinterest-ing since lockdown out of fear that our wedding wouldn't be what we hoped for. But recently, we have come to think about our wedding in a different way. We want to be married - it was time to get excited and roll with the punches with whatever our wedding might look like in 5 months time. So, if you are finding yourself in a similar situation, whether your wedding is 2 months away or if you've just started planning and feel deflated, here are some ideas from my experience to reignite your excitement. 1. Contact your photographer and have an engagement shoot.
We recently did this with our wonderful photographer, Livi Edwards (www.livi-edwards.com), and honestly, it made us so excited for our wedding. I think the reason for having a wedding, getting married, can get lost in all the planning. Going back to basics and taking some cute pictures will go a long way to remind you!
We headed back to Castleton in the peak district, which is where we got engaged. It was great to go back and relive the day, plus it was amazing to meet and spend time with our photographer. We got so excited to see our wedding photos!
2. Go dress or suit shopping
If you've not yet picked a dress or suit, don't think you can't go shopping! Covid won't stop you from shopping for your dream outfit, and depending on your local restrictions at the time, you will probably be allowed to take some of your party with you too. I recently visited Cherished Wedding Boutique (www.cherishedweddingboutique.co.uk) in Mansfield, Notts and it was a great experience that covid didn't overrule. It will make you super excited, trust me! 3. Have a consultation with one of your suppliers
Consultations with your suppliers may look a little different to pre-covid consultations, but that doesn't mean you should avoid them. Whether its having cake samples through the post and a consultation over zoom (hint hint, click on the picture for samples!) or visiting your suppliers covid safe venue for a consultation, it is bound to get the planning juices flowing. We visited Bennington Blooms (www.benningtonblooms.com) gorg new set up over at Rufford Mill last weekend, and it was great to chat all things wedding flowers (as well as have a good gab with Lucy).
4. Honeymoon planning
Whether your honeymoon plans have had to change or not, planning what you're going to do and places you might want to see (or cocktails you want to drink), is a great way to get excited. Buy that new bikini (or backpack in our case), purchase that new map or book that amazing air bnb! Loads of places have covid cover now too, so don't be afraid. But if you don't want to book, getting some plans together is really fun.
5. Make future plans
Plan for your future! You're getting married, which means you must be making plans for the future. Have a nice dinner and a bottle of wine and chat about that house you want to buy, the dog you want or the hoover you want to get (oh, is that just us?!). As small or silly as it is, you have a whole life together to plan, so don't get bogged down with the one day.
Covid doesn't mean you need to stop planning your wedding. Embrace the change and weirdness of the current world and roll with it. Take care of your wonderful selves, Sophie xo