We love being able to turn our expertise into tangible learnings for you to use throughout your wedding planning process. That’s what we do, it’s our jam (OMG yum… *runs to get a piece of toast with butter and strawberry jam*). However, we thought it would be cool to ask one of our brides-to-be to give a first-hand explanation of what wedding planning has been like for her, 6-months into her engagement. So, meet Caragh. Caragh, meet everyone!
How long have you been engaged, and what’s it been like for you so far?
We’ve been together for 8.5 years and engaged for 6 months. It’s been a whirlwind, to be honest; the first month I think I was just in a loved-up daze. Everything and nothing has changed. It has honestly been one of the best times of my life. It’s nice to experience all the love from family and friends and really take the time to celebrate yourselves as a couple. 10/10 would recommend, haha!
Have you started planning the big day?
We didn’t want to jump straight into planning the wedding day. We really wanted to take time to enjoy this engagement period without it being clouded by the big day itself. Don’t get me wrong, a wedding day is exciting, but we just loved being in our little engagement bubble for a good 4 months before we started talking about it. Actually, the only reason why we did start talking about the wedding day was that you (Kerstyn) told us how quickly venues book out in advance, particularly with COVID reschedules. So we decided to look at some venues and start drawing out our ideas.
And how did that go?
It was so much fun going to venues. We narrowed down an area we wanted to get married – somewhere that we felt a connection to. We chose three venues to start, all very different. Some we knew very little about, others we had researched a lot more. And they could not have been more different! It’s weird going to a venue as a bride-to-be, a very different lens to a guest so I enjoyed that. We found one we loved, and we’re close to putting a deposit down which is ridiculously exciting.
What have you learned so far? Any advice for other engaged couples?
Yes! Create a wedding-specific email address! We went about 2 weeks organising things on our separate emails and it was a mess. Thank you for that recommendation to keep everything in one email – it’s so bloody helpful. We created a gmail account so now we both have access to emails as well as spreadsheets, budgets, calendars etc. Brilliant!
I’d also say to book a call with you (Kerstyn) early in the planning process. The way you were able to help us narrow down venues, discuss budgets, and guide us on what’s important to be thinking about RIGHT NOW, was so invaluable. The whole process can be a little daunting, so we really appreciated you being able to say “don’t worry about that just yet” or “these are the questions you should be asking now”. Saved us so much time and run around.
The other thing I would say is hire a wedding planner. There’s no denying your connections, recommendations and advice has been invaluable. I’ve never done this before (LOL) so I genuinely didn’t know where to start, how to feel about things (remember when we were going to settle for a venue we didn’t even like because we thought it was “good enough” and you said “nope, onto the next one”?). Obviously, you have a wealth of knowledge but you’ve also helped keep us level-headed about our budget, what’s realistic and what’s important – all without pressuring us or making us feel as though we “should” be doing things a certain way. Just your support has been incredible. You’re like a wedding matre! So if anyone out there is thinking about hiring you, I’d say pick up the phone and after just one conversation with you, they’ll know!
What’s next for the planning stage?
To be honest, we’re waiting for COVID to settle down a bit, and then we’ll be jumping straight back into it. We’re hoping to have everything planned well in advance so it will be smooth sailing to the lead up!
Thanks so much Caragh for taking the time to chat with us. If you’d like to chat to us as well, we’re just a phone call away on 1800 4 BESTIE!
K x
