I feel like I’m writing about wedding planning stuff a lot more than I intended to, but to be honest it’s the main thing going on in my life right now, so it is what it is. We’re a year out from our wedding but because everything books up so far in advance (especially after all the delayed weddings of 2020 and 2021), it feels like we’re doing loads at the moment. But today I will focus on two big things we ticked off the list recently. We booked our lovely photographer and we chose the food for our wedding menu!
Choosing our wedding photographer
I mentioned in my last installment of Wedding Planning Diaries that booking the right photographer was really important to me. It’s the thing that lasts beyond the wedding day, right? So I wanted to make sure I picked the photographer that would have the right vibe for us. I don’t want the cringe, cheesy, uber-posed photos, they’re just not for me. So I wanted to find someone who could do candid and documentary-like photos, that still have a romantic vibe, if that makes sense?
Anyway I found a few good ones, but ended up going with my gut and booking the person I think is aligned with us and would be fun to be around on the day. It’s weird because it’s such a big commitment but it feels a bit like you’re going in blind with wedding stuff. I guess that’s the nature of it. Your wedding is a one-off event so you don’t have experience with working with any of your suppliers, y’know?
I’m confident we’ve booked the right photographer though and I’m looking forward to our engagement shoot with her early next year.
Going to our wedding menu tasting
I was weirdly a bit nervous when we went to our wedding menu tasting at our venue last month. Firstly because it was only our second time visiting the venue itself and I started worrying about it – what if it’s not how I remember?? But I had nothing to worry about, it’s perfect. I’m so glad we found this place, it’s a bloody gem.
The venue is about an hour from our house so I drove there and realised immediately that I had made a huge mistake. A big part of this menu tasting is getting to try all of the booze! Literally as we sat down our wedding coordinator brought out 6 glasses of fizz. SIX. There was a glass each of prosecco, cava and champagne so we could try them all and decide which one we wanted for our welcome drink and toasts. I thought I would just try a sip of each but then just decided that I wasn’t driving anymore, I wanted to enjoy myself. So we very spontaneously booked a hotel room over the road for the night and cracked on with the tasting!
It’s been so long since we did anything spontaneous like that. I guess that’s life with a toddler, but we had luckily already secured babysitting that night. It did mean we had to buy toothbrushes from the Co-op and wear the same clothes home the next day, but it was an adventure!!
Anyway. Back to the tasting. Booze-wise we also tried the house red and house white and pretty much the entire cocktail menu. And mate, the cocktails are goooood. Josh was a cocktail barman back in the day so he’s fussy with drinks, but they got his seal of approval.
Food-wise we got to try lots of starters, mains and desserts, and they were all full portions (and big portions at that) so we were pretty stuffed. And thankfully it was all really good. It’s a bit worrying when you’re limited in your food choice, I mean it’s a pub so we had no choice but to have the food there, and I’m just really happy that it was all delicious!
Then it was time to pick our menu! Now, every wedding I’ve even been to as a guest, you don’t get a choice on what you eat. You get the menu the couple has chosen and there’s normally a vegetarian alternative. But that’s it. At our venue we can put together a menu that our guests can choose from. So our guests will have a choice from 4 starters, 4 mains and 4 desserts! I think they’re all great, the only out-there thing we’ve done is select a menu that doesn’t have chicken on it. It feels a bit risky but it was our least favourite dish. Instead our guest will be able to choose from slow-cooked lamb, short rib of beef, pan-fried seabass or vegetable risotto. SO happy about all the choice!
We also decided that our welcome drink would be half champagne and half a cocktail of our choice.We’re getting married in August so we chose a very fresh and vibrant cocktail.
Oh and we’ve also chosen our canapes, so all that is left is to decide on is evening food. We didn’t try it at the menu tasting (I’m not sure I could have eaten any more), but we’re going with pizza. The pub is known for good pizza out of their pizza oven so it makes sense. And we just need to choose toppings which we’ll do asap. And that’s all the food and drink done, my friend!
I loved the menu tasting so much. I honestly think it’s all of the little things like this that make weddings fun. I imagine I’ll feel quite nervous and self-conscious on our actual wedding day, but all of these lovely planning events are just fabulous.
What’s up next in the wedding planning world?
Ok, I have a few things on my list next. Like I said, I’m smashing through a lot of it early, so I’m hoping to get all of these things done soon:
Florist – I’ve already got a quote from a florist based in the same village we’re getting married in. They’re used to decorating the venue and have come in quite affordable. So I’m pretty sure I’m going to book them. I just need to iron out exactly what I want and pay the deposit.
Save The Dates – Josh and I designed the Save The Dates based on one I found on Pinterest and they’re currently off at the printers. I’ll show you guys once they arrive! But it does mean that we really have to decide on our guest list now. We’re having quite a small wedding really – around 50 guests – and it means we can’t invite everyone we’d like to for the day. We are doing evening invites, so will still get to invite everyone to the pub, but it is a bit awkward deciding who comes to the day and who comes to the evening.
Wedding Dress – I mentioned last time that I had a bridal appointment booked and I’ve actually been to two now. But honestly they just made so confused over what I want! What I thought I wanted didn’t really suit me, and now I’m a bit thrown. I did find something really gorge, but it’s obviously designer and thousands of pounds over budget lol. I’ll write a proper blog post once I make the decision. Watch this space.
How’s the wedding budget looking?
Budget-wise, it’s not too shabby. The photographer was £200 over budget, but like I said, that’s an area that’s important to me so I was happy to spend it. But the thing is, if everything is hundreds over, the overall budget ends up being thousands over… So I’m just being wary you know? Our budget was £15k but this increase, along with the ceremony fees being higher than expected, we’re at £16k. Which is fine. But I need to have a good look and make sure my budget for the decor, the music and the outfits are all looking reasonable. I don’t want it to get out of control!
That’s all for today but I’ll try to do an update soon all about wedding dress shopping! Fingers crossed I can find The One soon.
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