My wedding... What did I learn? Part 1

By Melissa Lloyd, Cashflow Specialist and Financial Adviser

From the moment you announce your engagement to your long awaited wedding day, you go through an emotional roller coaster of excitement, being over the moon, stressed to the max, nervous as anything - and it can all become a wedding buzz blur. Next thing you know, the most perfect day you could have imagined is all over and 3 months has passed, and you think to yourself, ‘where did the time go?!’

Well, that is what happened to me anyway, my wedding was on the 29th October last year and I cannot believe it has been and gone.  Having recently attended a wedding expo and spoken to many brides to be (that may be in the same boat as I was), I wanted to share with you a few things I learnt through my own wedding experience over this two part series so here goes Part 1:

ENJOY EVERY MOMENT
You will only do this once (that is the plan anyway). Even some of the more arduous tasks like the seating plan, setting your budget or licking the stamps for your invitations (minus the cuts of course) are all special memories that you should make the most of. Everyone said to me at our wedding ‘Take some time to step back and take it all in as the day will fly past’.

One of my favourite photos of Pat and I on our wedding day.

What do you know? They were all completely right. Make sure you take in the little things and enjoy every single moment, even those dreadful nerves that seem to come over you at the most bizarre times. Re-living special memories from the day still have me smiling from ear to ear.

BUDGET, BUDGET, BUDGET
Talking about how much to spend on your wedding really isn’t the most fun, but it is one of the most important things you can do. Many wedding websites can provide you with a wedding budget template but they don’t take into consideration ALL THE LITTLE THINGS. This is something you need to allow for to make sure you and your family (if they’re helping pay for it) aren’t caught short or by surprise when it comes to forking out for the little extras.

At Cashflow Matters, we use tracking software to help our clients track their expenses. For my wedding I added a ‘Wedding’ expense category to my own personal tracking. I can safely tell you that how much we budgeted and the final figure was well and truly different (and it not in a good way either). My husband Pat and I really thought we had covered all the little bits and pieces but there were still more we didn’t allow for. With a destination wedding in a private home we also had to think of everything. Let me know if you would like a copy of my own personal wedding budget template, and I would be happy to share this with you to see if there is anything you’re forgetting.

DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF
At times during our wedding planning I found myself completely overwhelmed by the small stuff. These ranged from our parents’ ideas on where people should sit or what order we should run the day, or finding the ‘right shade’ of grey (according to me of course) for our napkins. Even on our wedding day as I was about to walk down the aisle, I noticed the dance floor was black instead of the dark timber brown I was hoping for, so I panicked.

Making sure the 'right shade of grey' was used for our wedding napkins.

Seriously… who would have noticed (other than me of course) that it wasn’t supposed to be black! But to be honest, (and now having the wonderful benefit of hindsight), there is no point getting worked up over the little things that aren’t deal breakers. At the end of the day, the most important thing to remember is that you, and the love of your life get the opportunity to commit to each other forever in a beautiful location in front of all your family and friends – how amazing is that!

So there’s 3 points that, if I was getting married again, I’d find beneficial knowing, so I hope you do too. I’ll be sharing with you the next instalment of my Wedding Blog post next week!