Planning your wedding – Seeking inspiration and finding your vibe!

Planning your wedding - Where to begin?

Inspiration may come easily to you. Imaginative ideas and a slipstream of thoughts can pave the way for all kinds of wedding themes. On one hand, it’s very exciting when ideas flow and super interesting when they come from unusual places or when we are least expecting it. On the other hand, it can be acutely tricky to dream up how you wish your day to be, especially if you deem yourself of the not particularly creative variety! Hence the purpose of this blog.

I aim to give you some starting points and strongly encourage you to go with the flow. To feel confident in your vision and trust how it evolves. You may be thinking this post should be written by a wedding stylist. You may be wondering why on earth a celebrant is waxing lyrical about this!

Well, here’s the why! The theme, vibe, and feel of your day are actually key to your ceremony design and the ceremony is, in my view, the heart of your wedding day. A sacred act that can be both sacred and fun (these things can co-exist) and most importantly, just how you wish it to be.

The theme /vibe will of course not only be reflected in your wedding ceremony but also in the atmosphere and the type of venue or location you choose. How the space is styled and dressed is another part of your wedding planning and visualisation process.

There are no rules to planning your wedding

Strong themes are not compulsory as are any theme/vibe or style at all. You may simply desire a palette that suits the aesthetic of your chosen venue or wants a wedding in the woods where the trees and natural surroundings are plentiful decor alone. It’s your day, your way. No rules mean exactly that! If these words resonate and you are reluctant to go down a particular theme/vibe or style route, STOP reading now and have a wonderful wedding! Maybe take a minute to browse the remainder of this blog. Why? You are probably quite rightly asking! Well, even if you just have some particular colours you’d like in flowers, dressed, cake etc that is creating a style/vibe! Something you read here may help you pull your palette together or inspire you to think about any key details you’d like in your ceremony/as part of your day. They don’t have to be linked to create a theme as such but taking time to imagine and plan your day is a valuable process.

One way of wedding planning - Ponder, digest and create.

When you start to play with thoughts and notions, all sorts of connections and symbolism will come to life and it’s a fascinating journey.

Trust your instincts, listen and look for signs and synchronicities, look at your favourite things and go with the flow. You could start

• an ideas journal
• a traditional scrap book
• A Pinterest page
• a Google document with your chosen celebrant — if you have one booked already for sharing ideas for the ceremony

Take your time.

Celebrants love a love story

A big chapter of a celebrant crafted ceremony script is your unique and special love story, often based upon how you met, what brought you together and how your love has grown. This ultimately will include the things that attracted you to each other, make you happy about each other,  including your shared passions and values. The shared joys may well lead you to your wedding vibe. It’s useful to ask yourself some helpful, focused questions.

  

A six stage guide to planning your wedding

This may feel like an instruction manual. I promise you, it is not! Purely a guide to letting thoughts emerge, playing with concepts and finding a shared vision without feeling pressure.

This process can also be super fruitful if you share it between just the two of you, at least until you have your vibe firmed up and a vision you both feel clear and happy with. After all, it is your wedding celebration!

1. What fills you with joy?

Ask yourselves, what makes you smile? What do you feel passionate about? What fills your cup? What makes your heart sing? What fills you with delight? What are your favourite things? Favourite book/author, musician/band, film, colour, country you visited together? What brightens your day? What truly inspires you?

2. Wedding planning time

Even the most informal or intimate wedding will need some focused together time to pull your thoughts and aspirations. Carving out dedicated time for this initially is bountiful, leading you to have a base of ideas that you can then mull over.

3. Relax and ponder

Once you have some initial ideas, sit with them, digest how they may manifest into your day. Are your ideas realistic? Are your ideas manageable and accessible? Will you need professional styling support or are you more into DIY weddings? Do you want to keep things simple? Will it fit your budget? How can you make it fit your budget? Which ideas feel good and excite you? Which ones do you feel a shared joy about?

4. Review (and repeat as many times as you feel necessary)

Listen in, listen to your hearts and keep chatting. Relaxing into this process is key. Remove anything that’s no longer feeling like a great shout. This process of elimination will focus you again on what you both feel excited about.

5. A clear idea evolves

Eureka! That moment when all the weeks or months of playing, exploring and thinking pay off. A concept/theme feels obvious, clear and right. Congratulations! Planning your wedding can be so much fun.

6. Decide and design time

Your wedding planning can flow with ease, the wave of details come freely and the design is happening. Whoop. Whoop!

That Pinterest page can take shape now and your journal will explode with a cascade of images, items to source and to-do lists! Keep the love and have fun with this.

Planning your wedding day is a process. Enjoy!

The beauty of this process is that it really focuses you both in what’s important about your day and will also support your journey to find the ‘right fit’ celebrant if you are having one or haven’t already chosen one!

A celebrant who loves their work and loves your vibe will not be able to hide their excitement at the prospect of marrying you! If you already have a celebrant in place, keep them in the loop with your ideas, it will really feed and support the shaping of your personalised ceremony.