Four weeks today I get to marry my best friend – Kelly. I assure you this is not just to get the cats in my name *looks away and whistles*
We have the majority of our wedding day plans in place. We have our day mapped out and our list of prestigious guests and people to fill the other spaces to make us look more popular than we are (I kid I kid!). And it’s within this that lies The Upside Down. Yes it’s a Stranger Things reference (which inspired our Novel edit – take note for a future blog) but to me it’s being on the flipside of the camera and realising what weddings are really all about.
Suddenly we’re in the spotlight and all the pressure is on and expectations are high. Turns out planning a wedding is stressful. You’re responsible for everything being there – I’m so used to rocking up, seeing everything in place and rolling my camera. Not this time though, we have to get that stuff there and we need someone to document it all. We need to make sure our guests are happy and that they get fed and watered and moderately drunk. We need to make sure that everything looks nice and there’s things in place to keep people entertained. We need to make sure everyone gets along. And of course there’s the legal part – making sure all the documents are in place, you have witnesses and someone to marry you. Then there’s speeches, readings, bridesmaids, dresses, kilts and before you know it you’re sobbing into your pillow with stress.
It’s easy to fall into the ‘pit of expectation’. You come to think that certain things are expected of you and your wedding when in reality it shouldn’t be. It’s a day of celebrating who you are as a couple and where you’re heading. Of your weird and wonderful personalities and surrounding yourself with the people who have somehow clung onto your heart strings throughout your lives. It’s not a day about bows on chairs, fancy dance floors and owls swooping in with your rings (unless that is you of course - you fancy pants!)
I say it to all my couples but now I’ve found I’m saying it to myself – all that really matters is that piece of paper you sign that makes you a married couple. The rest is all bells and whistles.
We’ve created a day for us – fish n chips, good music, the greatest people in the world (that we can acquire legally) in the surroundings of somewhere that hold sentiment. If people don’t enjoy themselves then that’s up to them – I know me and Kelly will. If people don’t dance it’s okay because me and Kelly will bust some sweet moves on the dancefloor ourselves. If people don’t like fish n chips instead of Balmoral Chicken then that’s okay because me and Kelly will munch fish n chips until we have to be rolled home. We’re taking expectation and throwing it away. This is our day dammit!
I genuinely can’t wait to get married and it’s not just for the wedding day itself but for the simple reason of being married to Kelly – a true starting point for our future. The rest is just bells and whistles of course 😉
…you always need a videographer though.
Until next time.
Ali
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