I had the idea for these pages after read­ing a few dif­fer­ent opin­ions on wed­dings and bud­gets and how we’re all spend­ing far too much and los­ing sight of what’s impor­tant in a mar­riage while we focus on huge weddings.

The whole argu­ment made me won­der about my place in all this: as a wed­ding blog­ger with a site full of real wed­dings with gor­geous pho­tog­ra­phy, amaz­ing venues and — let’s be hon­est — expen­sive details and dec­o­ra­tions, am I help­ing to fuel the fire? Perhaps.

If that’s the case, time to put things straight. My per­sonal opin­ion is that you don’t need a big cel­e­bra­tion to get married.

Mar­riage vs Wedding

If you can afford to have one with­out cre­at­ing money wor­ries for your­self, then a wed­ding is a won­der­ful cel­e­bra­tion of course. I love read­ing about wed­dings, look­ing at pho­tos and being amazed by the artistry of the whole event — but in the same way I love going to the cin­ema or wan­der­ing around a posh venue: gor­geous to admire and inspire, but I’d never expect to have that lifestyle myself!

Mar­riage is the whole thing, the impor­tant thing and will be in your life every sin­gle day until the end. Your wed­ding — if you have one — is a cel­e­bra­tion to share the news / event of your mar­riage with every­one you love.

About Get Grounded!

So start­ing from there, what do you actu­ally need? If you’re look­ing for a lit­tle per­spec­tive on your wed­ding, per­haps strug­gling with a bud­get or won­der­ing if you have to please all your aun­ties with a big party, the fol­low­ing pages will help bring you back to earth — hence the name, Get Grounded!

The very basics

What do you really need if you want to get mar­ried? A horse & car­riage, a venue, a pho­tog­ra­pher, a vicar? All or none of the above? Start with none, and work out what’s impor­tant to you. Read more…

Wed­ding priorities

Sick of wed­ding check­lists with every­thing on? Mine’s pretty min­i­mal and starts with the very basics (part­ner, for exam­ple) list­ing every­thing under cat­e­gories in order of pri­or­ity. Use the com­ment form if you dis­agree! From the basic require­ments to optional extras and friv­o­li­ties, see where you could save a bit of money! Read more…

Mean­ing­ful wed­ding readings

I thought I’d share a few high­lights from my day job with you! Whether you’re engaged, newly mar­ried or cel­e­brat­ing your 50th anniver­sary, these poems give real per­spec­tive — they’re my all time favourite wed­ding read­ings.  Read more…