Creating a mindful, intentional wedding experience: Part One – Planning with intention

Published by Claire Gould on January 9, 2026January 9, 2026

By Essex and UK wedding photographer Ross Willsher for English Wedding

It may sound like a wishy-washy phrase, but planning your wedding with intention is the key to managing stress, working within your budget (however large or limited), and curating an experience that is not centred on performance or people-pleasing.

Intentional wedding planning centres on keeping your values and personality at the heart of every decision you make. This refrains you from blindly following trends, sales talk and peer pressure that can lead you away from a wedding that feels truly ‘you’. It means only investing your time and resources into the things that will actively bring you joy – not just on the day but in the lead up to and aftermath of your special event.

Couples planning a wedding intentionally do not end up with 8 unwanted bridesmaids due to family politics, or fill their tables with single-use plastic favours that get binned at the end of the night.

Many people talk about luxury weddings in terms of spend and style, but the ultimate luxury is having the freedom to be true to yourself.

Have you stopped to ask yourself how you want to feel throughout your wedding planning journey? If you haven’t, this is such a great starting point. It will help you to tune into your intuition when faced with too many choices and inspiration overwhelm.

The key to intentional wedding planning lies in repeatedly asking yourselves the same question throughout the wedding planning process. “Why are we making this decision?”

If you’re planning with intention and staying true to your values, the answer will be similar to “It feels right” or “It will bring us joy / calm / peace” on the day.

It’s so easy to make decisions based on what others have done, what’s trending, or what you think you should be doing. I meet so many couples who do not realise how much freedom there is to curate a wedding that feels right for them and not simply follow the crowd. I also meet couples who feel guilty for wanting to have the best of everything and feel pressure to tone down their celebration. Both are examples of allowing outside voices to influence your plans.

In order to not lose sight of what matters to you, limit who and where you go to for information and advice. Share your plans on a need-to-know basis. Start the process by researching the elements that bring you the most joy. For example, whilst it is more practical to book your venue first, if what you wear or how you are photographed is your core concern, work backwards from this. Find your style and your preferred photography approach and then search for venues who showcase weddings that look like the one you are planning.

Simply by slowing down and being more intentional, you can organise a wedding day that feels perfectly aligned with who you are. In years to come, of course the outfits may look slightly dated and the styling might be very much of its time. However, the memories of how you felt on that day will still feel deeply powerful and you’ll have no regrets about the choices you made.

Ross Willsher captures exquisite emotion-led wedding photography for beautifully understated celebrations in Essex, London and across the UK. He’s a lovely human being with a heart of gold, and someone I would book for my own wedding without any hesitation. Please visit Ross’s website and read more from his blog at https://rosswillsherphotography.co.uk