Wedding planning is a journey: one you should take together, and with open minds and hearts, supporting each other the whole way. You will learn heaps of stuff, not just about weddings but about yourselves, your friends and family and the things you love and loathe! It’s really important to maintain a sense of perspective: make time for yourselves and don’t let your wedding rule your lives! But my advice is like fluff in the wind compared to these nuggets of newlywed wisdom from real English Wedding couples. We’re loving the wall of post-it notes, the ‘don’t wing your speech’ tip, and the lessons learned* from things inevitably going a little wrong on the day!

A very wise bride once said wedding planning isn’t about saving money, it’s about spending it wisely! And in life as well as weddings, I’m a huge advocate of less is more: choose quality over quantity, and whether that means focusing your styling touches on one aspect or one area, or just making your wedding the party of a lifetime, that focus will help you through! Save where you can, but remember you get what you pay for – and sometimes it’s important to spend a little more for a quality supplier, a brilliant photographer or an exceptional wedding planner. But what do I know, right? Our wonderful English Wedding couples are back with some brilliant tips to help you spend your wedding budget wisely, based on their own experiences (and a hefty dollop of hindsight!)

From creative DIY and passing it forward, 22 of the gorgeous couples featured on the English Wedding Blog over the past 12 months share their top tips to help YOU budget for your wedding. There’s always the simple stuff like not buying coffee or lunch at work, putting £2 coins in a money box and having a clean break from your fave takeaway, but our couples share their top tips – based on recent experience! – to help you SAVE when planning your wedding.

An article by English Wedding member Bands for Hire. Header image Tiree Dawson (wedding coming soon!)

We all want our wedding to be the happiest day of our lives, and most of us know how strenuous they can be to organise. There are bound to be all kinds of things you’ve never had to sort out before, and even more you didn’t realise you’d have to – such as booking yourself a wedding band. Most people don’t have to book bands often, and if you’re one of them, you’re naturally going to have many questions about how to do it right.

The nervous excitement is just bursting from your heart: the person you love popped the question; you said YES!!! and you’re planning the celebration of a LIFETIME! There’s so much to think about – and What To Wear is a biggie. You only get to do this once: the time in your life where you can spend ten times as much on a dress as you EVER would in a normal year. The excitement of wearing a dress SO special that everyone will turn and look as you walk into a room. The pressure to get it right… and the joy of owning something so wonderful, special and beautiful as your very own wedding dress.