Herefordshire News, Hereford News, - From The Hereford Times

Jess Childs lives on the Welsh borders and writes for the Hereford Times. On Christmas day her partner of five years finally took the plunge and asked her to marry him. It was frosty, it was romantic, it was magical - but with the big day set for March 2010 the realities of organising a wedding, financing it and negotiating a minefield of familial politics soon set in. Brides with a small budget and a large family who are in need of various top tips and suggestions - and a whole lot of moral support - will hopefully read her blog and take solace.

The rise and rise of pandemonium

I’VE just read my blog entries back to date and, if I’m honest, I’m not sure I was the ideal candidate to be writing a wedding blog - well not one that’s supposed to be helpful in a Mrs Beeton kind of way anyway.

Just the jingle bells will do for now thanks

THIS year I have been invited to not one, but two Christmas weddings. Who are these people that are organised enough to hold a wedding at one of the busiest times of the year?!!

How to lose friends and alienate people - become a bridal bore...

I THINK - no actually I know - that at our most recent meeting with the wedding planner I might have scared him a little bit.

Discussing trade secrets can be bad for your health...

WARNING: discussing your wedding with fellow brides-to-be can cause considerable emotional distress.

When planning your wedding becomes second nature...

Unless you are one of those annoyingly organised or admirably laid back types, for most people planning a wedding can feel like a bit of a mountain climb when you first set off on your engagement. For a start it’s taking way longer than the eight hours it took the husband-to-be and I to climb Snowdon and then fall back down it again, but on the upside has probably involved less arguments (I tried the ‘hillwalker’ look for him in the beginning but it just wasn’t working).

I can't dress it up anymore - making your own is just too much hassle

I’M not even going to bother dressing this month’s dilemma up (ha ha), I’m just going to say this: when it comes to bridesmaids’ outfits don’t assume that making them yourself is simple - in fact, assume it is stupidly complicated.

A big tick on the schedule front but a bit cross with the politics of it all

IT’S a truth universally acknowledged, is it not, that as soon as one area of your life goes swimmingly the rest of it falls into disarray. Well, as I have recently discovered, the same can apparently be said of planning a wedding.

Respect to those having a big wedding - I'm still struggling with the small

MEMO from small country bride to all those planning a meringue-in-a-country-mansion type wedding with full on three course wedding breakfast, a gazillion bridesmaids and all the trimmings: respect to you all ladies.

Hurrah! I'm getting married! (and trying not to get too carried away)

So, hurrah! I’m getting married! I have reached the point of no return. I am defying my college critics who likened my future to that of Bridget Jones just because I owned a blue jumper and had blonde hair -and I have exactly one year in which to plan the big day.