Keeping Focus vs Keeping Up

Pinterest, Instagram and wedding sites are awash with examples of incredible weddings. Whether an elopement at Everest base camp or an elaborate, over-the-top wedding that cost upwards of a million dollars, there are a wealth of images from weddings at each end of the spectrum and everwhere in between that continually reinforce the need to go big - go bigger - outdo! But somewhere in the constant surge to compete, your budget escapes and more importantly, so does the root meaning of the wedding itself.

In its purest essence, your wedding is simply you and your beloved coming together in front of those who know you and support you the most to profess your love and loyalty to each other, unifying your lives together as one.

We know as planners we should in theory be prompting you to spend more, to go for the big weddings and yes, big weddings make up a significant portion of our client base but we also know that brides who were so adamant about including every tiny added-extra they could from favours to gift bags to custom designed dance floors, on the actual day, more often than not, didn't really notice the fruit of their muse, they didn't concern themselves with fulfilling every single tradition or having their wedding feature on a blog or in a magazine - that comes later, what they thought of on the day and all they're really concerned with in the moment, is celebrating with their family and friends, snuggling into the chest of their shiny new husband, revelling in the joy they feel as a newlywed, imagining their futures and celebrating their present and that's something we see at every wedding - regardless of whether we're helping with day of coordination at a DIY backyard wedding or we've planned and styled every tiny full service detail to a bride's elaborate specification for a private fine art wedding only accessible by air or sea. Your wedding will be memorable because of the way you felt, the way your guests felt, the atmosphere, the sense memory and the revelry.

Don't get swept up in creating an elaborate wedding based on your social competition. By all means, make your wedding a spectacular star-studded event if you desire - for many, it's not about keeping up with Jones', it's about their personal tastes, their style as a couple and for some of our celebrity clients, it's about expectation and publicity.

Scale Everest if you have the funds, the experience will be so worth it and the photos will be amazing and unique, just keep the root of the wedding true to who you are as a couple, make it about creating an atmosphere rather than replicating a scene from a movie.

Your wedding comes but once, place the biggest focus on the truest value - the two of you.