Jodi Walker - Planning a Civil Ceremony Wedding: Everything you need to know

Title Page

PLANNING A CIVIL CEREMONY WEDDING

Everything You Need To Know

By Jodi Walker

Publisher Information

First published by

Apex Publishing Ltd

12A St. Johns Road, Clacton on Sea

Essex, CO15 4BP, United Kingdom

www.apexpublishing.co.uk

Please email any queries to Chris Cowlin

Digital edition converted and distributed in 2016 by

Andrews UK Limited

www.andrewsuk.com

Copyright 2015, 2016 Jodi Walker

The author has asserted her moral rights

Cover design: Hannah Blamires

All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that no part of this book is to be reproduced, in any shape or form. Or by way of trade, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser, without prior permission of the copyright holder.

About the Author

Jodi Walker is a company director and a wedding enthusiast. After many hours researching weddings, and having received several compliments about her own wedding and requests for advice, she decided to compile a how to list of wedding information to help others save precious time. Jodi has trawled nearly every wedding internet site so you wont have to. This book is very light-hearted with a sarcastic twist. A definite must-have for every bride-to-be and their stressed mum.

Introduction

Planning a wedding is one of the greatest stresses a girl could ever face. Its your one perfect moment in time so you should have exactly what you want, with whatever budget you have. You just have to think creatively, be proactive and you can make your dreams come true. So if you want, you can have champagne tastes on a Lambrini budget. Besides, every girl deserves to be a princess for the day, right?

So where do you start?

Firstly, you need a boyfriend and for that boyfriend to be the man of your dreams, for him to get down on one knee and propose. I grew up with the theory that you can tell if the man is right for you by the ring he gives you and the way he pops the question. But as I got older I realised you cant be that critical. Obviously, if you hate yellow gold jewellery and you are presented with a yellow gold ring, maybe you should ask yourself how well the potential Groom-to-be knows you! However, in my opinion, the proposal itself shouldnt really matter. I had always thought I wanted a big proposal that would see me standing in front of hundreds of friends and strangers all clapping and cheering with delight. But seeing as my other half, Luke, and I had just moved to Suffolk, getting all my friends in one place would have been a major job and, to be honest, impossible as some live abroad. I like nice things - correction I love nice things! But when my fianc got down on one knee in the kitchen of our new home, after we had already come back from a lovely meal (the perfect opportunity) and changed out of our nice clothes into comfy, unglamorous clothes - who am I to say no? In his head, the restaurant we had just come from wasnt the ideal location and hed been carrying the ring round with him the whole time so, in fairness, he probably just wanted to get it over and done with (in the nicest possible way, of course). It was our one year anniversary the day before so fretting for the right moment for a whole 24 hours cant have been pleasant for him; so give your man a break. Although it was as clear as black is black that I would say yes theres always going to be that element of doubt, I guess. The sentiment was there and it was a time that I will never ever forget! My reaction was still priceless. One minute hes standing behind me talking randomly about diamonds as I was making us a hot drink, the next minute I turn round and hes on his knee holding a small box! Id seen it before in movies when I guy gives a girl a box and she gushes yes, yes, yes, Ill marry you, only for her to open the box and see a pair of earrings inside. (How embarrassing) although I knew in my heart what it was, it still didnt stop me developing a high pitch voice and sounding like I had just inhaled a balloon full of helium. I pointed at the box, threw my hands to my face Macaulay Culkin style and said, What is it? What is it? Oh my God.

Then he said the words a lady longs to hear as he opened the box, Will you marry me?

My voice went even higher as I replied, Really? Oh my God...yes, yes.

Now, it doesnt matter if you have secretly practiced your acceptance face and reaction in the mirror, once you are in that moment you lose all control of your senses - my reaction was definitely not what I had hoped Id say or do. So, ladies, just ease up. If you are lucky enough to have fireworks spell out will you marry me and white doves flying up to you holding your engagement ring and gently placing it on your finger then good for you, but if not, its not a big deal - honestly. Your man loved you enough to ask you to spend the rest of your life with him and you cant get more romantic than that.

Once you get that sparkler on your finger you then, of course, have to tell everyone. I know I did. There are some people who like to keep it to themself and use the element of surprise so they can flash their ring when they meet up with people they know. However, I think I had the ring on for only five minutes before I rang my parents, told close friends and changed my status on Facebook (the age of social media, eh?) and for my friends and family that werent on Facebook they all got a generic text with a photo of the ring on my finger. These things have to be done and rightly so. Isnt getting married what literally every little girl dreams about?

But following the wave of congratulations you are going to be asked again and again when the big day is. Thats a very good question. When will you showcase the biggest event you are ever likely to be part of?

With me I always wanted a May or September wedding so that narrowed it down a bit and although we got engaged in March which made a September wedding possible (the May would have been too soon for me to have planned everything) we decided to wait a year to ensure there was enough time to organise everything correctly. It is getting more common for couples to have long engagements especially if they want to save up and pay for the wedding themselves. It can also take a while to decide if you want to get married in this country, abroad and what type of wedding you want; such as small and intimate or large and extravagant.

Deciding on a wedding date isnt always an easy task. When choosing the date for the wedding you have to think about a lot of factors; do you or any family members have an operation or holiday booked that would mean they cant attend, does anyone else have a wedding that day that would mean some people would have to choose whose to attend, are there any major sporting events taking place that day (annoyingly, I checked when the FA Cup Final was and it wasnt on the date we had in mind then a few months after sending out the save the dates, the Football Association changed the date so it was on the same day). You may think that is an odd thing to consider but, trust me, some people do put sport before anything else and you dont want guests sneaking in headphones so they can listen to the game on the radio - that does happen! You will also have to decide if you want a theme or seasonal wedding such as Easter, summer, Halloween or Christmas. It is also worth noting that after you have chosen your date it would be advisable to have a backup date in case you cant get a venue on the day you want or there arent any registrars available to conduct the ceremony.