Bride to Be “Must Haves”

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Absolutely Non-Essential, Essential Items for the Bride to Be

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We’ve been creating wedding content for over five years now and it’s about time we got down to serious business and talked about the absolute essentials when it comes to planning a wedding.

No, we’re not talking budget or wedding venue, or even how to legally get married. We’re talking those Bride to Be “Must Haves“, the items that announce to the world you’re a bride and everyone should know it!
Of course these are absolutely not essential when it comes to wedding planning, but if you are looking for some inspiration about how to really immerse yourself fully in the wedding planning world, you might like some of our ‘must have’ suggestions.

We’re covering all bases, from the subtle to the not so subtle. From clothing to jewellery to accessories. If you can think of it, you can probably find it personalised for the future bride.

Enjoy!

N.B. Please know this video is most definitely a bit of fun and all talk of ‘essentials’ and ‘must haves’ shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

Everything featured, plus even more, can be found over on our dedicated Pinterest page.

Items featured in the video (*Please note: products marked with an asterisk are affiliate links. This means we receive a nominal amount of commission from the seller for the referral at no extra cost to you.)

Are you tempted by any of the ideas featured in the video? We’d love to know what your ‘must haves’ are. Let us know in the comments or come on over to Instagram!

-Bride Society

How to Make a Personalised Eye Mask with Cricut

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How to use Design Space, curve text & layer iron-on vinyl (HTV).

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Whether you’re working the night shift, jetting off on a long-haul flight or trying to catch some z’s whilst the baby sleeps, this is the Cricut project for you.  Jet lag and sleep deprivation are no joke!  So along with a handy pair of ear plugs, which let’s be honest, are useful in a multitude of situations, grab yourself a cute eye mask and let’s get Cricuting!

In this week’s Cricut tutorial, we’re showing you step-by-step how to create your very own personalised eye mask!  For those of you travelling somewhere exotic, why not make yourselves a matching pair of our “Honeymoonin’” design?  Or simply adapt our tutorial to whatever suits you; “Bring Coffee!”, “Nope.”, “Me Time”…or even make yourself a whole bunch to wear according to mood.

If you’re a complete beginner, we’ve got you covered with detailed instructions on how to create a design and curve your text inside Design Space as well as how to cut, apply and layer iron-on vinyl (HTV), no worries.  If you’re a little more experienced and just looking for some specific techniques, use our time stamps in the YouTube video description box to jump ahead!  Simple.

Happy Napping! 

What we used:

(*Please note: products marked with an asterisk are affiliate links, which means we receive a nominal amount from the seller for the referral at no extra cost to you.)

• Eye Mask

• Cricut Maker (other Cricut machines can also be used)*

• Cricut EasyPress2 (23cm²)

• Cricut EasyPress Mat

• Fine Point Blade (usually included with the Cricut Maker machine)

• Cricut StandardGrip Mat

• Cricut Basic Tool Set

• Cricut Iron-On, Matte “White”*

• Cricut Glitter Iron-On “Silver”*

• Heat Resistant Sheet (/Baking Sheet)

• Scissors

If you’re in Canada, you can find the HTV here: https://amzn.to/3P0m3Uw* and https://amzn.to/3asPBLL*

USA: https://amzn.to/3RtuMA9* and https://amzn.to/3uHzUqE* (*Affiliate Links)

Looking for more content like this?  Check out our dedicated playlist of Cricut tutorials over on YouTube!

Questions or video requests?  Leave them in the comments and we’ll do our best to help.  Tag us in your photos over on Instagram @bridesociety_uk if you’re having a go at this project, we’d love to see what you did with yours!

— Rebecca & Laura at Bride Society

How to Make a Small Wedding Extra Special for You and Your Guests

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Small weddings became a necessity during the past couple of years, limited numbers of 15 or 30 meant intimate weddings became the norm, and the only way to do it, if you wanted to tie the knot.

But the end of number restrictions hasn’t ended the trend in celebrating with just your closest family and friends. In fact, small weddings seem to be on the rise! Whether down to budget, or wanting to make your budget go even further with some big splurge items.

If you’re undecided and still pondering whether or not to go down the small wedding route, you can check out our video, Pros and Perks of a Small Wedding.

BUT if you’ve made the decision and are full steam ahead with your intimate wedding plans, how can you create those little touches to make the day (or weekend celebration) that extra bit special for both you and your guests? Watch this week’s video to find out!

Are you having a small wedding? We’d love to hear all about your plans. Either leave a comment below or head on over to our Instagram page to share all the exciting details!

-Bride Society

Turn wedding items into beautiful keepsakes!

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Creative ideas on how to turn your precious wedding items into treasured keepsakes.

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You spent likely countless hours pouring over every detail of your wedding, making sure you had the perfect thing that suited you and your partner the most (for the price you could (sort of) afford), from the outfits, to the flowers, to the cake toppers, so much effort and consideration went in to all of it. 

And then the big day itself happens, and each of those items becomes all the more loved and sentimental because of the precious and truly happy memories now eternally linked to them.  But what next?  One day in the (hopefully) sun and now they’re in a box under the spare bed for the rest of time?

If you’re wondering what to do with all those well-wishing wedding cards or trying to come up with something a little more on the creative side to do with your wedding photos (or basically any other component of your wedding) then this week’s video is for you.  We know it was all about so much more than just that one day, so we’re here with a whole heap of ideas on how to convert all those treasured wedding items into lasting keepsakes. 

Find our dedicated Pinterest board that supports this video here.

Featured Products (in order of appearance) and Featured Info. Pages:

(Products marked with an * are affiliate links. This means we make a small amount of commission on any purchases made through those links at no extra cost to you.)

Flowers

Preserved bridal bouquet dried flower glass bottle candle holder*

Personalised Dried Flowers Bauble*

Preserved bridal bouquet pressed flower, scented and engraved candle keepsake*

Various handmade home decor items to preserve and keep safe your bridal flowers*

Wedding Flower preservation LOVE LETTERS*

Wedding Flower Preservation Candle Holder*

Resin Floral Wine Stopper*

Wedding flower preservation – Framed wedding date using your bouquet*

Wedding flower ring*

Confetti petals resin letter keyring*

Wedding flower pendant*

Wedding Flower Preservation Necklace*

Wedding Flower Preservation Earrings*

Custom Wedding Bouquet Painting*

Framed Custom Wedding Bouquet Painting on Glass*

Custom Pressed Flower Frame*

Cake Toppers

Custom Wedding Cake Topper*

Custom Penguin Ornament for Christmas or Birthday Gift*

Minnesota Loon Newlywed Ornament: Wooden Birds for Couple’s First Christmas*

Custom Wedding Cake Topper Bride Groom Newlywed Ornament*

100M Gold String Twine – 1mm Tinsel Thread Cord*

Oval Fillable Glass Bauble 10cm

Cards

Wedding Card Book*

Floral Wedding Card Book*

Greeting Card Organizer*

Floral Rustic Wedding Card Book*

A4 Custom Card Keeper*

A4 Card Collage Craft Kit*

25x25cm ‘heart of hearts’ wedding card keepsake frame*

35x35cm ‘butterfly heart’ wedding card keepsake frame*

35x35cm ‘ring’ Engagement Card keepsake frame*

Outfits

Wedding lace necklace*

Custom resin ring*

YOUR Wedding Dress Lace Necklace*

Your Wedding Dress inside a Bead, Wedding Veil Sentimental Bracelet*

Wedding Gown Lace Bracelet, Sterling Silver*

YOUR Wedding Dress Lace Bracelet*

Wedding Dress Patchwork Bear

Wedding Dress Teddy, waistcoat bear*

Memory Bears Keepsake Bears

Ivory crin fascinator wedding hat* (example)

Grey crin fascinator wedding hat* (example)

Peach crin fascinator wedding hat* (example)

Pronovias ‘Give your dress a Second Life!’ (Info. Page)

Rainbow Club Colour Customisation (Info. Page)

Photos

Personalised ‘Wedding’ Photo Print*

Personalised Wedding Ceramic Photo Tile Frame*

Personalised Coordinates Travel Photo Frame Holder*

Personalised Wedding Copper Canvas Photo Print*

Personalised Always Better Together Valentines Canvas*

Personalised Mr And Mrs Wedding Photo Frame*

Personalised 150 Piece Wedding Wooden Jigsaw Puzzle*

Personalised Wedding Jigsaw Puzzle*

Custom Jigsaw Puzzle (30, 110, 252, 500, 1000 Piece)*

Personalised Always Wedding Photo Album*

Personalised Recycled Leather Jumbo Wedding Photo Album*

Personalised Calligraphy Wedding Album*

Slip In Photo Album for 300 4×6 Photos*

A4 & A3 Lay Flat Photo Books – Premium Hardcover 

Other videos mentioned:

Thanks for watching! We hope you’ve found some exciting ideas to inspire you in our video. May your wedding memories live on with their second life. Are you making / having any of these items made? We’d love to see! Tag us in your photos over on Instagram here.

Love, Rebecca and Laura at Bride Society x

How to Include Pets in Your Wedding

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Typically you want your closest family and friends around you when you tie the knot, and if some of that family just so happen to have four legs, why wouldn’t you also want them there with you to share your special day?!

More and more venues are recognising the importance of including animals at weddings, so it’s becoming much easier to find pet-friendly venues.

And there are so many ways you can include your pets as part of your wedding day, both with them being there in ‘person’ (or in ‘animal‘) if your venue allows it, or incorporated in a different way, while they have their own mini-break away from the celebrations. We’re sharing a selection of ideas in this week’s video.

Plus, we have some helpful tips if you are having your pet there by your side on the Big Day. No unexpected accidents here!

Are you including your pet as part of your wedding? We’d love to hear your plans! Leave us a comment below, or head on over to Instagram.

-Bride Society

Wedding Thank You Gift Ideas | Parents

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Gift Inspiration for Parents of the Bride/Groom

If your mind is turning to the thank you gifts for the people in your wedding party, chances are you are most of the way through your wedding planning journey. Congratulations on making it this far! We’re sure it’s had its moments along the way but hopefully you’ve had a supportive crew around you, from groomsmen and bridesmaids to parents and beyond. (We’ll overlook the bridesmaid meltdown about who’s wearing what and that time your MIL-to-be insisted you had to invite that cousin and his 4 children you never knew existed.)

You, your fiancé(e) and hopefully the rest of your close friends and family have almost made it to the finish line, and fingers crossed, are all still on speaking terms.  Maybe they’ve been SO helpful (financially, practically or emotionally!) you even want to incorporate giving them a little thank you gift into your wedding speeches.  But, what to give them? 

If your mind is already a little fried from all the wedding planning itself, we’re here to lend a hand with some inspiration for your thank you gifting!  We’ve already got your bridesmaids and groomsmen covered with our gift guides and this week we’re turning our attention to your parents (parental figures) and soon to be in-laws.

Featured Products (in order of appearance):

(Any products marked with an * are affiliate links. This means we make a small amount of commission on any purchases made through those links at no extra cost to you.)

Cards

Planters and Florals

Jewellery

Photo / Illustration Gifts

Misc.

Personalised Bags

Regional Hampers

You can find our dedicated Pinterest board that supports this video here! Looking for more content like this? Check out our ‘Gift Guides’ playlist.

Is a week too long until our next instalment?  Follow us on Instagram for more content and to get involved with the Society!

– Rebecca and Laura from Bride Society x

25 Hen Party Activity Ideas

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25 Unusual Hen Party Ideas to Help You Plan the Perfect Hen Party/Bachelorette

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The pressures on! You’ve been tasked with planning the perfect hen party for your bride to be bestie but struggling to come up with something ‘different’ to the usual hen party activities. It can be a daunting task, especially if you’re wrangling a group of people you don’t know that well, all with different budgets, but fear not!

We’re giving you 25 activity ideas for a hen party/bachelorette, covering a whole range of budgets and interests. Axe throwing anyone? We’re certain there’s something in the list (if not several ideas!) that will be ideal for your plans.

If you’re after more classic hen party ideas, or want some game inspiration, check out our hen party/bachelorette playlist here.

Have you been inspired? We’d love to know if you’re planning on doing any of the ideas we suggested. Or if you’ve come up with a unique and amazing plan for the hen do you’re planning, please share in the comments below!

Got any questions or video requests? Comment and we’ll do our best to help. For more content, find us on Instagram @bridesociety_uk, we’d love to get to know you better!

-Bride Society

Coast Bridesmaid Dresses 2022

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Try-on & review of bridesmaid dresses from high street retailer, Coast!

You’ve decided on who you want standing by your side whilst you say your, “ I do’s”, to be on the other end of the phone to vent to when your mother-in-law to-be is demanding you invite yet another ten cousins you didn’t even know existed, and to sit with you for endless hours making that hundredth favour that you recall thinking was ‘oh such a good idea’ to make from scratch. 

You asked, they said yes, they helped you pick out ‘the one’ (I’m talking about the dress here, but maybe they also helped with the guy/girl!), and now it’s time to shop for their all-important bridesmaid outfits.

The high street joined the wedding world a few years ago and haven’t looked back!  Last week we took a look at wedding dresses by online retailer ASOS and this week we’ve shimmied on over to Coast to check out their bridesmaid dress collection.  So many styles and colours to choose from that we think you could make even the most ‘particular’ of bridesmaids happy and still keep the overall look you’d envisioned for your wedding. 

We picked out a selection of lengths, cuts, styles and colours to try-on at home to give you an idea of what’s out there as well as the low-down on quality, comfort and practicalities of each dress…and so you can get an idea on how things look and fit on different body types from those pictured on their own website!

And yes, we answer the biggest question of all…“but can you wear a bra with it?”.

All the dresses we tried on are linked below and you can find time stamps in the YouTube video description box if you want to jump ahead to find out what we thought about a particular dress.

Note that prices listed here are the full-price figures at time of filming, however the website often has discounts available, so it is worth a quick look before dismissing them based on the price we’re showing you.

Which was your favourite?  Let us know in the comments below!

For more wedding try-ons, visit our dedicated YouTube playlist here!

Is a week too long until our next instalment?  Follow us on Instagram for more content and to get involved with the Society!

–Rebecca and Laura from Bride Society x

ASOS Wedding Dresses Under £200 | Try on and Review

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ASOS Edition Bridal Collection 2022

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It’s been a WHILE since we had a look at what ASOS had to offer in terms of wedding dresses, pre-pandemic in fact! So we thought it was about time we delved into the ASOS Edition Bridal Collection for 2022, choose some to try on, and review the fit, quality, sizing and style! They have a huge range of dresses at a wide variety of price points, but we decided to stick to picking dresses under £200.

Of course in between ordering the dresses and filming the video (about a week!) ASOS seemed to raise all their wedding dress prices by £10. This meant one of the dresses we chose, Poppy, now comes in slightly above the £200 budget at £205. But we hope you’ll forgive us for keeping it in the video.

So what did we think? Whether you’re looking for a more budget friendly dress to wear on your Big Day, or after a second dress for the evening, we were *spoiler* mainly impressed by what we found. Our full thoughts can be found in our video.

For more details about the dresses featured in the video, check out the links below:

  • ASOS EDITION Elizabeth beaded bodice wedding dress £190.00. 

    Please note this video was not made in partnership with ASOS and the content is in no way endorsed by ASOS. All opinions expressed in this video are the honest views of Bride Society. Prices are correct at time of posting. There are NO affiliate links in this video.

We’d love to know what you think of the dresses we tried and whether you’re tempted by any of them. Let us know in the comments. Or if you’re wearing one of these for your wedding, we’d love to see pictures! Tag us over on Instagram.

-Bride Society

How to Make Personalised Flip Flops with Cricut

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How to use Cricut Design Space, cut & apply iron-on vinyl (HTV) to flip flops.

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What better time than a heat wave to make your own customised flip flops?!  The sun is out and so are our feet!  Not something that happens all that often here in the UK, so we’re making the most of it and pimping up our footwear!

If you’re just dipping your toe into the world of Cricut (yes, you can expect a few foot related puns), then we’re here to hold your hand with our step-by-step instructions, taking you from design using Cricut Design Space, to cut and application of iron-on vinyl (HTV).  If you’re feeling a little more confident and are just looking for tips on a particular step, check out the time stamps in the video description box on YouTube to jump ahead.

The perfect Cricut project whether you’re prepping for your honeymoon, a beachy vacay or simply hanging by the paddling pool in the back garden with the kids, simply adapt the wording of our design to suit!

What we used:

(*Please note: products marked with an asterisk are affiliate links, which means we receive a nominal amount from the seller for the referral at no extra cost to you.)

• Flip Flops*

• Cricut Maker (other Cricut machines can also be used)*

• Cricut EasyPress Mini*

• Fine Point Blade (usually included with the Cricut Maker machine)

• Cricut StandardGrip Mat

• Cricut Basic Tool Set

• Cricut Iron-On, Matte “White”*

• Cricut Glitter Iron-On “Silver”*

• Heat Resistant Sheet (/Baking Sheet)

• Scissors

If you’re in Canada, you can find the vinyls here: https://amzn.to/3P0m3Uw* and https://amzn.to/3asPBLL*

USA: https://amzn.to/3RtuMA9* and https://amzn.to/3uHzUqE* (*Affiliate Links)

Looking for more Cricut ideas? Check out our dedicated playlist here!

We hope you found that helpful. Share your Cricut creations with us over on Instagram, we’d love to see!

Got any other questions or video requests?  Leave them in the comments and we’ll do our best to help.  

How to Make Budget Friendly Favour Boxes

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DIY Heart Wedding Favour Boxes

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You’re planning your wedding favours on a budget, but you want to elevate the presentation so it certainly doesn’t ‘look’ budget. This is where our budget friendly favour box DIY comes in. All you need is some card to fit with your theme/colours, some bits and bobs you’ve almost certainly already got lying around the house and you can take your sugared almonds* to the next level.

*insert chosen favour here

These heart favour boxes are so simple to make and would be great just as they are. But if you want to go one step further, you can decorate the boxes with whatever you like! We embraced the rustic theme for our favour boxes, and along with the Kraft card, added a single dried flower in a contrasting colour to add a bit more interest. But go wild with sequins, bows or whatever your heart desires! Just be careful if you’re attaching anything to the top of the box that you don’t glue anything over the split in the heart. As that’s how your guests will be opening their boxes.

You only need:

  • Card of your choice (we used Kraft card for the example to give a rustic feel)
  • Pencil/Pen to draw out the net
  • Ruler
  • Scissors
  • Glue stick/glue gun
  • Decorations (optional) – We added a simple single dried flower to our box

We’ve provided the dimensions for the box we made, below. This box would be big enough to add a couple of chocolates/sweets for your guests. Alter the measurements as needed to create the size of box you want for your favours.

We’d love to see how yours turn out, tag us in your photos over on Instagram.

-Bride Society

Our Favourite Wedding Favour Ideas

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Wedding Favour Inspiration Your Guests Won’t Leave Behind!

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If you’re choosing to give your guests wedding favours, you want to make sure you’re getting something that’s not only good value for money, but also something they won’t leave behind at the end of the night!
We’re big fans of multipurpose favours, something that can also double up and play another role on your reception tables, e.g. place settings. Definitely budget friendly as you’re getting 2 for the price of 1!

We’ve created a whole load of DIY videos on our channel, showing you how to make various types of wedding favour (check out the playlist here), so we couldn’t quite believe we hadn’t done a round up of some of our favourite favour ideas!

So, we’re chatting through some of our favourite wedding favours and have split the video into four categories: kids, eco-friendly, seasonal and edible. There’s some overlap in the categories but don’t judge us too much on that!

Check out the full Pinterest board at: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/bride_society/wedding-favours-our-favourite-favours/

Other videos mentioned:
DIY Mini Tambourine Wedding Favours
DIY Bird Feeder Wedding Favour
Mini Egg Favours
How to Make Easter Bunny Geo Cake Hearts | Rabbit Cake Truffles
Halloween Cakesicles | How to Make Mummy and Witch Inspired Cakesicles
How to Make Valentines Hot Chocolate Bombs/Bombes | Easy Hot Chocolate Bomb Heart Tutorial
How to Make Hugging Candy Cane Gingerbread Biscuits
How to Make Chocolate Marshmallows | Kids’ Favours
Bridal Inspired Cakesicles | How to Make Wedding Cakesicles

We’d love to know what you’re choosing for your wedding favours, let us know in the comments below!

-Bride Society

What Commonly Gets Forgotten When Wedding Planning

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In case you’re planning a wedding & worried you might have forgotten something…

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When planning a wedding, it’s totally, 100%, without question, normal to reach the stage of befuddlement.  Planning a wedding is a process for sure, and whilst it has not officially been coined with specific terms for the psychological stages, I would like to propose, ‘befuddlement’ be adopted for official use from here on out (I have a Counselling degree and a L3 Wedding Planning qualification, so I’m pretty sure that must make me an ‘authority’ on this issue!). 

There’s a lot that goes in to getting that one day ‘just right’, and at some point you undoubtedly find yourself asking, “Have I really done it all?”, “I must have forgotten something!”.  You’ve got lists and sub-lists but there’s still those little things that manage to pop into your mind just as you’re falling asleep…you make a mental note to write that down in the morning, but low and behold, the thought is lost with the sunrise, leaving you with that nagging feeling, hoping you remember whatever it was in time or that it wasn’t really that important anyway.  Well, that was until this week’s video!  We’ve compiled a list of things we know can easily get forgotten or overlooked during the course of planning a wedding, and hopefully we’ll jog your memory about whatever that thing was from last night!

Check it out here…

We hope that helped!  For more wedding and honeymoon content, join us over on Instagram @bridesociety_uk .

— Rebecca and Laura at Bride Society

Paperchase Wedding and Hen Party Collection 2022

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By popular demand, we’re back with another haul! And this time we’ve headed back to Paperchase! We last looked at the Paperchase range back in 2020, so we thought it was high time to see what was on offer for wedding and hen party planning in 2022.

We picked up a few things perfect for a budget friendly hen party, including Henny 2.0… But we’ve mostly focused on wedding planning/wedding stationery for this look at the collections. They have such a wide selection of wedding planners at a range of price points, all offering slightly different things, we think there’s definitely something for the organised bride to keep track of the planning process.

We’ve only picked out a small selection of what’s on offer. You can find the full range at https://www.paperchase.com/en_gb/wedding

All items featured in this video are linked below. Any links marked with an * are affiliate links. This means we make a small amount of commission on any purchases made through those links, at no extra cost to you.

Buying any of these products?  We’d love to see!  Share your photos with us over on Instagram @bridesociety_uk.

-Bride Society

I’ll Google It

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Google FAQs | Wedding Edition

Got a burning question about your wedding?  Chances are we’re answering it in today’s video as we’ve tackled some of Google’s most frequently asked wedding planning questions!

When in doubt, these days most of us turn to Google for the answer.  Do kids today even know how to search for information any other way, let alone what ‘dial-up’ means?  I predate Google and even I’d have to think about what I would have done (and yes, I did just have to Google, “When was Google created”, in case you’re wondering, the answer is September 1998).  Even if you use a different search engine, we all seemingly use the term ‘Google’ regardless.  It’s as if it has become an interchangeable word for ‘search engine’, like Sellotape or Hoover in their own fields!  And now, here I am, in a social media based job that simply would not have existed when I left school (to save you another ‘Google’, YouTube was created in February 2005). Anyway, enough of the lamenting and history lessons….

The way we research and plan our weddings has now irreversibly altered, and so as many of you sit there searching your wedding planning questions online, we have been busy answering them!  So here you go Google…

The Questions:

Q1. How long before a wedding should you start planning?

Q2. What is the first thing you do when wedding planning?

Q3. What’s the best month to get married?

Q4. Which part of the wedding costs the most?

Q5. What is ‘Something Blue’ for the bride?

Q6. Do you wear your engagement ring on your wedding day?

https://youtu.be/htQ06s-4z2I

You can jump ahead to any question using our time stamps in the video description box over on YouTube.

Got any other questions or video requests?  Leave them in the comments and we’ll do our best to help.  Find us on Instagram @bridesociety_uk, we’d love to get to know you better!

— Rebecca & Laura at Bride Society