27

Jun

2014

Diary of a Boho Bride – Sarah & Del. Entry 1 – Personalisation

diary of a boho bride

Last month we introduced you to our new Boho Brides and over the coming weeks you will really get to know them inside and out. This week it’s the turn of Sarah and Del. They are getting married in May 2015. Let’s meet them properly shall we?

Sarah & Del Ibiza

Introducing the Diary of a Boho Bride…..and groom!

“Before I start this month’s post, I thought it’d be good to explain what we didn’t say in our original post – that we’d be blogging together as a couple rather than just me. In fact, that first post was written by Del! This month we were planning for Del to write a post about the guy’s role in planning a wedding – after all, in most cases, as he’s the one proposing, he knows about the wedding before most other people do! But given that we’re now living apart again, I thought I’d write about the personal details that to us are so important in a wedding, and Del will post next month.

Pre proposal

Today is also a great day for our post to be published as it’s almost a year to the day since we got engaged (a year & a day to be precise!) and I can’t believe how quickly that time has passed! I remember getting onto a plane to Madrid with a very nervous Del, but didn’t think it was anything out of the ordinary because he doesn’t like flying, and arriving into Madrid, he was desperate to leave the apartment to go to the park – again nothing out of the ordinary as he loved the sun. What I hadn’t realised was he’d spent the last few months planning his proposal, designing a beautiful sapphire ring, and he hadn’t told a soul about what he was going to do – no wonder he was so nervous! He took me down to my favourite place in the world – el Retiro Park – and we spent an amazing evening there, on the rowing boats, eating in cafes, before he proposed whilst we were lying in a quiet shaded area. And so I thought I’d start this post by sharing my happiness to be marrying such an amazingly thoughtful and caring person – since that day, we’ve become even stronger as a couple, and I feel so happy to be marrying him (and for those who know me, such a show of emotions is pretty out of character!).

So, back to this month’s post! At the moment, I’m two weeks into a four-month secondment in Lancaster while Del is staying back in Manchester. Because we’re both really busy we don’t get time to visit one another during the week. And so, right now (a Friday early in June), I’m sat on a train heading up to meet Del in Glasgow (his home town) to go to a friends’ party, then tomorrow we’re off to my friends’ wedding before spending the day together back home in Manchester on Sunday. The reason all of this is relevant is because being apart really brings out everything about him that I miss! It’s making me think about all of the small things that are personal to us, and I’m realising just how important it is to me that our wedding day really is an expression of us as a couple, and of what we value most in one another. And so, I thought it’d be a good idea to blog about my thoughts on this and see where it led to!

Hot air balloon

So as we said in our first post, the long-distance relationship is something we’re both used to, and so we’ve become accustomed to travelling frequently to see each other, but also to share our favourite thing in life – visiting new places! I’m sure other couples are no different to us in having some pretty incredible memories from our travels abroad, and so we are really making this a central theme within the wedding. Over the years we’ve scrimped and saved as much as possible to be able to have that time together away from it all. And so our day will be a combination of all of those things we love about being away – the cakes we have on weekends away in the UK, the Italian antipasti we hope to munch away at on our honeymoon, the Greek cuisine we enjoyed in the first few years we were together, and the local delicacies we’ve introduced to one another (with mixed results) over the years. We want to share the happiness that comes with going to new places, or those that are like old friends, and the joy of travelling to see each other after a long time apart. And so we’re hoping to share those experiences too, through pictures and other ways of representing the hot air balloon rides, boat trips and explorations of new cities we’ve loved. It’s so important to be able to express that on the one day that you are able to really celebrate your lives together so far, and the years to come.

vineyard weddnig tqable (Photo Source: Left – Image by Azzura Photography. Right – Image by Chris Cooney.)

There are lots of other ways that we’ll be able to personalise our day. We’re having a Humanist ceremony (a big plus of getting married in Scotland, apart from the beautiful scenery of our venue, is that Humanist ceremonies are legal, unlike in the rest of the UK). We recently went to our friends’ wedding who also had a Humanist ceremony, and it was lovely. It really allows you to express to one another the personal reasons about all of those little things that make you love one another. We’ll really be thinking about vows and readings (and who to do the readings) to make this a really enjoyable aspect of the day, rather than the formality.

Etsy heart punch (Photo Source: Left, Top Right, Bottom Right)

What’s also striking for me is how powerful music can be. We have very different tastes in music, but there are certain songs which have moved onto my iPod because they remind me of Del & just make me smile (at the moment it’s Elton John!). Right now, songs keep popping up on shuffle that just make me smile, because they remind me of something we’ve done together, or have drunkenly sung along to one evening… We’re probably not going to have a band at the wedding, as there are other things that we’d rather prioritise financially, but actually, I think having playlists is again a brilliant way to personalise the day. Our joint playlist, I imagine, would be the most random assortment of 90s Britpop, 90s trance, techno, electro, some Ibiza chill out, a few power ballads, and lots of Elton John! Quite a mix! But that reflects us as a couple, and so we just need to embrace it and go with it (although also making sure there’s some music in there that caters to all of our guests’ tastes).

map with quote (Photo Source: Top Left, Bottom Left, Right)

And so I suppose, the whole point of this post is to say that for us, it’s just so important to be able to personalise your day and make it a reflection of the things & person you love. There will always be people who try to tell you what you ‘should’ do, and that you ‘can’t’ do other things, but what I love about weddings today is that they are reflections of the couple getting married, not of what convention dictates. So my message is to be brave, and to go with the ideas you love! Whatever the choices we make in the run up to the wedding, we know it’ll be a great day, and make us stronger as a couple, because we’ll have put thought and effort into every decision we’ve made to make sure it reflects us as a couple.

map guest book (Photo Source: Left, Right)

So let’s start a conversation! What personalisations are you making to your wedding that are important to you?”

 

Love Sarah and Del x

 

 

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Comments

    Emily

    Aw I really love the maps! I think it’s so important to have the little details on your wedding day that really are personal to you as a couple. Will you be making a lot of the decorations yourselves?

    Best of luck with the rest of the plans.

    Emily x

    Reply
    Sarah

    Hi Emily, thanks for your lovely comments.

    Yes we will be making a lot of the decorations ourselves, with help from family. I’m really looking forward to it. We’re also planning on having dried flowers, so my Grandma has been drying out lavender in her spare rooms for weeks! Really looking forward to it.

    Reply

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