The wedding plans are coming along nicely. I have a list in my head of the ’12 month’ things we want to get ticked off:

• Venue
• Caterer
• Band
• Budget
• First-cut guest list
• Celebrant
• Ask our bridesmaids/groomsmen

So far we are doing well. The budget is sorted, the saving has begun, and the construction of the guest list is underway. These will bubble away for the next few months.

We went and had another look at our preferred venue yesterday, it’s just perfect for us. It has a main room, a court yard and a barn for dancing . So we will sign on the dotted line and hand over the deposit tomorrow.

And we have have secured the band, I think perhaps the thing we are both the most excited about. We are going to have a Hoolie with the Black Velvet Band. The BVB are a part of my past and my present. Back in the day (the ’90s) I enjoyed going up to the Loft Bar to listen to them and have a good dance. They were little moments of freedom in amongst my married-with-two-kids reality. Fond memories.

And then Stephen and I have been to a couple of hoolies run by the band in the last year. They are great fun – everyone joins in and has a great time and we have been able to practice our newly developing ballroom dancing skills. So ‘tick’, and ‘clapclapjumpupanddownwithexcitement’.

The biggest challenge has been the caterer. When we decided we wanted to get married at Cossars, we decided we didn’t want to go with one of their suggested caterers. There was nothing in the contract saying we had to chose one of their ‘preferred’ caterers, so we found someone that suited what we wanted. Before we sealed the deal with Kiwi Cuisine, I thought I’d better let Cossars know what we were doing, and lucky I did! I got an immediate email from the manager letting me know that we had to make a deal with one of their caterers. Disappointing, but we love the venue so we will make it work.

So now we are going through a process of vetting these other three, figuring out which one fits our requirements best. We think we’ve chosen…I’ll keep you posted!

So once we find a celebrant and invite our attendants to be involved, there is nothing much more to do until we get to the ‘6 month’ list:

• Start thinking about dresses
• Plan the invitations
• Book hair/makeup
• Plan the honeymoon

…i.e the fun stuff!!!

PS I know you don’t believe that I’ll be waiting six months to start thinking about dresses! Planning is well under way, all in my head for now.

There is a saying … “people make plans while god looks on and laughs”. In other words, we have a destiny before us, and most of our plans don’t much resemble how things actually turn out.

Having said that, there is something very hopeful about planning. Short term plans (what’s for tea, I think I might go for a run in the morning) or long term plans (I want to have my 40th birthday somewhere fabulous, I want to be with you for the rest of our lives). They both have so much hope in them. But that thought is a distraction from the real point…

I’m getting married!

There are so many things I can say about this, so I apologise in advance if the next few (possibly year’s worth) of posts all come back round to this momentous fact.

When Stephen asked me to marry him, the second thing I thought was, “oooh, the planning!”. I relish the idea of the unfolding plans, the decisions, selections, choosing between this and that. It’s our first project together, and it’s quintessentially optimistic, forward-looking. While at one level we are planning a fun party for March next year, we are also laying the ground work for everything else that will unfold in our lives over the next 40-or-so years.

But what it really all comes down to …my point at last… is that I love to plan. I make 2-hour plans and yearly plans and 5-year plans and grand plans. And Stephen loves lists. He’s a man with a notebook and a sharp pencil. We are made for each other.