WEDDING BLOG: The WEDDING, How It Went And Final Advice

The photos have arrived. That means it's over.

We're two months into married life, everything went according to plan and now we have the pictures to prove it. So for those of you who've been following the blog, how did it go? And was it worth it?

Well, fantastically and yes.

If you've been a regular reader you might have noticed I'm an over-thinker, worrying about pretty much everything in the run up to the wedding, from whether getting married was an unfeminist thing to do, to whether I would regret wearing a white dress.

But when it actually came down to it, I did manage to stop overthinking and just enjoy it. And if you are getting married I would suggest you do the same. Don't sweat the small stuff, as they say.

The Day

Our wedding day was actually the MOST FUN IT'S POSSIBLE TO HAVE EVER. Totally more than I ever expected. It's absolutely incredible to have everyone you love, who loves you, in the same place because of you. Slightly egomaniacal I'll admit, but utterly amazing.

Why was it so great?

Well there were a few factors other than everyone there being a totally awesome human being.

One: We were lucky the weather was awesome so everyone was already in a good mood because of the sunshine.

Two: Short ceremony. Everyone loves a short ceremony. Twenty minutes, bang. No hymns, no faffing about, just the nitty gritty and an amazing poem written and read by one of my best friends.

Three: FREE BAR. Self explanatory.

Four: Good speeches! Seriously, they were all pretty good. (We had them by Bride, Groom, Best Man, Best Lady, Father of the Bride.)

Five: THE BAND. It was the groom, Adam's band, Five Smooth Dudes. He played, his mum and stepdad joined in on a few songs and his brother even took on the drums for a song. Oh, and I played the sax on two songs. It was AWESOME. Someone even Periscoped it.

Six: The Photobooth. We made a home-made contraption out of an iPad velcroed to the wall and my dressing up box (yes I am a 30 year old woman with a dressing up box, what of it?). The pictures alone are worth the thousands we spent on the wedding.

Seven: The Afterparty. Because we had the wedding in a marquee in my parents' garden we got to carry on partying as long as we liked. Sure, the police popped in at one point, but mostly the neighbours were fab and very understanding (some even came along). We danced until 5am.

Your wedding day will go in past in the blink of an eye so to have the chance to keep it going for an extra five hours was amazing.

Eight: We had so much help. Guests baked cakes, the bridesmaids were tying flowers to things late into the night and even my regular hairdresser came down to Surrey from London to do my hair in the most amazing way possible. Our parents were TOTAL LEGENDS.

I started off the wedding planning not wanting to bother anyone or ask for help but getting everyone involved was the best thing, I'm so appreciative of everything they did and I think, generally, everyone enjoying being a part of it.

Advice

Everyone I spoke to who'd already been through a wedding wanted to give me their 'best piece of advice'. It was always unsolicited but always interesting. So in case you want to know, here's mine.

The guest list: The people there are the single most important thing at the wedding. They make it. Make sure you invite who you want, do whatever you can to get everyone and don't quibble over the added extra. Take this into account when you're choosing your venue. If it's £100 a head, it's really going to affect who you can have there and you don't need that pressure. Try getting an idea of numbers before you look at venues.

Walking down the aisle: Take it slow. I 'galloped' apparently. It's a very weird thing to do, like being on stage, or at a zoo, with everyone staring at you and grinning, and you staring at them and grinning back. But try and enjoy it. Maybe practise slow walking. And if you can, take your mum too. Both my parents walked me down the aisle and it was lovely. Your mum 'owns' you just as much as your dad.

Unique home madetouches: They really make it. Put the effort in.

Bring your dancing shoes: Wear shoes you can dance in all night, or at least change them for the evening. You won't sit down for 12 hours, don't get blisters.

There's probably loads more. But they're the ones that spring to mind. Oh, and just try to enjoy it. I really would do it all over again if I could. It was that good.

Loose ends? Oh the dress. The dress was absolutely the right choice and I'm SO happy I went for it despite all my reservations.

And my name? After WAY too much soul searching I decided to double barrel (I know, I know). For many reasons very individual to me and my situation I chose to put my husband's name before my 'Smith' and became Easton Smith. I'm happy with it. It feels like a good compromise. I can't expect any future daughters to keep their name if I don't and now I can pretend I'm the new Brett Easton Ellis. In a way.

What am I going to do now? Maybe I'll have to start live-blogging marriage or something... (kidding).

[Our official photos were taken by the very talented Siobhan Watts]