Hi friends! So first things first...we are now officially on the t-minus one year countdown!!! Something about that just makes the wedding feel so real, like it's actually going to happen and isn't just a crazy dream! Whenever people talk to me now they tell me how the time will fly by before I know it. Simultaneously terrifying and exciting all at the same time! Scott & I are really trying to just fully embrace the wedding planning journey and not get swept up (& away!) with all the things we could be doing.

That being said, it's probably easy for me to feel relaxed about the whole thing as I'm a raaaather organised gal. As I'm sure many of you have spied, we have our photographer sorted - the amazingly talented Claire Penn (the first decision we made, and we're absolutely sure it's going to be our best one!) We also have a very special engagement shoot planned with her and despite not being naturals in front of the camera we absolutely cannot wait - it's going to be epic and I can't wait to share it with you all on these here pages.

A couple of months ago we also had a family outing (Mum, Dad, Bridesmaids, dog, Scott...the whole brady bunch!) to see two of my favourite florists and decide which one to pick for our wedding flowers. Flowers are one of my favourite things in life so I was super excited to choose the ridiculously incredible Grace & Thorn to help us realise our florally vision (big, wild, colourful, thistly). Every time she posts a new picture on instagram I need to have calming words with myself - her creations are just stunning. She is also a fellow dog lover, and whilst that totally didn't impact on our decision (I swear), I can't help but feel the love.

We have also done all of the following:

· Booked the registrar

· Decided on guest list

· Proposed to our Bridal party (on my side there were many tears! I personally think I had it harder than Scott as I had to propose four times!)

· Hired out the whole boutique B&B across the road from the town hall (easiest wedding morning ever...drink champagne, get pampered, walk across the pelican crossing, marry the love of my life)

· Decided on wedding favours (something we hadn't planned on having due to budget constraints but the other day I thought of two of the greatest, not-at-all costly ideas and I am running WILD with them!)

· Trying on and purchasing (!!!!) beautiful Bridesmaids' dresses

· Booked our evening entertainment - a photo booth, of course. (I'm quite concerned I am going to spend all night in there pulling funny faces and ignoring my guests...)

· Decided on our wedding readings (as a massive, massive book lover with years worth of scribbled quotes, this one was so easy for me)

· Sent out our amazing Saves The Dates to far away friends & family, designed and printed by our beautiful friends Ellie & Craig (they are seriously talented and I plan to share more about our stationery at a later date) as well as planning our whole stationery suite with them. We are so thankful to so many talented friends who are pulling out all the stops to be the best, most helpful (& involved) people ever. We love them!

· Made a wedding website (which is yet to be shared, but it is there, and ready with lots of helpful information!)

· Thinking, dreaming and trying on of all the beautiful wedding dresses...what a beautifully surreal life experience.

So whilst we are pretty organised, and on track, there is still an awful lot for us to consider and do.

· Decide on hair and make-up artist (help a girl out here?! Any personal recommendations?)

· Put my deposit down on my wedding dress!!!!!

· Help Scott decide on Grooms, Best Man and Ushers-wear (and most importantly, Vinnie's choice of bow tie...)

· Pick our wedding menu - The Londesborough is great in that we get to offer our guests a choice of 3 starters and 3 mains courses on the day, but Scott & I still have to make the decision which 3 starters and 3 mains we are going to offer from a rather large selection (it's a hard life, but someone has got to do it!)

· To cake or not? We are toying with the idea of having a dessert bar with contributions from friends and family, but since so many are coming from afar (we have a truly international wedding party arriving from Scotland, France, Canada, Austria, Qatar & the Bahamas as well as well as the slightly more neighbourly locales of Basildon, Birmingham, Cardiff, Farncombe and Redhill...men of the Bridal party, I hope you are taking notes for your speech!), it might not be practical for them to bake us something sweet, so we may pick a big delicious cake from one of our favourite London bakeries...or just have no cake?! Any attending guests out there reading and want to help a sista out?! Holla!

· Wedding rings (I suppose? Am I the only Bride that is really not bothered by this? Surely my engagement ring is the star of the show? Scott has thought about getting his finger tattooed, which I know isn't for everyone, but as a tattooed guy anyway, it could really work - and be super romantic in my eyes. I should probably stop saying to him "but what will your second wife think?!" though...)

· MUSIC. Obviously very important for both of us considering our passion for it. Our choices have to be perfect.

· Décor & DIY projects: bunting, paper lanterns, fairy lights, balloons, origami, everything covered in glitter?! There are so many options!!! Luckily for me one of my Bridesmaids is an interior designer and another works for a company which do beautiful window and other displays for many major department stores and brands, so I feel like I have won the Bridesmaids lottery (and I shall state for the record right now, the reason I picked them is because I love them, not for their talent...honest!)

· Send out our actual invitations (and cross our fingers that we are able to invite everyone that we really couldn't imagine getting married without)

· Figure out how to record our day without hiring a videographer (as much as we would absolutely love to, our budget will just not stretch that far, boo!)

· And then we have all sorts of wedding admin to tackle nearer the time like giving our notice of intention, seating plans, cleaning my engagement ring, thinking about whether I need to have a beauty regime (do I?! I'm a hopeless girl sometimes!), buying the sparkliest wedding shoes that I can find, and hopefully having a super fun hen and stag do (although we both intend to leave that in the very capable hands of our Bridal pals)

So there we have it - I think we're on track (as long as we start tackling the DIY elements of the day now!) Am I missing anything extremely obvious or important? Please shout at me if so!

We've been having so much fun doing it all, with my personal highlights being Bridesmaid dress shopping with my lovely ladies, dreaming about stationery with Ellie & Craig (it makes Scott & I feel incredible to have such involvement and enthusiasm from our friends & family), and finally, FINALLY getting to try on wedding dresses with my Mum (there were tears!)

Until next time my lovelies,

Danielle xxx