Well that's a surprise...

We've actually started looking at things! Yay!

We've got a meeting with a potential photographer tonight. After scouring the Internet and speaking to people (and seeing a lot of terrible photographs) I've finally found one up to my high standards and we're meeting them tonight for a chat and to talk shop.

One of the things I've sat down and really thought about is the lasting things from the day itself. I've come to three conclusions of what is "important" and has longevity.

1) Photographs - My sister got married back in 1989. She had a Harrods antique silk and lace dress, she had the most gorgeous headress made from young white roses, her hair and make up were perfect. She and her groom (now my brother-in-law 22 years later...) decided to pick a photographer based on price rather than gut instinct. To this day she still regrets her choice of photographer. Personally I can't see anything wrong with her photos but she moans and complains about them quite regularly. In addition photographs will probably last longer than we will and they will be passed down through the family.

2) Wedding Rings - My engagement ring wasn't expensive. It's not diamond and it's not huge. It's got a gorgeous sapphire in it that G and I picked out together the day after we got engaged when on holiday in Rhodes. I picked it specifically because the blue of the sapphire was light and reminded me of the beach where he proposed and his blue eyes. Wedding bands do not mean a lot but they are a constant reminder of your connection to someone. Again, these will be passed down through the family.

3) The Marriage - No wedding is worth the stress and hassle that destroys a relationship. Watching countless programmes recently on Don't Tell The Bride, Four Weddings, Bridezillas etc it seems to me that so many women get OBSESSED over the minute details of their big day. The whole reason that I started this blog is that is not the person who I am... but I can see how it can get like that. Along the way I'll just have to remember that it is JUST A DAY. Yes, it's an important day. However it is JUST A DAY.

In other news I went to a festival this weekend with my best friend and came back to find my fiance hadn't realised that the oven was switched off at the wall so had been eating cold and frozen food thinking the oven was broken. And had spent a shedload of money on a vintage Vespa I didn't even know he wanted....

Needless to say he's not being left alone again for a while...

In the words of Paul McCartney.. Live and let dye?

As you can probably imagine for someone who has never been to fussed about weddings and being a bride, I'm quite low maintenance. An off-shoot of that is (or at least I like to think so!) that I am not vain in the slightest.

Don't get me wrong I love getting glamed up for a night out, I have a Mac make up collection to rival any make up artist and I have my obligatory GHDs. But on a daily basis my routine involves rolling out of bed about 10/15 minutes before I leave the house. Wash, brush my teeth, pick out clean clothes and leave... I don't even brush my hair until I get to work... sometimes I don't even brush it actually (*guilty face*).

However I am genetically predisposed to something, something that has been slowly creeping its way into my hairline since the age of 16.

My mum, god bless her soul, had high cheekbones, gorgeous skin, youthful looks and a fast metabolism, the majority of which I inherited. The one legacy I also inherited (along with my sister) is the grey gene.

Yes, I've slowly been going grey since I was 16.

It's not hugely bad, I don't have to dye my hair JUST yet and it's mostly concentrated layers down around my temples but it leaves me with a big issue.

To dye or not to dye, that is the question? I have always avoided dying my beautiful brown hair since I was younger, it's got shades of blonde and red and in the sun it goes all twinkly. However I'm not certain it will be the same in 12 months time or whenever we decide to get married.

The colour seems to be slowly seeping out, it's getting duller and flatter, harder to style (when I do bother) and generally being a bit meh.

Now why don't I just dye it you say? Well, apart from what I mentioned before I dont' want to get in the cycle my sister is in.

She's being dying her hair since she was about 21 (I'm 25) and she either ends up with horrifically ginger hair when she home dyes, ends up looking like Pepe La Peu when she can't get time to go to the salon (think white stripe down the middle of your head) or she ends up having to pay £100s each year just to look "normal". It's been like this for about 23 years.

So, for now, I will stay away from the dye. Pull out the rascally white hairs if they rise to the surface and try my best to reverse the effects of ageing. I think maybe three months beforehand I will have to revist this before I make my choice.