The Wedding Reporter ~

Once upon a time there was girl who had, by mutual agreement, got engaged to the boy she loved. She was pretty excited about being his wife but not so much about planning a wedding. She’d only been to one wedding as an adult and realised she might be somewhat out of her depth. She purchased some wedding magazines and felt completely overawed by the task in hand.

Then one dreary February, she logged on to a forum on a wedding website at the behest of her best friend. These forums, she was told, were a great source of inspiration because real brides were recounting their real wedding plans, not just toeing the traditional line.

For some months the girl surfed around the chat boards, mildly amused by the real life dramas people felt comfortable to post (“My fiance is cheating on me with my maid of honour but I don’t know what to do as I’ve just bought her dress for the wedding…”), scared of the argumentative and flaming threads and occasionally stumbling upon a piece of sage advice.

And then one innocuous day in April she came across a post entitled “A wedding in Whitby: my wedding report” by a user calling herself LoveMyDress. She read tirelessly, enraptured by this lady’s beautiful vintage wedding, complete with gorgeous details and tear-inducing emotion. Here was a bride who had had an image of how her wedding should be and followed through on it, regardless of prescribed chair covers or standard photos.

Excitedly, the girl emailed a friend who was to be wed on the same day as her telling her to look up the thread (for they were both secret forum stalkers, not daring to make their obsession a public humiliation). They both became hooked, messaging each other back and forth about how romantic the report was, how stunning the photos were, how elegant and pretty all her stationery was. The girl suddenly had an image in her mind that her own wedding could be whatever she wanted and she didn’t have to wear a big meringue and give everyone sugared almonds.

The wedding report finished, the bride went off to live her married life (but not before leaving a very helpful list of suppliers and DIY details for her betrothed comrades) and the girl went quietly on her way to accomplish a wedding of equally epic, heart-wrenching proportions.

Later that year, with her dress bought, her venue booked, her photographer bagged and more besides, the girl discovered a new blog on the wedding circuit…a UK blog and style diary offering daily bridal inspiration… It was so pretty. It featured so many luxurious suppliers and distinctive details. It was just like that lady who had left her wedding report on the forum…

Throughout the rest of her planning process, the girl avidly kept checking the Love My Dress blog. As it grew in size, her heart swelled to know she had seen the initial bones of it formulating in the wedding thread all those months ago. She looked at other like-minded brides as they submitted their own weddings. She coveted just about every item featured. She loved feeling like she had a kindly friend in the voice of the author.

In September 2010, the girl married her boy. It was the last day of summer and she twirled around the gardens in her figure-hugging chiffon gown, smiling non-stop for hours and hours. A month or two later, the pictures of her twirling in the gardens appeared on the pages of her favourite blog. She linked to it on her Facebook page and felt proud to be among the other readers and real brides who loved their dress.

This week, her face appeared once more on the pages of Love My Dress. She’s started a new business, writing about weddings and she wants to offer it to other discerning brides who may just have been through something like she did. Any bride who loves their dress is a bride who she wants to get to know better.

♡ ♡ ♡

Huge thanks to Annabel, not only  for this brilliant feature, but for initially inspiring a small girl lost in the wedding world to have the kind of day she never knew possible. It is truly refreshing to have the support of someone who has carved her own way through the industry and I feel honoured to be featured on Love My Dress.

The discount is open to all Love My Dress readers and lasts until September 30th. Please do have a look and then get in touch as I can’t wait to start hearing all about your own wedding stories!