Beyond Excited

My wedding is 14 months away, but it's predominant in my  mind. I was trying to work out why. Of course, it's going to be an amazing day and there's a lot to organise, but why is it so exciting? My fiancé and I have been together for almost 8 years, engaged for 18 months, and although I'm very excited to become Mrs Wong (and as I'm a teacher the kids will be calling me Mrs Wong quite a bit) it really is just one day, and what will change really? 


Here are the reasons I came up with as to why I'm so excited, and why you should be too! 

• You get to be the main attraction, the centre of attention:
  I'm not a huge fan of being the centre of attention, not all the time, but when it's something special like your birthday or a promotion, it's nice to be the centre of attention, and weddings count too! All that planning and time and stress you've put in are finally worth it!
  
• Taking his Surname
  That's if you are taking his surname, but I'm looking forward to taking his name so much! His surname is a lot more interesting than mine and it'll be lots of fun! It's not very feminist of me to look forward to changing my name, but it's a little special thing that I think is really nice.
  
• Breaking the Dress Diet!
  Although you'll be very proud of all the weight you've lost, how you've avoided carbs and fat for the last year and spent every waking moment at the gym, finally.... Finally! You can eat a big main meal and have a pudding and then eat cake after it!
  
• Seeing your man all dressed up!
  If your hubby-to-be is like mine, he doesn't get dressed up very often. The chance to see him all dressed up in a proper wedding suit looking suave with his hair done is just wonderful! I'm looking forward to that!
  
• Match Making
  Arranging your seating plan meant that you could seat your gorgeous single friends together, and who knows what might happen? Looking forward to the reception and all the fun it may bring is another fun part of planning your big day, and something else to look forward to!
  
• The Dress
  Many women want to be a princess for a day, and most of us don't get many opportunities to dress up nicely. In my job, there's not much point dressing up nice unless I want paint, playdough, sick and other unmentionables all over my clothes so this one day is a chance for me to dress up and look completely beautiful (I hope). And the dress: my one chance to wear a princess dress and have a princess day.
  
• The First Dance
  After all the practising and rehearsing and changing the song this way and that way, it's finally time to show all your guests your first dance. I'm especially looking forward to my wedding dance because we're starting dance lessons in October so we will have worked really hard on it. I have two left feet and don't want to let my dance guru fiancé down, and I am excited to see everyone's reactions!
  
• The Reception
  A big party with all your friends and family! What could be more fun! All the music you personally enjoy, everyone being merry and a bit tipsy and celebrating your marriage to the man of your dreams! I can't think of a more enjoyable party! I'm really looking forward to that!
  
• The Honeymoon
  I've told fiancé I don't want to know anything about the honeymoon, I want it to be a complete surprise, all I want him to tell me is what kind of clothes I need to pack!  You may think I'm utterly insane but I'm taking over the wedding planning, it'll be good for him to have something that's his and he can decide about. I'm so looking forward to it because I know nothing about it. It'll be amazing! 

All in all, my excitement is fairly understandable. There is so much to look forward to! If your bride harks on a bit too much about the wedding, talking about dresses and invites and cars and orders of service, then give her some leeway, because now you know why she's so excited! 

The First Dance

I think it's important to remember you don't have to have a first dance. If you have two left feet, you're really shy or dancing just isn't your thing, don't have a first dance just because people expect you to, unless you want to. 


I want a first dance, I want it so much my fiancé and I have decided to have dance lessons just to get it right! My fiancé is already a dancer, he does street dance at a local dance studio but I'm a bum wiggler. I need the dance lessons just to keep up with him! I'm really looking forward to starting our dance lessons as it'll also help with losing weight! 


Choosing a song to dance to is difficult. My best friend chose Snow Patrol, Chasing Cars which was absolutely perfect and so romantic. My cousins had Moulin Rogue, Come What May, which was really lovely. Another friend had Yellow by Coldplay, which he told me felt as if it went on for 20 minutes! My brother chose Lets Stick Together by Al Green which was loads of fun for everyone! My fiancé is Canadian so we decided to go with a wedding favourite, Everything I Do by Brian Adams. It's a bit of a cliché but it means something to the both of us and that's what's important.


Top Ten Songs

10, Rule the World by Take That
9, Time of My Life by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes (more recently by the Black Eyed Peas)
8, Nothing At All by Ronan Keaton
7, My First, Last, My Everything by Louis Armstrong
6, Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol
5, Love is All Around by Wet Wet Wet
4, Take My Breath Away by Berlin
3, I Don't Wanna Miss a Thing by Aerosmith
2, Come What May by Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman

And the winner for most popular wedding dance song is:
1, Everything I Do by Brian Adams from Robin Hood Prince of Theives, number one in the UK music charts for 16 weeks in 1991. 


Unusual Wedding Dances
One of the best first dances I've ever seen is on youtube that everyone should have a peek of: Evolution of Dance Wedding. If you can't decide on a song for the wedding, have them all! Do you have a friend who is good at mixing music together? Ask them to do you a mix of all your favourite songs and do a dance to all of them! If you have any friends who are good at choreography or who are dancers, or if you're good at learning the dances to songs, you could have lots of fun at your wedding performing a fun dance at this one. 

Alternatively, you could dance up the aisle.