For this month's guest post we've teamed up with the LA-loving, London-living Liverpudlian, Ashleigh - founder of wedding planning business, Pink Palms. Inspired by the pink skies, relaxed vibe and palm trees of LA, alongside her background in interior design, this is one boss babe who knows how to pull a wedding theme together. And, alongside it all, she was also previously a cardiothoracic critical care nurse, so there's no way this gal will crack under any kind of wedding-related pressure. Read on to discover her top tips on nailing that wedding plan... 

Image credit (above): Rebecca Carpenter Photography

#1 First Up: Stay Positive!

It is so important right now to stay as positive as possible - it's been stressful and it's ok to feel stressed for a short period of time, but after a little while the stress takes over in the long term. The best thing to do is to stay creative and inspired, so you keep your engagement as fun and positive as possible.

Bungalow by Pink Palms is an online membership platform for you to plan and design your wedding, where we'll cover every single thing you need to know from creative workshops on how to do your flowers yourself, to live Q&A's with industry experts in our FB group. It's a sure fire way of keeping yourself feeling upbeat and learning loads of new design and styling tips that you can apply to your hen do, Christmas, parties... you name it!

You can join our Waitlist here!

Elena Popa Photography

#2 How to manage your planning

This is a big planning tip: dump every single wedding to-do item down in a notebook, get it out of your brain and on to paper. This is the start of taking control over your wedding planning, not it controlling you! Then, once you have everything downloaded from your brain - chunk them together. What I mean by that is, any of those tasks that relate to each other - they could be for the rehearsal dinner, or related to your dress (scheduling fittings, alterations) or your hen do, group those to-do's together and make it one neat category. So, for your hen do category for example, you'll have a list of to-do's and then be able to see what you can get your hens to help you out with!

This is also a great way of getting your partner involved, you can either give them a whole category, or they can take on specific to-do lists. The point is, you don't have to do it all by yourself! And, by seeing it category by category, it's much easier to see where you need help. You'll do this a few times throughout your planning, as wedding planning comes in waves - so when you feel those to-do's starting to pile up in your head again, you know it's time to sit down and start a new list!

Rebecca Carpenter Photography

#3 Wedding design

Think of your wedding design as a whole! This is the biggest mistake couples make, they think about individual elements of the day separately from each other. If you think about your venue, florals, dress, make-up, hair etc. as one whole design, you'll create something with so much impact! And, it costs no more, it's just being a little bit clearer in the beginning on how you want your day to feel and what you want to create and COMMIT to your vision!

#4 Venue visits

It's so hard when visiting your venue, to know what it will look like on the day when it's full with people. The thing I always say to my clients is, look above eye level. Any details at your venue below eye level you won't see or notice, because there will be people in the way. So, if you're planning on a floral installation or really cool decor concept, make sure it's something you can see wherever you are in the room.

Manon Pauffin Photography

#5 Use Colour!

Go for it! SO many people hold back on their wedding day, and what we end up with is a bunch of weddings that all look the same. We're all individuals right? So why do we have weddings that all look the same?! Make it modern, trendy and everything you want it to be and don't be worried about what other people might think or say (yes, I mean your Mum!)

For more wedding planning tips and tricks, head on over to Pink Palms here. 

Want some wedding stationery inspiration while you're here? Click here.