Home-made Confetti Costs Nothing!

So I decided confetti was a bit like Marmite, and I was definitely in the 'love it' camp. But 'loving it' really only meant it had to be home-made using flowers from Mum's garden. Relieved that I'd made at least one wedding decision ahead of schedule, I kicked back and relaxed with a cuppa and yet another healthy cereal bar. I was confident; cocksure in fact that I'd resolved the question of confetti without causing myself further wedding brain ache.

But mid tea gulp, my now familiar pre-wedding panic resurfaced with a vengeance: It's been raining solidly for four months now; what if no flowers bloom? So much for home-grown confetti — CONFETTI! Who am I to think I know anything about making confetti? I've never even seen the stuff up close – only once, briefly, when I removed, discreetly, a stray scrap from my top lip at a wedding. OMG! What the hell does confetti look like, anyway? Is it even allowed at my venues? Does it need to be biodegradable? Who's even supposed to provide the stuff: me or the guests? What if every single guest brings shedloads of confetti to the church? Who's going to sweep it up? There's gonna be mountains of confetti EVERYWHERE!

I'd quickly convinced myself I knew very little about confetti's composition, production or the etiquette for its usage at weddings. I scoured my trusty wed-mags for answers, but none of them seemed that clued up on the issue. Eventually, I consulted Mum who, thankfully, was the calm voice of reason. She reassured me my plans were absolutely fine; confetti crisis averted!

Production did take some planning as we had to set aside plenty of time to dry the flowers. About six months before the wedding, Mum picked the blossoms of her lovely hydrangeas, along with a few other varieties of flower, and hung them to dry from the rafters of her loft. She chose flowers that matched loosely with my colour scheme i.e. vintage greens, burgundies and creams. (Note: blue hydrangeas can turn green, depending on the conditions.) Once the flower heads were fully dry, I picked off the individual petals, crushed them a little, et voilà:

So, if you'd prefer to avoid a mad dash to a department store to buy boxes of confetti, days before your wedding, how about having a go at making your own like I did? It was really easy in the end, and it didn't cost a penny!

And one final tip: it helps to keep the confetti in plastic bags during transportation, to avoid it being blown away. It may sound obvious but ours was nearly lost, several times, on the way to the ceremony.

Hello, Wedding World!

Getting married has caused me to make a number of observations including this one...

People tend to twitter on about your wedding plans during your engagement, and they rave about your big day when it finally arrives, but once that's done, that's pretty much it! They tend to forget about you.

Has anyone else noticed how no one seems to care how newly-weds are doing after they've tied the knot? I'd love to hear other people's views on this.

If it turns out to be a general phenomenon then I think it needs some attention, as the period immediately after you and hubby are wed is precisely when you need support, in my view. You're physically and mentally exhausted from the wedding but, also, euphoric at being married, and this should be celebrated. It's why we get married after all: for the married life bit, and, sometimes, it would be great to receive more metaphorical back pats for this achievement. Perhaps being hitched deserves more praise than getting hitched.

So, as you've probably guessed, I'm going to blog about my wedding journey, in as honest a fashion as I can, and I'll aim to leave out the boring bits.

I'll give you the lowdown on what life was like being my own wedding planner. (Doing a DIY wedding was fun but, boy, was it hard work!) I'll describe the highs and the lows of the crazy creative process that preceded me and Mr T's big day (emphasis on the word 'big').

I'll also give you a few tips on things to do or not do on your wedding day, and I'll share some of my own tried and tested ideas for creating a personalised wedding.

And then there's the all-important period after the big day: I'll let you in on the secret world of post-wedding chores, and talk about how life has changed now that hubby and I are married. By the way, a great book for newly-weds is the The Marriage Book, by Nick and Silla Lee. I highly recommend it for bedtime reading.