I met my husband through lots of mutual friends when we were 16. We were friends for a year and a half and got together when we were 17 and 18. We were dating for 6 years (including 4 years long distance whilst at uni). We knew we wanted to get engaged in 2020 but the pandemic threw a spanner in the works for an Easter engagement. We wanted to get my parents blessing before he proposed so we waited until 4th July to go and visit them (one of the first freedom days after the first lockdown). My dad was very enthusiastic and keen and my mum was happily surprised when we came back from a long morning walk with the news that we'd just got engaged. We found a private spot in a field under a big oak tree on a hill around some villages near Hook and it was a very picturesque engagement (with lots of happy tears).

We chose the wedding venue because it was the most affordable big green space that we could find in London. It's also the only Tudor Barn left in London too. It had that country feel but with an urban twist. It came with wooden beams and meadow flowers and fairy lights. Amazing food menu too. Our wedding service was at the church that I grew up in and the church we currently go to in the heart of Peckham (South East London). That had a very urban feel to in with the setting but a traditional feel inside with a long aisle to walk down! It was the church I'd wanted to get married in all my life and I was very happy we got married there.

My mum found Boo Bridal as it's the local bridal boutique in her area. It made sense for me to go there as it meant she came to every appointment with me which was very special for us both! One of my housemates from uni designed my bespoke wedding veil which I customised myself. She studied textiles and I studied illustration so it was very fun getting to design what would go on the veil with her!

I found our photographer through Instagram - doing lots of searching. I knew the kind of style that I was going for and she was exactly it.

Our wedding cake was made my sister-in-law who is a full-time doctor, but has published a Burmese cookbook with Penguin. She made such a beautiful cake for us and because she's family she did it for free!

My hair was done by Louise at Trevor Sorbie. She came to the flat on the morning of the wedding and was a very calming presence to be around.

The three main tips that I would give would be all about organisation! I wanted to make the whole experience as stress free as possible (especially with a pandemic). The whole point for us was making the commitment, actually being married and getting on with enjoying the rest of our lives together, so we were planning on sticking to our date no matter what.

The first thing that I did in week one of being engaged was buying a good wedding planner. Things can seem a bit overwhelming in the process. It can feel like a never ending to do list so having a book telling you roughly what month you should be focusing on and organising what was so helpful. Sometimes I would think that I had loads to do and refer to the book, only to realise that I was ahead of schedule or right on track with was a very reassuring feeling.
Second would be to actually do the wedmin when you feel like it. At the beginning I felt incredibly enthusiastic and just went with it, which saved me 6 months down the line when I was getting a little tired of it taking up every weekend. The more I had prepared, the more it meant that I could take a few weeks off when I just wanted to have a break from everything being wedding related.
Thirdly I would say to make choices about the day that represent you and your fiancé. As beautiful as Pinterest wedding days look, if the don't represent you as a couple then they're pretty forgettable and don't have much personality. Rather than making choices that could be for any couple I would recommend doing things that really scream who you both are. This could be getting friends and family involved in the day, whether that's singing in the service or having a family member make the cake, having a colour palette that are your favourite colours (for me it was teal and purple through the ushers ties and bridesmaids flowers), song choices, anything a bit different or special with how you dress, the kind of food you choose etc. All these are lovely touches for a very unique day.

The best part of the planning was anything that involved appointments. Highlights were trying on dresses, going to the florist, my hair trial and going for our food tasting. The worst part, was probably getting everyone's addresses to send out invites - pure admin. Lots of couples choose to send them virtually these days but we always love getting things in the post and I think people really appreciated the extra effort. Especially with our personalised gold wax stamp on the envelope which matched the design on the invite and my wedding veil. I made a proper brand identity!

The most memorable moment for me was probably the speeches (also helps that we have them recorded). When my dad said how proud of me he was (which he never has actually told me before) and when my husband said I was the best thing that had ever happened to him. Some of the most lovely words of my life.

Generally we felt quite optimistic about the wedding considering we were planning throughout the pandemic. Luckily we didn't have to move our date at all - it was 14th August. We would have liked to get married a few months earlier, but our parents wisely advised to make it a summer wedding just to increase the chance of restrictions being lifted. Everything was so unknown that we knew nothing would be "our fault" if things weren't exactly how we had imagined which I think made it a bit easier - rather than later beating ourselves up for not putting enough effort in or something. The only anxiety inducing bits were making some big financial purchases - like the non-refundable wedding venue deposit (unless all weddings were completely banned) or the non-refundable honeymoon in Crete. They were big financial risks but we felt so incredibly lucky that it all worked out and made it all the more sweet. In the 2 weeks leading up to the wedding I did feel quite anxious about getting Covid and my hygiene has never been so good. I was sanitising practically every 5 minutes of the day, but not a single person (of the 150 guests) had to isolate which was also incredibly lucky.

My most valuable person (other than the groom who needed to be there) was my sister and sister-in-law as bridesmaids. They both took me to the toilet in my dress (a very valuable job). They were also incredibly calming to be around. My sister did my makeup and I was so happy with it! She also did a Beyonce solo whilst we were signing the registers which is everyone else's most memorable moment of the day (stealing my thunder there slightly) and she was just generally so so happy for us. A fantastic dance partner at the end of the night too!