12 months of being 30: Our wedding, our way

* This post is part of my 12 months of being 30 project, an attempt to record what happens during my year of being 30 through my own collage, photography and words.

I promise I'm not turning my dear blog into a wedding blog, despite evidence to the contrary. I do think that the wedding planning needs to feature in my 12 months of being 30 posts, even though I'll be 31 when I get married (but let's not think about that). And what better day than today, exactly 6 months before I get married? On the 18th of September, I'll be marrying Jon. I can't wait! And not only because the planning will be over then! :)

I'm still having a hard time with the stress of wedding planning, and with the pressure to do things "the proper way" (whatever that means), but for this post, I'm focusing on those things that I'm enjoying. The best wedding advice I've got is to pick two or three things that are important to you and concentrate on those. One of the most important things to me is the fact that we're writing our own vows (something still pretty unusual in Spain), but apart from that, these are the things that I'm looking forward to:

• The dress: Yes, I'm that shallow but I think I'm allowed. I'm incredibly excited about my dress. I found it in two days, after visiting two shops in my hometown of Salamanca. On my first visit, I tried on lots of different styles. I thought I had a clear idea of what I wanted, but when I tried on those floaty, understated dresses that I had envisioned, they seemed a bit... boring on me, so I changed my mind and chose something a bit more fun! I won't post a photo here, but let's just say that this was my inspiration:

• The photos: We both decided not to have video, as we can't really see ourselves watching it much after the wedding (I think I'll bow to the pressure, though, and get a friend to record the ceremony, but I'm not paying for it to be done professionally). I do see myself looking at the photos in years to come and remembering the day, the details, the guests... so it was important to find a good photographer that understood what we wanted. The search for a photographer was stressful, specially because we had to do it all online, but we think we've found the perfect photographers and we're meeting them in a couple of weeks, when we go to Spain for Easter.

• The stationary: Jon is a designer and it was important to him to design our invitations and make them fun! They're now ready and we're about to send them so when they've reached our guests, I'll show them to you.

• That people have a good time: Let's be clear, we all know (even if we don't like saying it) that weddings can be incredibly boring... I know my guests will be happy for us, but I also want them to have a good time! My biggest fears are that our guests get bored or hungry during the evening!