If you just got your ring on your finger, or are in the throws of last minute wedding planning, you probably won't think much about how you feel after your wedding day. What if I told you, that you are going to miss the wedding planning / being engaged phase? You might think I'm CRAZY.
You might even want to shout at me, "Are you kidding, I want this whole wedding planning malarkey to be over. Table plans and matching this-and-that are doing my head in. I cannot WAIT for this wedding day to come, and be done with it AT LAST!"
So, you go on to have a fabulous wedding day. It's all you ever dreamt it would be. Your plans all worked out, it wasn't raining after all, your dress fitted perfectly, everyone turned up and had a ball, no family disasters, the dance floor was packed all night. You go on your honeymoon and have the time of your life. You get back home, and it's back to work. The alarm rings on a Monday morning.
And then, somewhere between climbing into a cold shower and realising you have run out of coffee, it hits you. Your wedding is officially OVER.
Because, you can only talk about the best moments with your husband/wife, best friend, mum, neighbour so many times. Because, at some point, you have to say goodbye to all the excitement that is planning a wedding and looking forward to a wedding.
I know, because I've been there.
Now, please don't get me wrong: I LOVED being just-married. It was great to be a married couple, it felt really grown up, more serious, and very romantic.
I loved calling my husband "husband" (cue giggling). I also loved using my new surname. At last, I didn't have to spell it to everyone and their dog!
However, the wedding day was now firmly in the past. And my thoughts had circled quite a bit around it, actually, for quite a while.
It's not only the planning. Yes, it occupied your time, and you have to think about what sort of hobbies you had before folding confetti cones took over your life. I am kidding, right!
It's also to do with the fact that a big LIFE EVENT which was always ahead of you, is now behind you. Forever behind you. Coupled with the fact you were looking forward to it, with so much excitement and anticipation, and it was over in a flash.
I did get a bit upset about it. I'm not prone to getting depressed at all, but it was hanging over me like a bit of a grey cloud for a little while. The wedding blues.
I will not tell you that you should put things into perspective. We all KNOW that. Instead, I'm sharing something a little bit more light hearted, but nevertheless special, with you, which is: my tips on how to beat the wedding blues!
1) Plan a mini break. Instant gratification of planning coupled with something to look forward to! Just a night away in a cosy hotel will do the trick. When in Scotland, I always go for cosy, romantic, old-world charm. The hotels I would choose in a heartbeat for a cosy weekend would be Glenfinnan House Hotel, Monachyle Mhor, Eilean Iarmain, Bunchrew House, and Ardanaiseig. (And if you're not married yet and thinking about lovely intimate venues... but that's another blog post ;))
2) Get some flowers which were in your bouquet. I actually found a potted plant at Marks & Spencer's which looked like one of my flowers, so I bought it and put it on my desk at work. It really cheered me up just looking at it!
3) Put on some aprons and cook something together that you had on your wedding menu. (If you can't cook, this is not an excuse! Book a cookery course together :) I love the BBC Good Food website for instructions. I like to cook, but I'm not very skilled at cooking, and the instructions there always work for me.
4) Book a "cherish the dress" photo shoot. If you don't know what this is, you basically get back into your dress and have a photo session in a place you couldn't visit on your wedding day - like a beach. We did this, and I laughed so much during the shoot! We went to a beach in Edinburgh. It was October and FREEZING. But I loved putting on my dress again, it felt indescribably special, and all the memories from the wedding came flooding back. I still think about it with a smile on my face, and love our photos.
Do you have any other tips to share? I would love to hear!
Mareike xx
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