What happens when a wedding planner plans their own wedding? We chat with Radhika Nathwani of Bristol's Radhika and You to find out...

What happens when a wedding planner plans their own wedding? We chat with Radhika Nathwani of Bristol's Radhika and You to find out about her big day...

"When it comes to planning your wedding there is so much to think about. It is an exciting yet daunting time for some couples with the thought of not knowing where to start and what to do. We often speak to couples who have so many questions going through their minds such as, 'Where do I start with planning my wedding? Shall I decide on my guest numbers first? Which venues can accommodate my guest numbers? How do I decide on my colour theme?' It can often get a bit too much and that's why couples will get in touch, so we can help take some of their stresses away."

"We're a couple-based team at Radhika & You and have been planning weddings for five years. We got engaged ourselves in November 2018 and have now started to plan our Indian wedding with multiple events. Throughout our personal journey of planning our own wedding, we have followed the methods we use for our couples, which have helped us massively. It's meant that we've also learnt a lot from a couple's perspective. We now understand the emotions each couple experience when they are talking to us or other suppliers." 

"As soon as we got engaged we felt the pressure to get our dates finalised, which we think many couples feel, however what we did was take a step back from everything and really thought about what we wanted to do and how we envisioned all of our wedding events. This really helped us to not rush and commit to anything until we were 110% sure of what we wanted. We always tell our couples to not be rushed into decisions and we did this ourselves, whilst listening to our hearts."

"As we're now experiencing the journey as a couple and not as planners, it's increasingly apparent that every interaction with suppliers matter. As a supplier we may see it as acceptable to respond to an email within 24-48 hours of receiving it. From the perspective of a couple, it's often stressful if it takes any longer, as you're waiting for a reply, which will usually influence the next step in the planning process."

"We opted for suppliers based on a handful of variables and a few of them being the way we connected with them, the communication with us and their response times. The most important thing we have done and that we tell our couples is to enjoy being engaged and the run up to your big day. It can get intense, but remember to plan date nights, the reason why you are getting married and try not to let the planning stress takeover."

Radhika Nathwani Radhika & You www.radhikaandyou.com