Wedding planning is exciting, but there can also be a lot to think about. Between choosing your venue, deciding who to invite, organising suppliers and working out how everything will fit together, it is easy for the planning to start feeling a little overwhelming.

If having a relaxed wedding day is important to you, that does not mean your wedding needs to be small, informal or stripped back. A relaxed wedding can be a small ceremony with your closest family and friends or a big celebration with a packed dance floor.

It is more about creating a day that feels right for the two of you, giving yourselves enough time to enjoy it and making choices because you genuinely want them rather than because you feel they are expected.

Having photographed lots of different wedding days, here are seven things worth thinking about when planning yours.

FIND A VENUE THAT SUITS YOUR DAY

Your venue plays a big part in how your wedding day feels. It is not just about finding somewhere that looks great, but finding a place that suits the atmosphere you want to create and the way you would like to spend the day.

That could be a country house surrounded by family and friends, a city centre venue, a rustic barn, a hotel, or somewhere completely different. A relaxed wedding does not have to look a certain way. What matters is choosing somewhere that feels right for the two of you and works for the kind of celebration you are planning.

When you are looking around venues, try to imagine what it would actually feel like to spend your wedding day there. Think about where your guests will spend their time, how easily everyone can move between different parts of the day and whether there are spaces where people can simply relax, have a drink and enjoy themselves.

It is also worth thinking about the practical side. Are your ceremony and reception happening in the same place, or will everyone need to travel between them? Is there enough space for your guest list? What happens if it rains? If you are hoping to spend lots of time outside, is there somewhere everyone can move to if the weather changes?

Timings are worth asking about too. Some venues will have a fairly structured schedule while others might offer more flexibility. Neither is necessarily better, but it is useful to understand how the venue works and whether that suits the kind of day you have in mind.

If having a relaxed wedding is important to you, look for somewhere that gives you enough time to enjoy each part of the day rather than feeling like you need to rush from one thing to the next.

KEEP THE TRADITIONS YOU ACTUALLY WANT

There are plenty of traditions associated with weddings, but that does not mean you have to include every one of them.

You might love the idea of cutting the cake, having speeches, doing a first dance and waiting until the ceremony to see each other. Equally, there might be traditions that do not feel like you at all.

The same applies to wedding trends. It is very easy to scroll through social media and start adding things to your plans because you have seen them at other weddings. Before long, you can end up planning parts of the day around what you think a wedding is supposed to look like rather than what you would actually enjoy.

There are lots of ways to make things your own. You could have a more informal meal, see each other before the ceremony, have your speeches at a different point in the day or skip something completely if it does not mean anything to you.

You do not need to break traditions simply for the sake of being different either. If you genuinely like something, keep it.

The important thing is that the choices you make feel right for the two of you. Your wedding will naturally feel more relaxed when you are spending the day doing things you actually want to do.

GIVE YOURSELVES SOME BREATHING ROOM

One of the biggest things that can make a wedding feel rushed is trying to fit too much into a short amount of time.

Even with a carefully planned timeline, wedding days do not always run exactly to schedule. Getting ready might take a little longer than expected, the ceremony could start late, travelling between venues might take longer than planned or everyone might simply be enjoying themselves and take a while to move on to the next part of the day.

These things happen, and they do not need to become stressful.

Giving yourselves some breathing room between different parts of the day means a small delay does not suddenly have a knock on effect on everything that follows.

It also gives you time to actually experience your wedding. You can finish a conversation rather than watching the clock, spend a little longer with someone you have not seen for ages or simply stop for a moment and take everything in.

You do not need every minute of your wedding day accounted for. A good timeline should give the day some structure while still leaving enough space for things to happen naturally.



CONSIDER AN UNPLUGGED CEREMONY

Phones are a normal part of everyday life, and your guests will naturally want to take their own photographs and videos throughout your wedding.

For some couples, that does not bother them at all. They love seeing the day from their guests' perspectives afterwards. Other couples would prefer everyone to put their phones away during the ceremony and be completely present for that part of the day.

If you fall into the second group, you might want to consider an unplugged ceremony.

This simply means asking your guests not to use phones or cameras while the ceremony is taking place. You could put up a small sign, include a note in your wedding information or ask your celebrant, registrar or someone from the venue to make a quick announcement before the ceremony begins.

From a photography point of view, it can also mean fewer phones appearing in the aisle or in front of people's faces during some of the key moments.

But an unplugged ceremony is not something every wedding needs. If seeing your guests taking their own photographs would not bother you, there is no reason to introduce a rule just because other couples do.

Think about how you would like the ceremony to feel and choose whichever option makes the two of you most comfortable.

GIVE YOURSELVES TIME TO ENJOY YOUR GUESTS

It can be tempting to fill every part of a wedding day with entertainment and activities, particularly when you are trying to make sure everyone has a good time.

But your guests are there because they want to celebrate with you. You do not necessarily need something happening every minute of the day to keep them entertained.

Some of my favourite moments to photograph happen during the quieter parts of a wedding. People catching up with someone they have not seen for years, friends laughing over a drink, grandparents talking to family members, children running around or someone reacting to something happening on the other side of the room.

Those ordinary interactions are often the moments that make each wedding feel different.

If you love the idea of garden games, live music, a photo booth, karaoke or something completely different, include it because it sounds like something you and your guests will enjoy.

Just remember to leave some space in the day for people to talk, catch up and enjoy being together too. It also gives the two of you a chance to spend time with the people you invited rather than feeling like you are constantly moving from one planned part of the day to another.

DON'T WORRY ABOUT EVERYTHING BEING PERFECT



You can plan a wedding incredibly carefully and there will still be things you cannot completely control.

It might rain when you had planned to be outside. Someone could be running late. Your dress might get a little dirty. The flowers might not sit exactly where you expected them to. A buttonhole might refuse to stay in place or something planned for one part of the day might need to happen later.

None of that means your wedding has gone wrong.

From photographing weddings, I know plans sometimes change. When they do, we work with what is happening and find another way of doing things.

If the weather changes, for example, we might use somewhere indoors for photographs or wait for a break in the rain. If the timings move slightly, we can adjust what we are doing rather than trying to force everything back onto the original schedule.

Your wedding does not need to run perfectly for you to have an amazing day or great photographs from it.

Often, the things you remember afterwards are the unexpected moments anyway. Give yourselves permission to adapt when you need to and enjoy the wedding that is actually happening around you.

CHOOSE SUPPLIERS YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE AROUND

The people you choose to work with can have a big impact on how your wedding feels.

You will spend quite a lot of time communicating with some of your suppliers before the wedding, and several of them will be around you for large parts of the day. As well as liking what they offer, it is worth choosing people whose approach makes you feel comfortable and confident.

That is particularly important when choosing your photographer because they can be there from the preparations in the morning through to the celebrations later in the day.

Have a proper look through their work rather than judging everything from a handful of photographs. Read reviews from previous couples and pay attention to what people say about what they were actually like to have around on the wedding day.

My own approach is relaxed and natural. For most of the day, I am documenting what is happening around me, from the big moments everyone sees to the smaller interactions happening in between.

There are times when I will step in and give some guidance too. That might be organising family photographs, helping the two of you with your couple photos or simply finding the best place for something to happen. The aim is to give you help when it is useful while still allowing the day to unfold naturally.

Most importantly, choose someone whose personality and approach feel right for the two of you. Feeling comfortable with the people around you makes it much easier to relax and enjoy your wedding.