Happy Wednesday Lovelies.

Hope you're all having a good week so far.

We have a great guest post to share with you today from Solid State UK. I think the title pretty much sums up what this post is about but there is also a great message between the lines that I think all couples planning their wedding should take note of. In fact the 'pressure' that this article discusses is something that I felt when planning my own wedding and have discussed in length on Festival Brides before, so I feel quite passionately about the issues raised.

I won't give anything else away as it will ruin the article but I would love to hear your thoughts on this once you've had a read so please leave your comments below.

Over to Solid State UK......

'Unique' is the biggest buzzword of the moment when it comes to weddings, everyone wants their big day to stand out from the crowd and wow the audience to such a degree that planning a wedding can feel more like staging a West End musical! Solid State UK have years of experience in the wedding industry, and they know the two biggest scape goats of the 21 ^st century are of course getting the blame for our obsession with breaking the mould: the internet and celebrity culture. Websites like Pintrest give us a window into the weird and wonderful ideas of others, we can lose hours scrolling through picture after picture of homemade centrepieces made from elaborately carved fruit and brides drinking Champagne out of mason jars, and the mega-spreads of celebrity weddings in glossy magazines make the local village hall look inadequate to say the least!

There is another reason why wedding planning has been kicked into high gear. The average age of a bride and groom walking down the aisle for the first time is almost a decade older than the previous generation, which means when it's our turn to tie the knot we have more wedding experience, and more disposable income than our parents did.

With our friends, our relatives, and the long forgotten school friends we still stalk on Facebook all upping the ante when it comes to their weddings, it's no wonder we all feel the pressure to spend more, do more and pull out all the stops. A traditional ceremony and simple reception just doesn't seem like enough, but why shouldn't they?

Weddings go hand in hand with stress, they always have. Picking the perfect venue, deciding on the menu, fighting over the guest list, these are things every bride-to-be and groom-in-training has had to deal with for generations, but today we put ourselves under the added pressure of trying to stand out, when weddings are by their nature traditional ceremonies.

Whether you walk down the aisle of a church or a clearing in a forest, whether you exchange gold bands or finger tattoos, whether you hold your reception in a hotel or on a hot air balloon, you're still celebrating your love with your closest friends and family, and that's all that matters.

At the end of the day, your wedding will always be unique, because it will be yours. You don't have to spend a fortune importing party favours from Japan or having your dress hand woven in South America for it to stand out from the crowd, all you need to do is put on a party that celebrates your unique love.

There's only one thing to remember when it comes to choosing your theme, your dress, your venue and everything in between - if you love it, it's right, unique or otherwise. If you choose the same venue as a friend your theme and decorations will make it unique, if your bridesmaids dresses are the same colour as your cousin's the people in them will make them stand out, and who cares if your main course is the same as your sister's as long as it's delicious? For every decision you make about style, décor and theme, make it because you love it, not because it's unique, and give yourself the wedding of your dreams.

This post was written by Emma Smith on behalf of Solid State, leading suppliers of wedding and event accessories who can help you put beautiful finishing touches on the happiest day of your life, whatever your theme.

Like this article says, the focus when planning your wedding should be on you as a couple and the things you both love - not what society dictates and certainly not what the internet says is cool or on trend. Blogs like Festival Brides and other inspirational sites are here to give you ideas and advice but we are certainly not here to put pressure on you to have a wedding in a certain way. Use us a guide but do not take what we have to say as the gospel truth.

If you would like to read about my experience with 'wedding pressure' when planning my wedding then please click here.

Big Love

Festival Brides xxx