Forums and Friendships

One of the first things I recommend to anyone planning a wedding would be to join a wedding forum. Now, a lot of people may think it's quite nerdy and some may think it's weird, but it's the best thing I ever did.

For example, most friends and family members will get excited when you tell them about your dress or accessories, but how many will get excited when you order your favour boxes or choose your menus? This is where the forum comes in, you can share all these details and people will listen, and comment, and even get excited! You will no longer have to bore your work colleagues and even husband to be with all these litte details. Ok, some people may not be bored, but the majority of those who ask how the wedding planning is going, probably just want a quick answer such as 'good thanks'. The other good thing about a forum is the opinions and advice that can be gained from other people.

There is also the social factor, not all the chat that goes on is about weddings, and in a strange way you begin to build virtual friendships with these people you may never get to meet in the real world. You are with them throughout their wedding planning, through the ups and the downs, and when they get to their big day, you get excited for them and even look outside at the weather and think of them!

I have been lucky, not only have I built some of these virtual friendships but have been lucky to start building real friendships with a couple of these people. One of them lives nearby and our paths would probably have never crossed had we not both been members of this forum. I have not only had the opportunity to read about her wedding plans but to help in a small part of it too, and am looking forward to attending her evening reception later this year. My other real forum friend (as opposed to the virtual forum friends), I talk to online nearly every night, I have even travelled just to meet her. They have both helped me out with my wedding planning and with unrelated problems too, and I feel very honoured to have met them both.