Mel will be marrying Mitch on Sunday 18 March 2018, in a Jewish wedding at Warren Weir at Luton Hoo, UK.
THREE FACTS: (1) Mel and Mitch met online on JDate (2) Their Jewish wedding will be classy and traditional with plenty of modern touches (3) Mel is a member of Smashing The Glass’s private Jewish & Jew-ish Brides Facebook Group. Not yet a member? Come join us here!
The Groom’s Perspective
Every post I have written so far is about my thoughts and experiences to planning the wedding so I thought it was about time to have a role reversal. This is all about Mitch and his perspective on planning our wedding.
Picture the scene, Mitch and I sat comfortably on our L-shaped sofa in our lounge. Me wrapped in my blanket with a cup of green tea. And Mitch in his grandpa slippers trying not to laugh at my attempt at being a chat show host. I wanted to ease us both in to this ‘role play’ so I started with an easy question…
Q&A
Mel: “So, Mitch, let’s start with an easy one — how did you feel when you proposed? Had you been planning it long?”
Mitch: I’d been planning the proposal for a couple of months. I felt quite relaxed about it but was slightly irritated when three people decided to sit right near us on the beach just as I was about to propose. The beach was over a mile long with no one else around, so why they chose to sit next to us is beyond me. Maybe they wanted a glass of our ‘Spanish Lambrini’ which I’d blagged from the hotel.
Mel: “Do you think there’s a lot of pressure on men to propose after a period of time? There’s always the question from family of ‘when are you two going to get married?!’”
Mitch: I felt no pressure from anyone. I had always known when I was going to propose so people’s questions didn’t bother me. My brother also got married the month before we got engaged so I was never planning on proposing during the lead up to his wedding. I always knew I wanted to propose on our anniversary — more so that I wouldn’t forget the date we got engaged. But you were always giving very unsubtle hints tapping your finger and humming the tune to “here comes the bride”.
Mel: “How do you feel about wedding planning? Is it what you imagined?”
Mitch: I’d never really given it any thought before. I find wedding planning a bit of shopping ‘game’; lots of research trying to find the best deal whilst also trying to find the best vendors. I’d consider myself a bit of a bargain hunter; weddings can be super expensive so even the smallest savings help.
Mel: “What’s been the best part of planning so far?”
Mitch: The best part of planning has been the honeymoon because I got to plan the trip, book fancy hotel rooms and look at tours. I also really liked visiting Warren Weir for the first time and discovering there was a private swimming pool, snooker room and gym.
Mel: “What’s been the most challenging part of planning so far?”
Mitch: The most challenging part has been putting the guest list together and trying to stay within the limits of the venue whilst trying to make sure we can have everyone who we really want.
Mel: “Throughout planning, has anything shocked you?”
Mitch: The expense of everything and how far in advance you need to book vendors in order to get what you want. Reading all the contracts for vendors has been quite tedious (but necessary).
Mel: “You have some, let’s say, interesting ideas at times. What would you say your most strange/wacky/crazy idea has been so far?” (I think I already know the answer to this one!)
Mitch: My craziest idea was definitely a firework display. But we decided not to go ahead due to the £1600 price tag for 4 minutes and the chance of it being ruined by the March weather. Also the fact that Luton Airport air traffic control only gives a 60 second window to set off the display as they need to hold planes back from landing and taking off due to the proximity to the airport. We then met a specialist water display company at a wedding fair at the venue which I thought was a good alternative. But, again, we decided against spending £1500 on a glorified water fountain.
Mel: “What three words would you use to describe your experience so far?”
Mitch: Exciting. Interesting. Expensive.
Mel: “What are you most looking forward to at the wedding (other than marrying me obviously)?”
Mitch: The Israeli dancing. My only concern though is not hitting my head when being thrown up on the sheet as the ceiling is quite low!
Mel: “Any advice for other grooms (and brides)?”
Mitch: My biggest piece of advice for grooms is to get as involved in planning as possible; don’t just leave it to the bride. My advice to brides is to let the groom get involved, or encourage him to do so; he may come up with some crazy ideas but there will be some good ideas in the mix too!
It’s Not All About The Bride
So often throughout the planning, and on the day itself, it’s the bride that is the focus. I think most of the time the groom concedes that the day is about the bride. No one really wonders what the groom will be wearing… but the bride? Oh so much anticipation!
I feel like Mitch and I have a good balance when it comes to planning and he is very involved. He really cares about it. There are aspects he is happy to leave solely to me, like the colour scheme and flowers, but generally speaking all decisions are 50/50. So it was important for me to capture Mitch’s perspective on planning our wedding. Because after all, it is our wedding.
Click here to read all Mel’s planning posts to date.
Mel & Mitch’s Wedding Vendors booked so far:
Videographer — Denee Motion
Band – XS Showband
Photographer — Chiko Photography
Flowers — Alexandra’s Florist
Table decorations – Wedding Venue Decorators
Venue — Warren Weir