From the post-pandemic engagement gap to the ever-mounting cost-of-living crisis, it’s hardly surprising that the wedding industry is having a tough time. It’s also not a shock to find that more and more couples are opting out of having the big wedding they always dreamed of, perhaps due to the rise in rent, mortgage rates, or the endless instability caused by the current state of global affairs. But just because it isn’t shocking… doesn’t mean it isn’t sad. So, from one rock ‘n’ roll bride to another, I want to offer you a great big hug and tell you… I get it. Planning a wedding when the world is on fire is really, really hard…

The night my husband and I got engaged, the Prime Minister had appeared on our screens for the first time, telling the nation to go into something called “lockdown”, due to a terrifying-sounding thing called COVID-19.

We had planned to go down to Cornwall that weekend, where he was going to propose to me on the beach, after a great big helping of our favourite fish and chips. But it looked like that was going to be impossible for the foreseeable…

So, instead, he laid out our collection of shells, plopped a blue rug on the floor, put a video of a Cornish beach on the TV, and asked me to marry him in front of the sofa. “We always make the best of things, you and I,” he said, looking around the sitting room of his South-London flat, which was doing its very best impression of the Cornish coast. “And I want to continue to make the best of things with you for the rest of my life.”

Firstly… swoon. Secondly… what followed was 18 months of SO many obstacles any engaged couple could never have foreseen. I went through plenty of wobbles. One evening, I was having a meltdown to one of my bridesmaids on Zoom. I felt so guilty. The world as we knew it was seemingly over. Everything felt so dark and heavy and terrible. It seemed ludicrous to be thinking about something frivolous as a wedding.

But she told me, very sternly, that I had it all wrong, that all that bad stuff gave even more reason to have a wedding. That without the happy joyous days that make life worth living, what was the point of anything at all?

Let’s face it, times are not at their easiest. He-Who-Must -Not-Be-Named is once again waging his war against morality and reality from The White House. The tech billionaires of the world are acting like they own the place more than ever. And Bradley Walsh is presenting Blankety Blank when we have a plethora of INCREDIBLE drag queens who would have filled Lily Savage’s high heels perfectly… I mean… COME ON! What is going ON?

But truly, I get it. It doesn’t feel like the most excellent time to be planning a big party that only lasts for one day. Not when everything feels so uncertain and bleak. But let me flip that idea on its head for you, just like my friend did for me. Maybe that’s exactly why you should be having a wedding right now…

Your wedding is not just a great big expensive party that lasts for one day. It is one of the most priceless treasures of your life and it will stay with you forever. The stories, the laughter, the mishaps, the many tiny little moments that make it… they are an investment in all the good stuff of life. The silly, fun, loving, caring, happy things that make all the inevitably tricky bits of life worth it.

Yes, life is expensive right now, it’s hard and scary and at times totally rubbish. We little people have to be making smart choices. We have to be looking after ourselves and each other, while the big people in power are seemingly failing to do so. But don’t let the price you pay be your wedding.

To bring some equality into my equality-based column: just like us COVID couples, you Cost-of-Living couples are equal to all those couples who came before, when times were a little more “precedented”. Your wedding isn’t worth less than theirs because it’s come at a less than convenient time financially, just like ours wasn’t worth less than theirs because it happened during the pandemic. Your wedding still matters. Honour it. Celebrate it how you really, truly want to. And don’t for one second feel guilty for wanting to enjoy the things that in life are good. Having a wedding is a good thing, for so many reasons.

There is an industry filled with skilled, talented, many female(!!!), small business owners who are relying on you to keep their livelihood going. Don’t let the nameless faceless gargantuan entities like Shein and Temu take their place while you plan your wedding. It’s just another example of a big thing not caring about a little thing. Yes, the prices may be cheaper… but at what cost? The quality of your wedding? Planning your wedding and spending your hard-earned budget on good-quality, highly-skilled suppliers is not selfish or frivolous. It is a wonderful show of support to small business owners… again… many of whom are women!

Everybody at Rock n Roll Bride is shaking their pom poms for you. We are so grateful to you for picking up this magazine and reading its pages. We hope it inspires you while you plan your wedding, and gives you heaps of ideas on how to make your wedding a reality.

Even if the big picture is making it all feel very small right now, in times like these, your big day still matters. And with the wedding industry going through such a rough patch, how you spend your money on it matters more than ever. Obviously, everyone has a budget, everyone has means they need to live within, but don’t feel guilty for going ahead and having your dream wedding right now. The memory of it will be something you and your loved ones will treasure forever.