Today is my last day at Bridal Musings. (Now that feels strange to say!)

Over the last three and a half years, it’s been an absolute joy to help couples from around the world to conceive the possibilities and plan the practicalities of their wedding days. 

It’s been a privilege to surround myself with the talents of so many photographers, planners, florists, stationers, stylists and designers and showcase what they do. And an honour to share the wedding days of so many cool, fun, creative people. 

I got to write about love, and parties, and dresses, and cake, and call it my 9-5. (Did someone say dream job?)

I got to sit front row at fashion shows in New York, test out honeymoons in Barbados, collaborate with Conde Nast in London (stay tuned for the results of that!), and work with UNICEF on a viral campaign to help fight child marriage.

…And I’ve quaffed enough bubbly to fill a reservoir in the process.

Over the last three years I’ve gone from nonchalant girlfriend (with my magpie eye on engagement rings!) to bride-to-be, to newlywed, to bona fide wife, and I’ve loved having a constant posse of newly-engaged brides and grooms by my side throughout.

You guys are awesome.

And the blog itself has gone through a change too. It’s grown up, it’s ditched the pink, and I hope it’s become even more of a welcoming, fun, inclusive and cool place to hang out, get advice and be inspired.

I couldn’t even begin to highlight my favourite weddings I’ve written about over the years – we’d be here until next summer. But seeing as it’s my last day, I wanted to take a sashay down memory lane (I’ve been watching a lot of RuPaul lately), and share a round-up of the posts that have meant the most to me to write or share.

Bookmark them for your next lazy day – they make for some good reading…

That’s me! Photo by Navyblur Photography

1. Today I’m Getting Married

Something of a letter to myself on our wedding day about what getting married meant to me, and what makes weddings so freaking special. This one gives me wedding day butterflies every time I read it!

2. How To Save Money Without Your Guests Noticing

My very first blog post on Bridal Musings – the one that got me the gig! And three and a half years later, there’s still some good tips in there, even if I do say so myself!

3. FAQs for LGBTQ+ Weddings

Over my time at Bridal Musings, same sex weddings have become legal in many parts of the world, transgender rights have entered the forefront of the equality conversation, and we had the pleasure of sharing some entirely gorgeous gay weddings. This awesome guest post helped us iron out some of the etiquette around LGBTQ+ weddings.

4. Planning a Wedding When You’ve Lost a Parent

This one was an emotional one to write (and it’s an emotional one to re-read!) but what started as a simple advice post, became something of a personal story. And I hope it might help other brides and grooms honour the wedding guests there in spirit, if not in person, on their wedding day.

5. The Honeymoon Bucketlist

This two part post gave me serious wanderlust – I hope it inspires some once in a lifetime journeys for you and your other half.

6. Callie Thorpe’s Plus Size Real Talk

After being a fan (and Instagram stalker!) of the beautiful Callie Thorpe for a couple of years, it was such an honour to have her join us for a confidence-inducing Q&A on how she found her wedding planning experience as a plus size bride.

7. The Real Groom Diary

This has to be one of my favourite posts ever, I quizzed my gorge husband Marko on his take on prepping for our big day. His answers were pretty lovely.

8. The Playlists

Okay, so this is a whole section on the site, but how could I pick just one!

From songs to get ready to to bachelorette bangers, and romantic first dance songs to finale stormers, I have loved nothing more than compiling Spotify soundtracks for weddings. (And FYI some of them double up as great road trip playlists too!).

9. Why It’s Okay Not To Have Bridesmaids

Few posts I wrote got quite as much reaction from both friends and strangers alike, as my case for not having a bridal party. I loved that this one let some brides feel free to ditch traditions, avoid giving in to pressures, and do things their way.

10. How To Have A Feminist Wedding

Weddings get a bad rep for being antiquated, patriarchal affairs, that perpetuate princess stereotypes. It was so important for me to share a post about how weddings can be modern, equal, and empowering, and give tips on how to get married your way, while still feeling like a proud card carrying feminist.

Bonus: My Real Wedding

Okay, so I know I said I couldn’t pick a favourite real wedding, but who am I kidding – these two photo and film posts are my ultimate pick-me-up any time I just need a smile.

How special to get to wax lyrical about an occasion that made me endlessly happy – at work!

And before I sign out of Instagram and change the auto-responder on my emails (it all sounds so final!), I just want to say thank you. Thank you to the readers, the followers, the photographers, the vendors, the sponsors.

And of course most of all, thank you to Elizabeth, who let me wear her down to give me a job all those years ago, who trusted me to run her beautiful site, and who taught me about everything from how to create the perfect Pinterest board and how to spell stationery (I literally got it wrong *every* time), to how to grow a successful business without compromising on your core values. 

I can’t wait to see what lies ahead for this wonderful little corner of the internet!

Catch you in the Insta comments (because I’ll be there daily folks!),

Claire x