The best piece of advice my mum gave me about planning my wedding

Beyond setting a date, we haven't done much in terms of planning for our wedding.

And even then, the date is a 'well, if the venue we want isn't available on that one, we can always change it' kind of date. So, basically, nothing is set in stone. But the tentative date is a little more than a year away, and it feels like it's coming up very fast. A lot of my nerves around planning and booking things for the wedding has stemmed from the fact that I feel like I don't know what I'm doing. When I was growing up, I never really envisioned my wedding. I never had the picture in my mind of what the big day would look like and, at first, I thought that was a good thing. After all, it made it a clean slate, right? When my fiancé, Sam, proposed, I soon realised how wrong I was: it meant I actually had no idea of where to start. I loaded myself up with stacks upon stacks of bridal magazines for #inspo - or at least to get a vague idea of where to begin. Even that didn't work out. Earlier this week, my parents flew in from Canada to visit my fiancé and I. My mum, Carol, had one mission after she arrived: to help me shake off the wedding planning nerves. Her advice all started with a simple few words: "Don't be afraid." She continued:

"Yes, it's a big day. Everyone is going to be looking at you - but the best weddings are when [things go wrong], the bride gets called the wrong name like at my wedding. "When we came into the reception, the DJ announced us as - 'welcome the bride and groom, Daniel and Mary-Anne.' "Anything bad that happens can be fixed. If your dress rips, there's always a seamstress who can fix it. If it rains, they'll just take the pictures indoors. "Enjoy it, have fun, relax. Don't sweat the small stuff."

She's succeeded so far. Kind of. We're starting the wedding dress shopping adventure this weekend, as well as the search for a venue. But, hey, one step at a time, right? She hasn't managed to ease all the fears just yet, though. I'm one of those people that is so clumsy I'm basically able to trip  over my own two feet while standing still. So, with my luck, I'm fully expecting to face plant as I walk down the aisle. But even if I do, anything bad that happens can be fixed, right?

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Keeley and Sam are saying 'I do,' in May 2019. And with a year to go, this bride-to-be admits she's still learning the ropes. In the run-up to her Big Day, Keeley will be writing a weekly blog about all things wedding-related... from the start of planning, to walking down the aisle.