Wedding Fever (Not Just For Saturday Nights…)

My name’s Rob and I’m suffering with Wedding Fever.

I’m pretty sure that will ring true of a lot of the people who will read this?  I’ve suffered for a while now, but after fighting the illness for some time, I conclude the only cure is for the Wedding to take place and go off without any hitches (apart from bride & groom GETTING hitched, of course…).

Me. Photo taken post-proposal, in Lanzarote

In this blog, I plan to tell the story of my own marriage proposal, and the process of arranging my wedding to my wonderful bride-to-be, hopefully helping out some of you who are in the early stages of Wedding Fever and already looking for a way to escape the country, as well as those brave hardy souls who are attacking the whole marriage process head-on (bravo chaps!).

Right.  Well, I consider myself a very normal groom and think a lot of my profile will probably be similar to many readers.  I work for the Civil Service in an office in leafy Kingston-Upon-Thames, 9-5 and no more (unless they decide to pay me for it, hasn’t happened yet).  I have some long-standing friends and also a few who are more recent, none of whom I see more often than every few weeks.  I live with my fiancée Emma in Surrey, we have been together just under 4-and-a-half years and we have lived together almost three years.  I like the odd drink after work, or getting the lads over for an Xbox and beer evening.  I’m pretty hopeless at Call of Duty and FIFA, but have still put in the hours to get through them all lol…

I’m 33 years old.  I’m 5”8ish, with a big soft belly which hides years and years of alcohol and burgers, I can’t ever claim I haven’t lived well.  I’m no Adonis, but don’t think I’m Shrek either (though that’s for others to judge, admittedly).  I’m university-educated, but that really doesn’t mean much these days, plus I’ve forgotten pretty much everything I learnt (ask me, I bet I can’t quote a single line from Shakespeare’s Love Sonnets).  My hobbies are the aforementioned drink and food, as well as football and various other sports (watching, not playing, you understand – that stuff is best left to the professionals!).

With the Better Half in Cardiff

Wedding Fever kicked in on 30^th August 2010 (important to remember the date of your proposal lads!).  Since then, Emma and I have been maniacally arranging our nuptials just like those wedding planners you see in the American movies.  I’m impressed by my own ability to maintain interest, and our joint ability not to kill each other in the process of finding agreements.  Hopefully, Wedding Fever will be cured on May 18^th 2012.  I’ll be crossing more and more appendages as that date approaches, I can assure you…

It’s my understanding that so many men out there don’t get involved at all with the planning of their weddings.  This to me makes no sense – after all, although the majority of attention will be on your bride, it is YOUR day too?  My experience has told me that a) I am a lot more excited about the wedding because I have been involved in arranging it and b) By getting involved in everything, I’ve been able to keep a firm control of the purse strings.

In my opinion, the benefits of knowing what to do, when to do it and how much it should cost are there for all to see!

I plan to write a blog which will hopefully have men thinking differently about their own weddings, and nodding their heads in agreement as well with some of the things I will say.  Of course, if people think I have got things drastically wrong, for God’s sake please let me know!  I hope to inspire other grooms, and to put them at ease if the Wedding Fever is getting too much for them.

I’d be grateful if people can follow my work (use that RSS thingy) and feedback is welcomed (well, if it’s good anyway).  I’m also on Twitter – @RobKedge, do follow me as I will sometimes have some relationship or wedding-related nuggets to share with the world…

Rob Kedge

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• New Groom Alert!
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