Doug doesn't do stress

London is chaotic. Everyone’s rushing, clockwatching, scheduling, planning, demanding, trying to squeeze things in and generally not spending enough time doing anything properly. It is a race, and there are lot of rats. But somehow, out in the countryside, everyone seems so much more relaxed. Our suppliers are so laid back they are practically horizontal.

Now, I’m a natural panic-pants. I love to fret, worry and make lists. Sometimes I'll make lists about my lists. Or lists about why I am worrying. I drive myself insane. And on top of that I’ve read too many wedding magazines, which are all designed to make you think of things you hadn't thought of, fuel your fear that you are doing it wrong/will never get it all done in time and constantly nag you to book things at least five years in advance. (It’s easy to see why perfectly rational girls become ‘Bridezillas’ during their planning.)

But luckily, our idea of a simple, informal wedding seems quite easy to plan. A marquee in Mom's gorgeous garden will be perfect for us. And as I said in a previous post, a marquee man lives very conveniently next door to Mom's house. He’s very busy and is always difficult to contact, which I see as a good sign. And each time we do speak to him he always has an air of 'there’s loads of time don’t worry about it.’

After a quote and several conversations, we said we'd like to confirm the booking. He still seemed very much ‘yeah it's fine, it’s ages off yet’ which was a bit more vague than I felt comfortable with.

So just for our own peace of mind we asked if he’d like a deposit. He replied.
“umm…yeah, you can send a couple of hundred if you want.”

And then we asked him when he needed final confirmation of details. He said:
“Ummm. This year?”

It's actually quite refreshing. And I am starting to enjoy this idea of 'non-planning'. It's quite relaxing - and the last thing I wanted was for it all to become a big spiral of stress, and for us to lose sight of all the fun bits and what we are actually doing.

Doug's not worried, so I’m not.