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Yvie Burnett goes skating in Stockholm and starts saving for a wedding

Some weddings are abroad and so there's the travel to take into account.
Some weddings are abroad and so there's the travel to take into account.

You have had lots of snow I believe. I’ve seen some pretty wintry scenes on the news.

We had snow while in Stockholm this week as well.

There was a beautiful ice rink in the middle of the city. Not one like those set up in the UK to make money but a rink which was open to anyone to have fun on.

There were no gates and all the locals were able to access it day or night.

It just shows how cold it must be for that ice not to melt for weeks.

People ice skating in Stockholm.

Spring time

Despite the snow it’s spring isn’t it? Spring makes us think of Easter eggs and spring flowers popping up in our gardens and it’s also lovely to see brightly-coloured clothes in the shops.

I for one am so ready to ditch the winter woolies.

Of course many of us are starting to look for outfits for spring or summer weddings. We have a lovely one to go to in May.

It’s a very special friend of mine who is getting married and it’s going to be a little holiday for Gordon and me.

I’ve got to get Gordon a new dinner suit for the occasion as it’s very posh!

He is if course complaining and saying he doesn’t need a new one but I’ve got a few months to persuade him.

That’s the thing with husbands. We need to take the time to let them think it was their own idea in the first place.

Weddings take some organising – and that’s just for the guests!

As for me, I need three outfits for the wedding weekend so the diet continues.

Apparently there is a new weight loss drug called Semaglutide or Wegovy which many Hollywood stars have been taking.

It has just been approved by NICE for use by the NHS so it must be pretty effective.

It will just be available to those most in need so that’s not people like me trying to slim down for a wedding.

Although I’m going to LA soon and I’m sure it’s readily available in Tinseltown the home of skinny people.

I’d be too scared of side effects though so I will stick to trying to find my willpower.

But have you noticed that somehow weddings have become a major expense and I’m not talking about how much it costs the bride and groom.

For the guests the excitement of that lovely invitation dropping on to your mat soon turns into the dread of “Just how much is this going to cost?”

With weddings come the hen and stag parties and the cost starts to mount up.

Firstly there is the engagement party, then there is the hen or stag night and of course these are very rarely a night now. They are a weekend away. Yet another expense.

I have no recollection of having a hen night. I think my friends and I went out for a nice meal probably but it’s way more expensive than that now.

Then there is the wedding itself. These are often abroad now with a dinner the night before and an event the day after.

So you are looking at the cost of your flights, a few nights in a hotel, outfits and a present.

But even if they are in the UK they are often at some kind of posh spa hotel.

Imagine if you get invited to a few weddings in one year!

You can probably wear the same outfit but that’s about the only thing you can save on!

Then there’s the stag night – which is now more likely to be a stag weekend or even a stag week.

How did this all come about? I swear the only expense we used to have when going to a wedding was the present and a taxi home.

Oh and don’t get me started on the present. There were always lists but didn’t it used to more generalised? Like a toaster or a set of towels.

Now it’s an exact model of something. The last wedding we went to I had to spend £180 on a specific blanket which didn’t look anything like £180.

There wasn’t much left by the time I chose so it was either look stingy with a candle for £40 or spend £300 on some sort of blender.

Gifts too are now a major expense.

So anyway when will it end? If you get invited to a wedding say bye bye to upwards of £1,000. Sometimes it’s good not to be too popular.

Having said that. I do love a wedding. Forget all the hen and stag stuff but the actual wedding is such a special day to share with people.

In fact I would love to do it all again, with Gordon of course!

I’d choose a different dress though. Back in the 1990s we all looked like those dolly toilet roll holders or a big meringue. Lovely memories though.

Have a good week,

Yvie x

Gordon and Yvie on their wedding day.

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