We spent £29,455 on our intimate London wedding and planned it in 4 months

My vision was autumnal, soft and romantic.

I obviously wanted everything to look beautiful, but I also wanted the wedding to be a genuinely fun experience for our guests. That played a big part in the vendors we chose. I wanted the people we worked with to reflect the atmosphere we were trying to create.

We started with a simple soo dhoonis at home on 14 September. Then, on 1 November, we had our nikkah at Diamond Hotel in the afternoon and our wedding at Hilton Double Tree that evening.

We had around 200 guests at each.

Having both a nikkah and an evening wedding party was always the plan. Having them on the same day was more of a practical decision than something I had specifically wanted. The venues were only around 10 minutes apart, so it actually worked really well and made the transition between the two much smoother.

Balancing the cultural and religious sides of the wedding was probably one of the trickier parts of planning.

It required lots of conversations with family, but also lots of conversations between the two of us. We had to decide what we absolutely wanted, what we absolutely did not want, and then work from there.

I mostly left the cultural side of things to my mum.

My two absolute non negotiables were decor and having a wedding coordinator.

I had quite a clear idea of how I wanted the wedding to look, so decor was not somewhere I really wanted to compromise.

But the coordinator was just as important.

I did not want to spend my actual wedding day answering questions, checking timings, dealing with suppliers or worrying about whether everything was where it was supposed to be.

I wanted to be the bride.

Looking back, that was absolutely the right decision.

One place we saved was on the nikkah decor.

Diamond Hotel already came with decor, so we decided not to spend more money replacing everything just for the sake of having our own setup.

And I would make the same decision again. It turned out nice.

Do not wait for the soo dhoonis

If you are planning to travel to buy things or have anything custom made, I would absolutely recommend not waiting until after the soo dhoonis to start.

Have the financial conversation with your partner early. Work out what you are both comfortable spending and what the budget actually looks like. That way, if you want to travel, order custom pieces or have things tailored, you have time to make proper decisions.

Have a proper plan if you are travelling

Dubai was worth it for me, but I would never recommend just turning up and hoping for the best. Have your checklist. Research where you want to go. Know what you need. If tailoring is involved, give yourself enough days.

Protect more time for photos

I really wish I had taken more photos with people before the wedding actually started. I managed to have a proper shoot with my immediate family beforehand, but that was pretty much it.

I also wish I had taken more solo photographs in my wedding dress on the stage. You spend so much time choosing your dress and your decor, then the wedding day comes and you somehow forget to stop and take all of the photographs you imagined having.

What I would change and what I nailed

I would have chosen a more experienced security team.

What I absolutely nailed was the vendors. Every single one of them was amazing. One of the biggest bonuses was also being able to work with only Muslim women. There was a level of comfort and understanding that came with that which made the whole experience much easier for me.