Image by Cat Hepple

We have a first today as we are delighted to welcome Belle Bride Hollie C's finance to the blog, as Mat shares with us planning a wedding in France from The Groom's Perspective!

So let's catch up with Mat on planning their wedding in France: " As you're all aware, Hollie is engaged to a man called Mat - that's me.

For me, the wedding planning journey all started well before I even proposed. I'd naturally been thinking about proposing for months before asking the question. The preparations involved in proposing were pretty much limited to: a location that was awesomely impressive and an engagement ring that would almost guarantee a yes. Despite having these two effects in good shape, I was still extremely nervous when the time came to pop the question. Luckily, Hollie said yes. In the months after getting engaged, without doing much wedding planning, we had our eyes open for the ideal venue. And it wasn't long until we were toying with the idea of getting married in the Alps - the best place on earth in my opinion. We did some research into the various locations in the Alps; we discussed a variety of towns but eventually settled firmly on Chamonix - it's close to the airport, there's plenty for guests to do and more importantly it is overlooked by the massive Mont Blanc and the Aiguille du Midi. Hollie has already wrote in previous blogs about finding and booking our first wedding venue and the problems we had to overcome with it entering administration. What started off as a massive problem has turned into something positive as now we're booked at an even better venue, Les Vieilles Luge. I can hand on heart say that the place is perfect and I remember being blown away the first time I saw it. It is Hollie's birthday in March, so as a birthday present I'm taking us skiing and we plan to ski down to the venue and have a lunch there; aside from being a treat for Hollie's birthday I'm really excited to see the venue in the snow. I'll be the first to admit that when it comes to Wedding invites, flowers, colour schemes, etc, I feel totally lost, because in all honesty I haven't the foggiest idea what will look good or bad and haven't the faintest idea what colour co-ordination is. Hollie jokes that I see things very black and white; but it's true, I do see things very black and white. Give me a task to open a bank account for Wedding savings with the highest interest rate or pick the best Wedding insurance policy, then I'm the man. The next tasks on the to-do list are finding a suit for me, sorting out wedding rings - mine is ordered - and deciding whether to hire a videographer. The more I ponder the videographer idea, the more I love the idea of having a video of our Wedding day to keep forever. I had my first appointment with a tailor a few weekends ago and after the appointment I felt a little deflated. I had envisioned getting a tailor-made suit to be a big deal and that I'd feel like a million dollars walking round in any suit that was made specifically for me, but that just wasn't how I felt afterwards. So I went to look at a few shops on the high street for comparison and actually managed to find what I think is the perfect suit, a suit which made me feel like a million dollars when I had it on, so much so that I didn't want to take it off! After two weeks thought, I still have my heart set on the same suit. I have another appointment with a different tailor in a few weeks' time, and I'll go along just to ensure I'm not missing anything that might persuade me that a tailor-made suit is the correct path for me, but I'm ninety five percent sure I've made up my mind. Wedding planning for me personally has been filled with highs and lows, and I'm sure that the next months leading up the wedding will be an ever winding road full of more highs and lows. But so what? What our bad experience with the venue has taught me is this: it doesn't matter to me where we get married, what we're wearing or what we eat afterwards, what I care about is getting married to my soul mate and beginning the journey of our marriage whilst surrounded by friends and family.

Having said that, I do want to get married with the luxury of a nice venue, wearing a nice suit and with nice food to eat all the while surrounded by people I love; and I'll stop at nothing to make sure the day is as perfect as can be for my wife and me."

If you are looking for ideas and inspiration on planning your wedding in France, don't forget you can catch up with Hollie C and Mat and fellow Belle Bride Fiona .