My 2018 resolutions

This year marks one year until my actual wedding, so in the midst of planning, bargain-hunting, reading, researching and dedicating my life to everything to do with weddings, I want to make sure I'm passing on every niggly nugget of information on to any bride-to-be who wants it. Passing on the wealth is definitely where I want my focus to be this year.

I have other dreams for this blog too, and I'm hoping that by noting them all down here I'm more likely to work hard to achieve them. In addition, it means that anybody else out there who wants to start a blog can use what I learn now as a step-up into the world of wedding planning and blogging, because I'm nice like that! I'm still just starting out, but I've got a lot I want to get off the ground in 2018, and not just in my bloglife. Making lists is one of my favourite pastimes, and my yearly "to-do" list ends up being the most important and scary one of all. In 2017 I managed to tick off around 60-70% of my goals... this year I'm aiming for 85-90%!

Goal 1 - Set a date and book a venue

This should be the easiest goal on my list, so I've put it first to make it feel like an easier mountain to climb. I'm hoping to get this sorted by the end of January 2018 - I'll be blogging about it once everything is signed and paid for!

Goal 2 - Write an article for a national publication

Not so easy. In the past I've written articles about music, travel and even time-saving apps for magazines and online publications but I've never written about the wedding industry for anyone other than myself before. I'm hoping to change all that before Spring 2018, and will be pitching to some of my favourite blogs and mags to try and get Bridezilcho on the map. I'm a little rusty at the pitching game, so bear with me through what will probably be a few blog posts about the trials and fails of pitching articles to well-known editors.

Goal 3 - Visit a wedding show as a blogger

I love heading to wedding shows but what I'd really like to do is get my hands on a press pass and get a backstage view on what goes on at a big event like the Manchester Wedding Show. A moneysaving bride should also be willing to blag it. 

Goal 4 - Secure a commission

Before the end of Summer 2018, I'd like to be able to put a little byline at the top of one of my posts that says "This post was sponsored by..." 

Sponsored by who? Well, I suppose I'll have to wait and see who comes along!

Goal 5 - Make a video

I haven't made a YouTube video since my first year of university. This year, I'm hoping to kick-start the habit again, although what this video will be about, I have no idea. Pies or something.

Goal 6 - Team up with some really cool bloggers

I am not just in the blogging game to talk about myself and my wedding - although that's a really big reason why I'm doing it. I also want to get to know more amazing bloggers who talk about stuff I wish I knew about all day long. Stuff like fashion, make-up, beauty, travel, tech and books. I want to get to know people who've been blogging about weddings since before wedding blogging meant trawling Pinterest for an idea every Wednesday lunchtime. I want to interview people who've been part of the game for years and pick their brains and find out what they've learned about the wedding industry. I want to work together with people who care as much about weddings as I do, and create something different for people who aren't into being ignored on wedding forums and being shown a slideshow of ten tweed waistcoats for their partner to wear as a "quirky" option.

Goal 7 - Buy a house

This has nothing to do with my blog but I am planning to buy my first house with Tom, the guy this blog is also about. So, expect various posts about interior design and saving money when moving house when the time comes!

Goal 8 - Use my lunch hour for good

This is a great one. Instead of working straight through my lunch hour, which I am really guilty of doing on most workdays, I'm going to promise to try and get one good thing done for myself during this precious time of day. Whether that's popping to the shops for a look around, writing a new blog post, reading a couple of chapters of my book, researching some topics or browsing the sales for wedding bits and pieces, every day I will make sure I spend at least some of my lunchtime working on myself.

Goal 9 - Getting healthier

I did a great job last year of getting healthier and this year I want to continue that by working hard at the gym and getting out more. My main goal in this is to be able to climb up taller mountains.

Goal 10 - Travel

My final goal is to travel. Travelling is what I like to spend my money on and how I like to spend my time. I don't need to fly across the world in order to feel well-travelled either - over New Year's we drove to Edinburgh for 24 hours and it was brilliant. That's exactly what I want to do this year: save my money and spend it going to exciting places and having brilliant times with excellent people. 

So these are my ten goals for 2018. I also have other goals, like finishing the book I'm writing and learning Spanish, but I wanted to keep this fairly relevant to Bridezilcho as much as I could. Plus, I like having private goals that I can fail on without fear of retribution. 

Let's see how many of these I can stick to over the next 12 months...