We’ve already shown you some of the worst parts of wedding planning, but now, onto the good stuff. Here are some of the absolute best parts of planning your wedding.

Venice - wedding planning

Announcing your engagement

Before all the actual planning begins, you get to announce your engagement and have some serious celebrations for your new relationship status. This will be one of the best parts of getting married, and one of the best parts of the planning process will probably be planning your engagement party. Planning your engagement party is almost like a low-key test run for planning the wedding reception. It's far less stressful, probably less formal, and there's plenty of excitement still to come. Your wedding planning starts right here, and what better way to kick it all off?

Cake tasting

Just tasting in general actually! Most wedding packages will include a meal for the bride and groom before the wedding to sample their wedding menu, which is a fun night out in itself as well as really getting your taste buds going for the main event. Then there's the cake tasting. We love cake and the thoughts of getting to taste all the different flavours before finally setting on your perfect wedding cake is just too good to be true. Cake tasting is one of the main things brides always say was one of the most enjoyable parts of wedding planning and we can see why!

Finding your dream dress

Yes, bridal dress shopping can be stressful and frustrating at times, and sometimes brides find their perfect dress in the first shop they go to, while others have to try on about 70 dresses before they find 'the' dress. But once you find it, the feeling is so overwhelmingly good that you can't help but breathe a happy sigh of relief. You know what you're wearing for  your big day, and it's beautiful. It's one of the major things that hangs over most brides' heads until it's done, so it's one of the best parts of wedding planning when it finally is done.

Planning your honeymoon

On a normal day we might dream about going away and start planning our summer holiday, but when you're planning a wedding, chances are part of that wedding planning really is to plan a holiday. Planning your honeymoon can often be a welcome distraction from the less appealing parts of wedding planning, so if you're getting bogged down with guest lists and table plans, you could take a break to choose your honeymoon destination. That way you're still being productive, you're planning the exciting part that comes after the wedding, and you get to look at fabulous holiday destinations.

Getting your beauty treatments

Don't rule out a little pamper time, especially as the wedding day closes in. You will probably be working incredibly hard to make sure everything is organised properly and you need a bit of relaxation. Not to mention the fact that that you will probably be getting your tan, mani/pedi and other beauty treatments a week or two before the wedding. Make sure you enjoy these treatments and don't look at them as chores. They're relaxing and fun and mostly, they're a sign that you really are on the home stretch and wedding planning is nearly done.

- Jenny Darmody

Image credits: Venice: Bellarome | Engaged couple: Pinterest | Cake: Pinterest | Venice canal: DP Shots | Getting ready: Apple Brides