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It is 100 days to go until the Royal wedding of Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton.

In the lead up to the big day, programmes will be made and pictures, facts, opinion - and even gossip will be published by the British and the world media.

Our part in the celebrations is to write together an Ode to weddings under the title Nulla Dies Sine Linea (have a look if you haven't contributed already).

But I have story to tell about another spring wedding.

As you may know, I have been reporting from Pendle in Lancashire on the impact of the economic downturn on this small town. (See In Search of a Cotton Mill, Get Real, and Be Positive.)

During my investigations, I found a couple - Catriona and Nick - who are getting married on almost the same day as Prince William and Kate.

So I have asked the bride - Catriona - for her thoughts about the next 100 days: what's on her mind, what preoccupies her, what concerns or excites her?

Here she is in her own words:

On Thursday it will be 100 days to go until my man and I get married.

You'd think, after nine years or so of knowing each other, and a good proportion of that time spent dating, there'd be nothing that would faze us.

Piece of cake, right?

He is, after all, my best friend, my life partner, the person who knows me better than anyone.

Only it isn't a piece of cake, it's actually a little daunting.

It's not so much the prospect of committing to one person for the rest of my life (that's the part I'm quite happy with), it's the whole circus performance that comes with weddings.

Personalised wedding logos. Co-ordinating ribbon on the back of the chairs. A kind of a competition for the "best overall experience".

It's enough to make even the most competitive of sport players run fast in the opposite direction.

When my Mum describes the day she and my Dad got married, it all sounds so simple.

She walked to the church next door when she was ready (wearing a dress made by her friend).

My Grandad - a vicar - married them.

The reception was in the neighbouring school hall where my Grandma taught, and the cold finger buffet was provided by another friend.

The wedding cost them around £600 (and that was only because she wanted imported flowers in January).

They honeymooned - "exotically" - in London.

Thirty-two years on they're still happily married, living in Pendle.

So this is my reference point for marriage; something meaningful. Personal.

Something to mark the start of a long and happy journey.

There are times during the wedding preparations when I have to remind myself of this, as the industry has evolved into something of a crazed monster that can encourage you to part with more money than is comprehensible, in attempt to exude a perfectly stage-managed, choreographed fairy tale picture, if just for one day.

Personalised table favours? Don't even get me started...

So, at this stage, with 100 days to go, the planning process is going relatively well, if only limited to the bare essentials (Date? Check. Groom? Check. Vicar? Sorted.)

See? I'm a dab hand at this wedding lark.

Joking apart, lest anyone think I'm way behind, I have actually also confirmed the reception venue and found a dress.

I sometimes wonder what it must like for Miss Middleton at this stage.

Does she have free reign (excuse the pun) over any of the wedding preparation decisions?

My other half and I have made the majority of the decisions together - where to have the wedding, who to invite.

I thought this part might cause tension but it was quite simple.

We wrote a long list of friends and family we wanted to invite.

It was longer than we could stretch to, so we decided not to invite children or anyone that we felt wouldn't recognise us if they walked past us in the street.

Job done - perfect - a manageable number of guests achieved in under 30 minutes!

The next things on the to-do list is to sort out places for everyone to stay, and get the invites out.

I've designed the invite myself (with a little thievery from my favourite artist).

Someone asked me a while back what the "theme" of our wedding was.

Apparently this is the way to coordinate all the creative elements of the day; a way of ensuring cohesion and standing apart from the crowd.

At first, my response, slightly bewilderedly was "er... wedding?"

Now that I have become a slightly more experienced wedding planner, I have landed upon the theme of "homemade".

You could also call it DIY (probably a more apt description of my homemade invite attempts).

Where we can, we'll make things ourselves.

Where we can't, we'll get friends and family to help.

Hopefully this will keep things personal and down to earth (read: in budget).

I must confess at this point, before I come across as too much of an anti-wedding industry, artsy do-gooder, I have sourced the most amazing pair of shoes for the big day.

Designer. Limited edition. And definitely not homemade.