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It is only 50 days to go until the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton .

But what about our own couple - Catriona and Nick - from Pendle, Lancashire, who are getting married the same day?

In her first blog post Catriona told us about her preparation to the big day.

What has changed since then?

Is she more prepared, calmer and more confident?

Or the closer she gets to the date is do preparations get more frantic and more hectic?

Let's hear from Catriona herself:

It's now only 50 days to go until the big day and things are starting to pick up pace.

Considerable pace in fact.

Having gloated about my chilled-out bride-to-be approach for some time, I'm now frantically ordering matching name cards and stationery like the best of them.

Our banns were read out in church last week, followed by tea with the vicar.

We also - one of the highlights of the wedding preparations so far - went for a tasting session to decide on the reception menu.

All of our questions and conversations around the current to-do list went out of the window as we tucked into some very delicious Lancashire beef fillet.

I'm not quite convinced they can replicate the same degree of medium rare perfection when there are 100+ guests, but they seem quietly confident.

My younger brother - a committed food enthusiast - managed to assert himself when deciding who went to the food tasting.

Despite his mere 10 months beyond the legal age of alcohol consumption, he still managed to provide an expert opinion on a selection of wines, and put away a fair amount of steak all in the name of research.

There's been a whole host of little things cropping up at this stage, requiring varying degrees of attention.

Shoes and sashes for the bridesmaids; finalising the order of service; finding umbrellas for the near-certain northern weather.

As is the female tendency, I've taken a lot of this upon myself to sort out - I have that awful affliction of thinking it will be quicker to do it myself rather than hassle someone else to do it.

I have a new-found respect for brides who - come the big day - have pulled off a major feat of organisation and implementation.

If all the tasks involved in organising a wedding were written down as a job description, I'd take one look at think "no... definitely not my skill set. Best not apply."

That said, I do have a group of willing sidemen (and women) - all of whom are very keen to be involved and help out.

I am aware that it is not lack of helpers that is my problem, as much as my own ability to delegate.

FYI - I'm actually pretty good at this in most other areas of my life, as others will attest!

I have relinquished control over the following jobs to our families that are thankfully helping out:

My parents are taking responsibility for sorting out accommodation, printing the orders of service and organising family lunch the day after the wedding.

Nick's family are responsible for transport, and the men's attire on the day (I'm only slightly concerned about a very strong devotion to a certain football club...)

I think both sets of parents would probably like more involvement in the wedding preparations.

Partly because they got married, their parents were heavily involved in shaping the wedding.

And also because they have good ideas and suggestions that they want to share.

I think the challenge comes today when most couples are that bit older than when their parents got married, and also have a strong idea on how they want the day to be - hence being more firmly in the driving seat when it comes to wedding planning.

So, a summary of the highs and lows of the wedding planning process so far:

The best bits: Looking for a dress, trying the food and wine, thinking about the honeymoon...

The worst bits: Spending a lot of time discussing where people will sleep.

It doesn't matter - you'll be asleep! (Note to self - sort out own hotel room for wedding night)

And finally, as my to-do list beckons, what better than to share with you my planning so far by numbers...

• Number of return trips on Virgin Pendolino in the name of wedding planning: 6
• Number of meetings with vicar: 4
• Number of times vicar has mispronounced my name: at least 3
• Number of wedding related pre-marital rows: 3 (unromantic but true!)
• Number of inches I want my hair to grow before wedding 5 (unlikely so I'm told)
• Number of times have tried wedding shoes on while fiancée out of the house: at least 6
• Invites sent out: 110
• RSVPs so far: About 8 - hurry up guys!
• Days to go: 50

Bring it on!