MY best friend is getting married in two weeks.

And I've discovered that (apart from your own actual wedding) there's nothing more exciting in a girl's life than her best friend's wedding.

There's the dress-choosing missions, the invitation-making, the guest list conversations — "You should definitely cut them out, we don't even like them" — and, of course, the hen do.

When planning a wedding it all seems to be about attention to detail, which makes the list-making opportunities plentiful.

Great news for a pernickety Virgo such as myself.

But aside from all the fun and excitement, there's also the fact that someone you really care about is about to experience one of the most important days of her life, and you're going to be part of it.

My best friend Sarah and I have grown up together, been through school together, shared hobbies (orange belts in Jin Kok karate), first jobs (bad waitresses at an even worse restaurant) and even went to the same university.

We know each other's quirks and foibles inside out.

And in a way it feels like we've been planning this wedding for the last 15 years.

As teenagers many an evening would be spent sat on Sarah's single bed in her dad's house plotting to make our secret crushes fall in love with us.

Either that or going through the phone book deciding what we'd like as our married surnames (Caroline Cornelius-Bunn and Sarah Senegales-Snook were our number one choices).

Even up until embarrassingly recently (but before the proposal) the pair of us, along with the third leg of our tripod, Jeanne, would spend hours discussing our preferred styles of engagement ring, wedding venues, hen weekend destinations, dresses and bridesmaids outfits . . . in short, the sort of conversations you'd die if your boyfriend overheard.

And now Sarah is actually doing it!

The wedding build-up started in early summer. Accompanied by her mum and us, the loyal bridesmaids, Sarah traipsed around various bridal shops trying on acres of ivory silk.

If you've never been wedding dress shopping you won't know what brilliant fun it is — a bit like playing fancy dress but with the best dressing up box ever . . . and diamante tiaras.

But when the shop assistant delicately placed a veil on Sarah's head I found tears springing to my eyes.

All of a sudden it hit me — she was actually getting married.

Sarah has been a perfect bride so far, a picture of calm tranquillity.

The big day is only two weeks away and I'm so excited that I can hardly wait.

I know there's little chance of getting a wink of sleep the night before.

I hope Sarah knows that as I watch her walk up the aisle on the big day I'll be bursting with pride because I love her and I'm so happy for her and Seth.