Andrew and I are getting married this summer. We are both very excited for our big day and to begin married life together. We have spent so many hours dreaming of our future together and what we might do or where we might live and such. Dreaming is the fun part, but sometimes it's easy to forget that you have to put a lot of work into one day (your wedding) before you get a chance to reach for those dreams!
One of the main things that surprises me about the reality of planning a wedding is that what I have decided on is really A LOT different than what I have been dreaming about for my wedding since I was a little girl. I think it's because every little girls idealizes their wedding day in their mind and then one day, when those 4 magic words come out of your man's mouth ('Will you marry me?' in case you couldn't figure out what I am talking about) reality sets in. And reality has a way of reminding you that the dress that you imagined yourself walking down the aisle costs way more than you thought or that dress does not look as good on you as you thought it would. Not that I am saying that the bride or groom needs to settle for less than what they want for their wedding, but just that reality sometimes has a way of changing your thinking. Rather than having flowers EVERYWHERE at your wedding, sometimes the idea of simple decor really begins to sound better and better when you realize what you dreamed sometimes isn't practical.
Besides the reality check, wedding planning has been mostly fun to this point and I look forward to things coming together more and more. I have to admit that not having my friends and family close by makes things difficult. I have found that I am doing a lot of planning on my own or with just Andrew and I. Despite that disappointment, being involved in the planning of our wedding is really exciting for me.
I think right now I am enjoying the fun things, pick our dresses, taste testing food, finding invitations, thinking about flowers and centrepieces, looking at wedding bands and the list goes on and on. I find myself scouring the internet for wedding blogs, advice and ideas. I find that I think about my wedding when I go to sleep at night and when I am in the shower. I find myself zoning out in the middle of conversations or in the middle of the work day to go and visit the Land of Weddings in my head!
Sometimes I have a hard time making decisions because I spend so much time in the Land of Weddings. For example, Andrew and I looked at over a hundred invitation samples together (not to mention the thousands that I looked at online in the last few months that he doesn't know about) and every time we would settle on an invitation I would change my mind and look for something else. I think it was after the 3rd time that I changed my mind that Andrew finally gave up and told me just to pick something.
I always told myself I would be a sensible bride and that I wouldn't let planning my wedding take over my life, which thankfully I have been able to keep at bay until this point, but no one warned me that along with a ring on my finger, engagement would mean that Bride Brain would set in. I find myself forgetting things more than usual, I find I lose my train of thought often, I get really opinionated about things that I never thought I would be opinionated about and that my excitement for our wedding would so overwhelm me. Some days I feel like our engagement is like being pregnant and just like a mother who is full term, I want to have the wedding here already!
Can you tell I am excited?
Another thing about planning weddings about which I WAS warned was everyone having an opinion on what you should or shouldn't do for your wedding. I swear I have never had so many people give me advice on anything in my life. Everyone has great ideas and tries to be so helpful. I never thought I would be concerned about making other people happy, but I find that I really do want to keep family and friends (whom I love very much and are very important to me)involved and happy. I have also discovered that this desire has a down fall because as with all areas of life, I cannot keep everyone happy all the time. So I am living in this constant flux of trying to plan a great wedding day that reflects both what Andrew and I want our day to be, but also to keep friends and family in the loop, involved and help them to know that I do value their opinions even if we don't decide to do what they suggest.
All in all, I have to admit that planning our wedding has been full of surprises. Some good, some not so good, but at the end of the day, I find joy in looking forward to the future and knowing that no matter what happens on the day that Andrew and I are married, that I am the luckiest girl in the world to be marrying Andrew and that I look forward to many, many years and adventures together as a couple.
Now THAT is something to be excited about!
- C
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