Friends, let me tell you...WEDDING PLANNING IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART.
I would perhaps even posit that wedding planning requires all the skills that marriage does, and if you can survive the planning, you're pretty set for marriage. This is not a joke. Just think about it, you have to manage the budget, navigate family dynamics, and make more decisions than you've made in all the years of your life up to this point combined. You think I'm kidding, but it gets so ridiculous sometimes, I've thought about writing my own wedding version of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.
If you decide to have dessert at your wedding...
Cake? Pie? Alternative donut tower?
Chocolate? Vanilla?
Bowl? Plate?Glass? Plastic?
Fork? Spoon?
Plated? Buffet?
DO WE NEED WHIPPED CREAM?
And that's just dessert.
Don't get me wrong, it's fun and exciting, and people say all kinds of nice things about you. It's kind of the one time Life hands you a blank check and says you can ask ridiculous things of all your friends, spend thousands of someone else's money on a party for yourself, and make the longest list of presents ever.
So here are my 5 wedding warnings - not a warning against weddings, just, well, you'll see.
1. Delegate or Die
I'm not kidding. If you don't have a lot of money to pay someone you can delegate to or an awesome set of friends and family, you'd better be headed for a hilltop with your 10 favorite people. Coming from Princess Do It Herself, you can't do it yourself - if you want to be at all sane, not to mention pleasant to be around.
2. You will feel bipolar
I'm not diminishing the seriousness of the actual diagnosed condition, but you will feel the whole spectrum of emotions. Some days I'm the happiest, most calm, we-got-this, no worries bride. Some days I'm not very nice, feel like I'm growing an ulcer and totally overwhelmed. To some degree, it comes with the territory.
3. Running will cross your mind
I love Nate. He's my favorite. I want to marry him. AND. There have been times during this whole thing where I have wanted nothing more than to physically run to Namibia and be a nomad with a camel. Deep seated, adrenaline pumping panic. Not over anything specific, just THIS IS A REALLY BIG DEAL! It's ok.
4. Practice some de-Pinning
At some point in the planning process, it will be much more effective to start deleting pins from your <3 Mr. and Mrs. Forever Wedding Dreams and Roses Pinterest Board. Seriously. Clean that thing out. Unrealistic ideas? Conflicting themes? Icelandic inspiration pics when you're getting married on the beach? Get rid of them.
5. Soak it all up
There have been lots of times during this engagement that people have told me to just really enjoy it. Usually, I've wanted to punch them in the face and tell them I really just want to be married because the planning can get insane. But they're right, in a sort of ambiguous, well meaning way. I would say this - soak up the love that getting married produces. During my bridal showers, when friends are helping with wedding projects, and hearing that friends and family are flying in for the wedding, I'm just struck by how loved Nate and I are. It's not so much the overwhelming romantic over the top love we have for each other that has amazed me during this time, but how well loved we are by the people around us.
I love weddings, and Nate, and I can't wait to get married in 6 days... but first I have to figure out where all these 260 people are going to sit.
Much love,
Little Miss Sunshine
