I have to say, if you've never planned a wedding then you REALLY don't know what a toll it takes on a gal!! Raise your hand if you think having a long engagement makes things super easy breezy and you actually have a FUN time doing everything (if you asked me last August when I got engaged I would have raised my hand). Well--YOU ARE WRONG. Sure, some things were not as stressful as it could have been (ie. searching for a dress by a certain time, having time to create a budget, giving yourself time to financially prepare for the cost, etc) but really you are prolonging your stress levels.
When I got engaged about 11 months ago I thought,"Sweet! I have 14 months to plan this wedding. That means towards the end I won't feel super rushed, pressed for time, etc because it would all be taken care of WAY ahead of time. All I have to concentrate on is what dresses to buy for my bachelorette party and shower." Pffft...yea right!! It seems the closer I get to the Big Day the more I think and talk about the wedding. It seems that is ALL I talk about. I drink, eat, and BREATHE wedding wedding wedding! I'm starting to annoy even myself (as I'm sure I annoy all of Facebook or my local friends because I feel it's all I post statuses about).
I am drowning in guest lists, making sure I have updated addresses, reviewing and editing the newsletters my mom is graciously making for everyone (have I mentioned how GREAT my mom is? I can spend 50 thousand blogs talking about that woman.. :) ) anyway...I'm drowning in the invitations I am currently ordering, and what style I want them, do I want this script over that? Do I want glitter ink or foil? Do I want a bow on top? Do I want ivory or white? Do I want to put Captain in front of Matthew or below his name next to :United States Marine Corps? Do I want a Disney seal on the back of the envelope. QUESTIONS QUESTIONS QUESTIONS!! AHHH...and it took me until NOW to realize that planning is a lot more fun (and relaxing) when I accompany it with a glass of Pinot Noir. True Story.
Do I want the sword ceremony indoors or outdoors? How many Marines are we counting on to even do this?? We have 6 and Matt says they are all coming for sure and I shouldn't stress. BUT..if there is one thing I learned it's that in the military NOTHING is for certain. So I'm a little stressed about that.
Matt and I were doing a comparison in our guest list from each of our sides and I'm a little discouraged to see how many people from my side I don't think are going to attend. Much of them being family..while I see most of Matt's family and friends are attending. It got me to thinking about my relationship with people. Sometimes I feel close to people, even if we don't really speak all that often but I hear about them, see online what they've been up to, keeping up with the latest news via my mom..so to me, the cousins I haven't seen in YEARS are still just as close in my heart as they were when we were young enough to shoot eachother with nerf guns. (obviously it's been a long time since I've played with Nerf guns if I use it as a time reference.)
Same goes with friends. It's not just family but some friends I may not have been as close with in the recent years I still call best friends of mine. Maybe I throw the term around loosely, though to me it still gives the words "best friend" importance. I'm awful about keeping in contact, I'll admit. I guess I just assume we know how important we are to each other and if weeks, months go by without talking, I am confident that when we pick up the phone again we'll pick up where we left off. Anyway, do I have the right to get a LITTLE miffed or disappointed when I hear so-and-so isn't coming along with so-and-so and so-and-so? I figure it'd be like a family reunion at this wedding! I LOVE seeing family I haven't seen in a while (whether it be a day or 3 years ago). But more and more it's looking like that's not the case. Booo :(
Don't get me started on having reserved room blocks!! I don't see how one can "guestimate" how many room nights will be reserved for your wedding party...from back in OCTOBER! HOW can I possibly know how many "room nights" will be reserved a year from the wedding..I haven't even sent out Save The Dates at that time! So NOW my biggest stress is figuring out how many people even plan on staying on Disney property so I can count how many "room nights" that is and decide based on that if I need to lower my reserved rooms on the contract. I have until August 16th to do so, and it's 50/50 if invitations will be sent out by then. It means I have to track people down and see where they plan on staying (IF they plan on going) and it's just another headache I don't want. (Okay..so I got started on the topic anyway)
That's it for my rant. It crossed my mind how swamped my mind is in planning this special day for Matt and I. I look back on texts or my phone calls with Matt, or my emails to him and my mom daily with wedding crap. My statuses "hw hw hw! Doing wedding stuff! Picking invitations!" blah blah blah..I'm annoying myself. So, I'm gonna work on stopping. Maybe venting here, and also getting alot taken care of the past two days, will quiet my anxiety and let me sit back and enjoy the ride. After all, in the end it is ALL worth it and I don't want to look back and say "why the hell did I stress over this??" I mean, it's only natural to want things to go smoothly and turn out how I want (after all, we want what we pay for, right??) but now I am going to make it my mission to try to LIKE doing this stuff. If that means pouring this girl a glass of red wine to quiet the nerves, then so be it :) As Matt keeps reminding me, I have to remind myself what the day is most importantly all about:
Matt and I. Our exchange of the vows that promise forever and ever. I truly cannot WAIT for October 16th and our Disneymoon...and I just KNOW I am going to get the "Post Wedding Blues".
So, quit your bitchin', Lauren! Grab a glass of wine and have some FUN! :)
PS. Still in search of my "Something Borrowed" and "Something Old"..not that anyone may really be able to help me with this, but any ideas?
A princess throws herself into the world of the United States Marine Corps...
Hey girl :) I borrowed a ring that my grandfather had passed down to my mom and pinned in on my garter and that was my something old (and it felt like my Pops was there with me on my special day). I also had a borrowed ring from natalie....just a couple thoughts :)
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