1. Everyone wants to talk about the big day. Friends, family and total strangers all want to know absolutely everything about your wedding. "When is it?"... "Oh, December?! That's so close to the Holidays, not to mention cold!", "What is your color scheme?", "Oh, you're going with Blue... that's so boy-ish... Are you going to find flowers to match?" Your boss will ask if she's invited, and if you need a can opener from her pampered chef party as a gift. (Because she gets it on sale, ya know!) Total strangers at the bridal boutique will be asking what your color scheme is and how dress shopping is going. Not to mention once you do have your dress on they ask what rack its on and if they can try it on too... uh-hmm... not a chance. All of a sudden, everyone cares about this one thing and forgets about everything else going on in your life. I started to take it personally but I soon realized that won't do me any good and don’t get offended if you're one of the people I am writing about in this blog... for goodness sakes. Simple as that. If you don't want to talk about your wedding with total strangers, don't. If you don't want anyone knowing your color scheme, décor scheme or any-thing don't tell them. I learned the hard way. You will get overwhelmed, and I am sure this is only the beginning. There’s much more to come in the next 310... Days!
2. Everyone is so gosh.darn busy worrying about decor, budget, honeymoon plans, rings and flowers, ugh flowers... and, NO you cannot find (pretty) matching flowers to a BLUE color scheme. (Incase you were wondering, I am NOT a flower person. AT ALL). The less flowers the better. They're for funerals anyway. No one asks about your marriage plans. I think people just get caught up in the glamour of a wedding day, and it distracts them from the big picture: you have a wedding BECAUSE you’re getting married, not the other way around. I admit, I have gotten caught up in the wedding craze... and totally forgotten at times about the true meaning of a wedding... of MY wedding. Two hearts and two lives becoming one with each other and with God. Two families become one. Forever. Stop planning for 2.2 seconds and just ask yourself, what's next... If you're excited and anxious for the next step, after the wedding, ya better thank God because that's a good sign! :)
3. There are times where you will seriously consider an elopement. Jamaica sure does look GAWWWGEOUS! I always thought that brides were just exaggerating when they talked about the stress of the big day... Well, they’re not. The pressure of that wedding day is starting to feel more and more like a reality show, now if only... it were complete with makeup artists and hairstylists with cameras to follow like paparazzi.
4. NERVES. I seriously get worked up just thinking about the big day. It's like that feeling when you're walking into a new school on your first day and not knowing where your classroom is, or that feeling when you're about to board a plane, that feeling when you're about to make the biggest decision of your life. Yeah, that's how I feel right now as I am wedding planning. I really felt it the day that Daniel and I walked into Founder's Hall for the first time. I walked down the center aisle and stared at the stage where he will be standing on our wedding day. Nerves filled my stomach, of course I didn't tell him that... but the butterflies were there fluttering around and I was in heaven thinking... wow, this is really going to happen! But, those damn nerves are gonna get me on that day. Girls, make sure you make me eat so I don't pass out!
5. You will feel like your wedding isn’t your wedding. I feel like everyone has an opinion about how I do things, what the tables look like... how many people are invited, who's invited... etc. I am happy with my table settings, my simple yet elegant décor, and as a matter of fact... It's MY wedding. Well, mine and my fiancé's but stilllll. WE decide who comes, and WE decide who doesn't. If we wanted our second and third-and-fourth-aunts-uncles-cousins-step-brothers-step-sisters-ex-husbandsofcousins- that I see merely once a year then they'd be invited.... I am going crazy.AGH.
6. Since when did weddings get so gosh.darned. expensive? I mean, that's the industry to go into! $1,000 here and $500 there.. it's all adding up. About $7,000 in the end and we may have a complete wedding and that's with the bare minimum amount of people and even DIYing our own decorations. So do it yourself... Word to the non-wealthy, if you're wise. Make your own invites, save.the.dates, and decorations!
7. Holy time consuming... according to several websites the average bride spends 200+ hours planning her wedding. I seriously feel that 200 hours is way too much time but then again, I can see myself getting sucked in. Honestly, most of that time is probably spent on Pinterest, facebook and other social networking sites that are oh-so-wonderful wedding planning tools... but come on, 200 hours? That's a bit much. I found an article on Yahoo where it said that planning a wedding should, according to wedding consultants, take approximately 200 hours. I can’t begin to imagine the event that will come out of that time, but if I had my way, instead of spending 200 hours planning for a single day, I’d rather take some of that time (how about 25%, okay?) and plan for each and every day that comes after.. let's make every single day a special event for a whole year... how about that? I bet Pinterest has some awesome ideas for that! :)
8. People feel the need to give you advice about your wedding, your relationship, the marriage after. The annoying ones, the rude ones, the smart-ass ones, the ones who would rather see you single anway, the co-workers, the boss, the ones that aren't even coming and still....(don't know they aren't invited). The only ones you care for advice from are you parents, who have been happily married their whole life, the ones that are happy in a trustworthy relationship, and of course, your best friends who have always been there for you through thick and thin. I try to ignore most of it. You should ignore most of it. No one means to be a jerk to you, and they don’t mean to undermine your decisions, but it happens annnnnd, it happens a lot! When someone offers you advice, listen and politely thank them – whether they’re right or wrong isn’t the question. It’s whether things are right or wrong for you and your relationship. Or, simply just say... shut.the.hell.up. :)
9. Seriously, is it normal to worry about EVERYTHING? I worry about my tables not being decorated enough, my invites not being simple enough, my addresses being wrong, the cake being too small, the dresses being wrinkled. I worry about Lennon not walking down the aisle by herself, Byron not wanting to carry a pillow that's too girly. . I need to remember to take a deep breath and let it go. I have thought about this a million times over in my head... what if something goes wrong? And then you have all your married friends tell you, Kaila, something is bound to go wrong... let it go and smile. Riiiight. OCD Bride + something going wrong at "picture-perfect winter-wonderland wedding" = disaster. End of Story.
10. Weddings make people crazy, so I've heard. Please, don't let me go crazy... All I know is that I will have a drink in my hand, the man of my dreams by my side and best friends that will make damn sure nothing ruins my day.
