Wedding Bells

Okay... so I didn't quite keep up with this blogging thing as well as I'd hoped... but I'm going to try to be better. I can't promise I'll do it every day, but I will definitely try to make a more concerted effort.

However, there is a slight bump in the road in the horizon: I'm getting married in 18 days!

And for those of you who have ever planned (and coordinated and designed) your own wedding, you know that it's next to impossible to squeeze any extra time into the planning process once you get down to the last month. I'm finding that I have turned into "one of those brides" - the one that can't seem to focus on much else. At least I haven't turned into my Boss, a.k.a. "Bridezilla" (who you met in the previous post) - but I digress. That's quite another topic for another blog.

I was so proud of myself in the beginning! My fiance, Lance, and I got engaged last December 24th. After choosing November 5th as The Big Day, we knew we'd have plenty of time to get everything completed - we envisioned finalizing everything by summer so we could cruise into fall with nothing left to do.

Yeah right!

We did manage to get all the important decisions (church, reception site, florist, photographer) chosen by the end of February. I thought that would be the hard part.

Boy, was I wrong.

After the intial overwhelming sense that there really were a lot more decisions to make than I ever realized, I really thought I was doing well. By the beginning of summer, things were coming together: we had paid deposits to all the vendors; signed contracts; chosen flowers, bridesmaid dresses and the menu, etc.

All I kept thinking was that all of the "little things" would have to wait til the end - but how much trouble could those really be??

Uhh... try mind-blowingly time-consuming.

*sigh*

If, God forbid, something happens and I ever have to plan myself another wedding, I will take my Dad's advice and elope.

Now don't get me wrong: I'm looking forward to my wedding day more than any other day of my life. I think it will be beautiful and wonderful and I can't wait to be Mrs. Willis.

But I've realized that there's a lot more to a wedding than showing up in a pretty dress and smiling for pictures.

Having to go to work for 9 hours a day, plus trying to squeeze in "planning sessions" once I leave the office, really has been a chore. And we're not talking about big, wedding-changing decisions here. We're talking about things like who's going to be in charge of making sure all the gifts at the reception find their way to our house? Who gets to carry around my powder and lipstick so I will always be picture-ready during the reception? What type of goblets do we want to drink out of for our First Toast - crystal or silver?

Do you understand now?

Someone has to make all of those decisions. And unfortunately, that person is usually me.

Have you seen the show "Bridezillas"? If you haven't, you should. Seriously. Especially if you're a bride-to-be like myself. It really puts things into perspective for you.

Watching those women yell and scream at everyone within their BridezillaRadar is a scary sight. Their poor fiances. But it makes you wonder what kind of people they would be were they not planning a wedding for 900 of their "closest friends" and trying to decide between ivory and ekru napkins. Because at that moment, it looks as though it is the most important decision they have ever had to make - and that it's their fiance's fault that it's not already decided.

It makes my "bad days" seem not so bad. Truly, stressing out about what flavor cake we're going to choose for our cake topper (which, I will remind you, we won't even eat until our first anniversary) should not send me into hysterics the way it seems to be doing.

Once the Big Day is finally here, I know all of this stress will have been well worth it. I've heard that everything will go by in such a hurry, none of these little decisions will even matter. I just can't wait to finally marry my best friend.

Still... all of these little things do seem to make somewhat of a difference. Maybe I won't notice them, but I guarantee our guests will.

So I guess all I really want to know now is: do you think we should go with black or purple ink for our wedding programs?

-JessAndWill