weddings & such

Big news on the family front: another cousin engaged to be married! My cousin Beth shared the exciting news with the fam yesterday. She is thinking a summer-time wedding—and I already offered to give her my wedding planning notebook…
Actually, I never did have a notebook—it was more of a two-pocket folder that haphazardly collected anything from receipts to my random thoughts written on paper. I wouldn’t turn it over to anyone actually—it might scare them. ;)

Planning a wedding is quite the feat. Looking back on it now—I really am amazed that I did it literally in less than three months. But, on the other hand, I’ve had such ample opportunities in my life to be involved or part of weddings in one way or another, that I knew exactly what I wanted when my time came. I used to joke not only that had I done every role in a wedding besides being a bride, but that I had had my whole wedding thought out—all I needed was a groom!!! ;)

Silliness—but fun. Wedding planning can be stressful—the mountain of details alone could make someone seek professional counseling—but the end goal should be a wedding day that is fun. Fun not only for the family & friends, but for the groom and especially the bride. My mom asked me early on in the planning process, what was my dream wedding? My answer: an outdoor picnic with a minister thrown in. And that is what we had! There were a few bumps in the road of planning—my least favorite part was actually picking out the clothing for the groomsmen, the bridesmaids, and yes, I’ll admit it—even myself. I actually had more fun helping Jason pick out his suit than I did picking out my own dress! I think the whole thing of trying dresses on and not having them be the correct size, color, length, etc, made it really hard for me to fall in love with my dress right away. But my most favorite part of the wedding process was the invitations. My super creative cousin Andy designed them—so, they were original and unique. Then we continued the design onto our CDs and even our frisbees. It was so cool!

Ultimately though, the goal should NOT be the “perfect” wedding---but rather, a great marriage. Whenever I (or my mother!) started getting stressed out about the details of the wedding, I would say: “guess what? Does [this detail] really matter? Jason & I will still be married at the end of that day!” And true enough, we ARE married at the end of every day from that day forward, for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health—and that is what really counts.