Fairly early on in our engagement, we decided that we wanted an early spring (late March/early April) wedding. This is considered off season for our preferred geographical location and thus, would help keep costs down, but would also give us a decent chance of having nice weather. With a general date set, I knew the serious planning was upon us.
When you're newly engaged and you have no idea how to even begin to plan your wedding, you have several options to get started.
Wedding websites are the most accessible option. But, accessible is not always good. The sites' "real weddings" may have been thrown by actual couples getting married (not hired actors or drones) but these people are in no way "real". Even the supposedly simple, understated weddings have a level of coordination and detail that a "real" person would never be able to achieve.
The next available option to early brides-to-be are wedding magazines. I bought a couple of these and quickly realized that they're not so much magazines that inform you of the planning process, but are basically 200 page ads for hideous wedding gowns. I hoped to find at least one magazine that would be useful for someone who has no clue, and my aunt (who recently planned a wedding of her own) suggested I pick up a copy of "Real Simple Weddings". I thought, "Real Simple...sounds like this will, you know, make things simple".
"Real Simple" is basically a book of lists...what you should do 12 months out (everything!), 9 months out (minor details for everything!), 6 months out (firm up all of your minor details for everything!), 3 months out (begin a complete physical makeover!) and one month out (prepare for mayhem!). While I appreciated the organization, I felt completed overwhelmed by page 3. I was in full on panic attack mode, slammed the magazine shut and left it at that. This magazine still mocks me daily from my coffee table.
None of these have helped so far, so next time I post, I'll talk about the worst decision I've made so far: going to a bridal show.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Back to the Beginning
So...we're about 5 months into our engagement. We have not chosen a venue for our ceremony or reception or a caterer...or attire...or a photographer...or, well basically anything. And, God knows, I certainly don't have a "vision" or a preferred color scheme.
What we do know is that we want to get married in about a year (late March/early April 2011), which leaves us (really, me, let's be honest) a year to get this whole thing together. This is particularly daunting as I'm pretty much what my friends have always called an "un-girl" or an "anti-girly girl". Next to all of my close friends are guys (this will problematic when creating my half of the wedding party), I love to watch sports at sports bars, and while I will admit to watching reality TV (hello, Tim Gunn...I love you!), I am probably the least girly girl most people know (unless they've met my sister).
When it comes to weddings, I never had dreams about what my "big day" would be when I was 5 years old and I definitely don't have a wedding binder (although I learned quickly that a bride to be will acquire so many pamphlets and business cards with very important information that a binder isn't some pretentious thing, as I originally thought - it's absolutely necessary to keep everything in one place so I don't drown in a sea of loose paper). I certainly don't have a color board and I haven't really figured out what has inspired our wedding (um...that I love my fiance and we're getting married?) or what our theme will be. (Side note...you should figure these things out before going to a bridal show or else you will be treated as if you have the bubonic plague by vendors.)
I figure that keeping a blog will be a nice way for me to vent my frustrations as we plan, maybe get some feedback from other brides who have known what they wanted for their wedding from the time they were fetuses, and really, will just be a way for us to have an account of this whole process so that when we're finally married, I can look back and see that all of my "pulling my hair out" moments were worth it.
I guess it would be helpful to backtrack a bit. My fiance (I really hate that word, by the way) and I have been together for 10 and a half years. We met during October of our first year of college. Our first date was a walk around campus, and we ended up back in his friend's dorm room watching WWE Monday Night Raw. We've basically been inseparable ever since. We've lived together for the past 7 years or so, and it's never really been a question that we'd get married some day.
Our anniversary is October 13th (we're actually not even sure this is the right date...we just knew we decided to be "boyfriend and girlfriend" sometime around October 13th and felt like we needed to have an official date). The night before our 10th anniversary, we went to our favorite bar for dinner and came back to our apartment. Fifteen minutes before midnight on Oct. 12th (so as to avoid waiting 10 years to ask me), my fiance said, "I have a question for you."
Me (while folding laundry): "Okay...shoot."
Him: "Come over here and sit next to me." And I did. "Will you marry me?"
Me: "Are you serious? You're seriously asking me right now?"
Yeah...I have some tact...really sensitive to the fact that this is likely one of the more nerve wracking moments in his life.
Him: "Yeah, I'm really serious." A look of panic sets in.
Me: "Yes, yes of course!"
Really touching, I know.
I'm an idiot.
And so began our journey as an engaged couple. We called our parents, called/texted our friends, and now, we begin the process of putting a huge ceremony and party together.
Over the next couple weeks, I hope to get caught up on what we've done so far (not much) and continue to post as we plan and discuss our blurry eyed vision. It should be a ton of fun.
What we do know is that we want to get married in about a year (late March/early April 2011), which leaves us (really, me, let's be honest) a year to get this whole thing together. This is particularly daunting as I'm pretty much what my friends have always called an "un-girl" or an "anti-girly girl". Next to all of my close friends are guys (this will problematic when creating my half of the wedding party), I love to watch sports at sports bars, and while I will admit to watching reality TV (hello, Tim Gunn...I love you!), I am probably the least girly girl most people know (unless they've met my sister).
When it comes to weddings, I never had dreams about what my "big day" would be when I was 5 years old and I definitely don't have a wedding binder (although I learned quickly that a bride to be will acquire so many pamphlets and business cards with very important information that a binder isn't some pretentious thing, as I originally thought - it's absolutely necessary to keep everything in one place so I don't drown in a sea of loose paper). I certainly don't have a color board and I haven't really figured out what has inspired our wedding (um...that I love my fiance and we're getting married?) or what our theme will be. (Side note...you should figure these things out before going to a bridal show or else you will be treated as if you have the bubonic plague by vendors.)
I figure that keeping a blog will be a nice way for me to vent my frustrations as we plan, maybe get some feedback from other brides who have known what they wanted for their wedding from the time they were fetuses, and really, will just be a way for us to have an account of this whole process so that when we're finally married, I can look back and see that all of my "pulling my hair out" moments were worth it.
I guess it would be helpful to backtrack a bit. My fiance (I really hate that word, by the way) and I have been together for 10 and a half years. We met during October of our first year of college. Our first date was a walk around campus, and we ended up back in his friend's dorm room watching WWE Monday Night Raw. We've basically been inseparable ever since. We've lived together for the past 7 years or so, and it's never really been a question that we'd get married some day.
Our anniversary is October 13th (we're actually not even sure this is the right date...we just knew we decided to be "boyfriend and girlfriend" sometime around October 13th and felt like we needed to have an official date). The night before our 10th anniversary, we went to our favorite bar for dinner and came back to our apartment. Fifteen minutes before midnight on Oct. 12th (so as to avoid waiting 10 years to ask me), my fiance said, "I have a question for you."
Me (while folding laundry): "Okay...shoot."
Him: "Come over here and sit next to me." And I did. "Will you marry me?"
Me: "Are you serious? You're seriously asking me right now?"
Yeah...I have some tact...really sensitive to the fact that this is likely one of the more nerve wracking moments in his life.
Him: "Yeah, I'm really serious." A look of panic sets in.
Me: "Yes, yes of course!"
Really touching, I know.
I'm an idiot.
And so began our journey as an engaged couple. We called our parents, called/texted our friends, and now, we begin the process of putting a huge ceremony and party together.
Over the next couple weeks, I hope to get caught up on what we've done so far (not much) and continue to post as we plan and discuss our blurry eyed vision. It should be a ton of fun.
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