20 June 2009

Wedding Decisions

As Eric and I have been planning our wedding, I am amazed at the range of emotions, decisions, and emotional-decisions that come with the package. Part of it is that we are really trying to focus long-term (as in marriage) with our choices, and not just focus on the wedding day. However, there are still some choices, like invitations and flowers that literally are just for a few hours.

My biggest problem(s) lies here:
  1. the wedding day is just a day, but it is the only wedding day we get: This means I only have one chance to "do it up right", exactly how I've always pictured it for the last twenty years. This has proven to be way more difficult that I ever thought. I have always had a vision for what I wanted my wedding day to be like (my home parish in Florida, a big ballroom reception, plated seated dinner, and a 6+ hour reception with dinner and dancing into the night, formal invitations, you get the point). College study breaks were filled with my roommates and I spending hours flipping through wedding magazines declaring our exact wedding plans before each other. As I have grown older, styles have changed, I have changed, and Eric brings his own vision too. Things are turning out to be different than my twenty-year dream, so I find myself being a little disappointed or afraid that I will look back and regret some choices we made in the planning process, even though I am very, very excited for the way things are coming together (most of you know that I am a walking contradiction of thoughts & emotions. case and point).
  2. the wedding day is just a day: it really is only a day. At the end of it all, Eric and I will be married. We'll have some new towels and new dishes, and best of all, a new life together! So, why do I find my self constantly worried that "our day" isn't coming together exactly as I pictured it when I was 5? Seriously? It's JUST a DAY!
  3. Snobby? Ungrateful? In all of this, I have realized that my tastes and preferences are a bit snobby. My parents are in a fortunate position that I they can have a very nice wedding for us, and I want them to know how grateful I am for everything!
Okay. Whew. Hopefully now I can focus on the Sacramental nature, fun, celebration, etc of the wedding and stop worrying that dinner will be served in a buffet rather than a sit down dinner :)

2 comments:

Lisa L. said...

I think everyone goes through the same thing when planning their wedding. We planned ours so fast (less than 2 months) that I was sure that we'd get there and realize there was no cake or something. But I found if you just accept the fact that something will go wrong, then it takes a lot less stress out of it. At our wedding, I had Jill spend hours mixing cds with songs I had hand picked. Then I forgot to have my sister bring her sound system. So nobody could hear the music. And it was fine. Oh yea, and we and all of our families and about 1/2 the guests got a stomach flu the day after the wedding. Honestly my wedding day was somewhat of a blur, because I was so happy and so in love that I didn't even notice all the things. I remember seeing a picture of my wedding cake and thinking, oh that's what it looked like? I don't even remember. But that said, it was a wonderful day I was glad that I had done so much work to plan it, and it was ok that everything wasn't perfect. Sorry for the novel, just some thoughts I had when I read your post.

Ashley // Our Little Apartment said...

Oh I have so much to say on this.

On one hand - it would take about 2 years of serious planning to have the Perfect Wedding.

On the other hand - would I ever want that much emphasis on one day?

It's so difficult.