Wedding Planning: Reflections & a Reality Check

When one talks about wedding planning, most often you receive wave of clapping and exclamations of congratulations for your journey. This is something I experience often at work with my high school students who themselves frequently daydream about their future wedding. At this point wedding planning has become a constant thought in my head - being engaged now for over a year. With the wedding just a few months away, the reality of the situation has set in. The fact that I am planning the biggest party of my life feels exciting, while also intimidating and overwhelming at times. Through this blog, I share with you often the details of my life - how things are going, my new favorite restaurant, and fun travel stories. So with the planning of such a big event, it felt like I needed to share my experiences with you and one that is not painted with rose colored glasses, because that's not who I am. Instead, I want to share the ups and downs of this whole process.

As I reflect back on wedding planning as a whole, there are bright moments that stand out in my mind - making exuberant phone calls to Mikael and my close family and friends to share the news on our engagement night, buying my wedding dress, finding the perfect venue. Those are big events that really stand out. Smaller, less clearly over the top moments also rise to the forefront of my mind - watching Mikael watercolor for the first time as he helped with our wedding invitations or tasting the delicious confections of Nothing Bundt Cakes. Wedding planning has been a blast and the feeling of using our creative skills to craft a wedding dream into reality has been something I'd never trade for the world.

Looking back from month 14 of my engagement, the one thing I ultimately wish I had invested in was a wedding planner. Initially, I set out with too many ideas and expectations, believing that the planning wouldn't take too much time or mental capacity. I'm fairly crafty, well organized, and a go-getter, so this seemed like no problem, especially with all of the months I had to plan! Yet, the planning and execution has been more than I expected. It's perhaps a problem of my own over-ambitious attitude, but at this point I have taken on many tasks that others may have left to the professionals. I designed the save the dates, designed the wedding invitations and watercolored the paper, and chosen a wedding venue that is not all-inclusive, meaning that Mikael and I have had to find outside vendors for food, staff, rentals, drinks, and dessert. It's become a complicated and time-consuming process.

As I move forward, the bigger tasks (band, photographer, venue) have wrapped up, but it's the smaller details that take more time and the fear of forgetting something - coffee cups, timing for moving from ceremony to reception, etc. Frankly, sometimes these tasks can feel overwhelming. Perhaps it's not even the ever-building to-do list, but rather maybe again that trepidation as the list becomes shorter and shorter that an important task has been overlooked. I know that naturally there are going to be things that get forgotten and hopefully on the actual wedding day I will be able to blow-off those trip-ups easily. But it's the hope of avoiding those problems as much as possible on the day of that consumes most of my mind these days.

Thankfully, I have incredibly supportive close friends and family. My mom is reliable for a quick phone call to talk over wedding logistics and anything I might have missed. On the other hand, Mikael, my fabulous fiance, does a fantastic job helping with many of the pressing tasks to lighten my load. He also has this amazing calmness about him that helps ground me in those moments of feeling overwhelmed and reminding me of the joyous time that this all is. The bridal party and groomsmen have also been incredibly supportive, helping where they can and taking over tasks that I can hand over to them. I honestly, know that I couldn't do it without them. All our closest friends and family have humbled me with their unquestioning generosity and support throughout this entire process.

These moments of fear and overwhelming are easily exchanged for the joy and excitement that goes along with wedding planning. I can readily say that these positive feelings by far outweigh those of negativity. I know ultimately, this will all lead to a beautiful day that ends with a celebration of our nuptials with our closest family and friends. There is a good reason for why I care so much and I cannot wait until that moment when I walk out onto the rooftop and see Mikael standing stark against the background of the brick, stone, and glass buildings of downtown. Also, I am so excited to spend the night eating delicious food and dancing to our favorite music with our best friends and family. Mikael and the prospect of our future helps make all of this worth it - bringing clarity and a sense of purpose to all of this planning.

Have a great week and I'll catch you later with a Working Wardrobe post!

xoxo
Annie