Hello everyone! I am still out of town visiting my lovely big and grandbig from my college sorority. I am having an incredible time visiting and catching up. I made my closest friends thus far during college and it is so nice to have time to visit with them. I will be headed home tomorrow and will still have a few days to get some things done before returning to work on Monday.
I’ve been writing bits and pieces of this for a few days because I have had so much on my mind. Disclaimer: this is quite honest and random. I am so excited about mine and Corey’s engagement. When I think about the kind of man I always wanted to marry, Corey is exactly what I always wanted. Even my Ken dolls (who married my Barbies in elaborate weddings with custom designed dresses by my amazingly talented seamstress mother) had character traits similar to Corey. I feel so lucky and blessed that I get to spend the rest of my life with him.
As excited as I am (and boy am I excited!), I’ve also been very emotional since getting engaged. Honestly, I’m kind of a sensitive person to begin with and I’ve actually been more emotional than usual since my gynecologist switched me to a high dose birth control six months ago! So now, since becoming engaged, I feel like I am quadruply as emotional as the average woman. I found myself getting teary-eyed browsing reception venues online this weekend thinking about what a special and sentimental day we have to look forward to. Two of Corey’s college friends live in the Manhattan area as well and he met up with them for dinner and drinks after work on Friday. Then he called me when he got home and told me how he was bragging about his wonderful fiance to all his friends and how he couldn’t wait to spend the rest of his life with me. Then I found myself welling up then, too, because I feel so lucky that I get to spend the rest of my life with him. Alright, engaged and married ladies – did you ever go through a point like this right after you first got engaged where everything wedding related made you very emotional?
I also find myself feeling immensely stressed as we take the first tiny steps in the planning process. For example, even amidst my excitement, picking a date is about to give me an ulcer. I always wanted a June wedding but New Jersey schools go until the end of June and I think, as a teacher, I should probably choose to get married sometime during the three entire months where I am already off work. July is a busy vacation month. What if someone important can’t make it? That leaves August. I decide I like the idea of an August wedding, especially after my cousin points out that it is an even numbered month. For some weird reason, I’ve always had a real problem with odd numbers (anyone else have a completely ridiculous quirk like this?) I don’t know why exactly – my guess is that it is because my parents sent me to Montessori school which has been shown to encourage certain OCD tendencies. Corey agrees that August sounds perfect, but only after trying to convince me that a Halloween wedding in October would be better. He did this just for the purpose of driving me crazy.
Then, I start to worry that sixteen months is not enough time to accomplish the 248 pages of tasks in my new Ultimate Wedding Planner & Organizer.The next summer would mean a twenty-eight month engagement and I love Corey so much that I can’t imagine waiting that long for him to be my husband. So, (get excited), we will tentatively be getting married in August 2012. This is dependent upon the availability of one of our top choices for both our ceremony and reception venues. Oh, and to help control my tendencies to stress about and overanalyze everything, I have a call into two of Charlotte’s most recommended wedding planners.
I know our wedding will be beautiful and perfect not matter when or where we get married. I know it will be the most special day of our lives regardless of the little details like location, flowers, etc. and I’m so grateful to have found someone as perfect for me as Corey is who loves me and wants to commit to spend the rest of his life with me. I know that we’ll share stories and pictures of this day with our children and grand children one day so I can’t help but feeling some pressure for everything to be absolutely perfect.
Former brides and brides-to-be: What was the most stressful part of planning your wedding? Did you ever feel overwhelmed? And, for fun because this is a very exciting time, what was your favorite thing about your wedding? For brides-to-be: What are you most looking forward to about your wedding?
Well, there you have it. A very honest and personal post about all the things that are on my mind right now.
Elizabeth,You have a lot on your plate right now. The move, the job, and now the wedding. Congrats on a tentative date. I got engaged in September, and we were married the following April….seven months. Those few weeks of not knowing a date is the most stressful. Once you have that down, and your venue picked out then things should calm down. Keep me posted. Where do you think you will get married. You can e=mail me. I agree that two years is a long time, but then again you are a lot younger than I was when I got married. I was 33. I think either year will work beautifully. It's just what you choose.I'm so excited for you.
Just stumbled across your blog and love it! Too cute! Sounds like you are feeling the pressure with wedding planning. Best advice I can give you is to remember it is about you and your boy. I spent way to much time trying to plan what others would like or want. I wish I could go back and give myself a good swift kick! Take a deep breath and put one foot in front of the other. You can do this! New follower and just wanted to say hi = )
Everything is going to turn out great. Now just take a deep breath and relax. Love you and hope you have having fun with your big and grandbig!!
Wedding planning was very stressful at times for me too! We actually changed our date a couple of times at the beginning because of availability of the venues. I had always dreamed of a June wedding as well, but we ended up having to get married in July. We did all of our planning in 7 months so we wouldn't have to wait an extra year! Just remember, at the end of the day, no matter what, you will be married!! 🙂