Wedding Paralysis

It's no secret that I love all things wedding. I have been watching wedding shows for years, I read wedding blogs (shout out to weddingbee!), and may or may not have saved the occasional inspiration or idea pre-engagement. I even planned weddings in my head for my not yet engaged friends, for chrissakes!

So naturally I thought that when I got engaged, I would be a modern day Martha Stewart. Planning the wedding would come so easily. Hmmmm, not so much. Instead, I looked more like this:

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You see, my good people, daydreaming about a wedding and actually planning one are two very different things I learned. While I dreamed of color schemes, chiavari chairs, venues and such, I never had to actually pick one and stick with it. There were so many different weddings I imagined and now I get. just. one. One color scheme. One venue. And I found that overwhelming. Having to actually make decisions, check them off the list and move on was something I hadn't considered in my wedding dreamland.

For the first 3-4 weeks of our engagement, I had a serious case of wedding paralysis and I was reluctant to come out of it. I didn't want to leave my engagement bliss to begin the research and recognizance that planning a wedding required. At all.

Lucky for you, I snapped out of it and the planning has commenced. But, those initial feelings of being totally overwhelmed were a shocker to me and they are never too far away in this roller coaster world that is wedding planning.

Engagement Bliss

There is definitely something that comes over you when you become engaged. Some call it bliss. I'm not sure what it should be called, but there is a certain giddiness that happens. Even couples like us, who have been together for a while, living together even, get giddy. The argument could be made that we knew it was coming and that's true. I knew it was coming someday. But once you become engaged, someday is today - and just like that, it's different.

I wasn't surprised so much by our giddiness, it was the happiness displayed by others that I found not so much surprising but so heartwarming. People have been genuinely excited, elated, and overjoyed for us. No one cares how I'm doing anymore, they want to know how the wedding's doing! And, I love it.

When my 11-year old niece called to check our wedding colors because she had fallen in love with a dress and wanted to know if it would match, I realized, "we're engaged!" How cute is that!? Nevermind that it had only been 3 weeks. I have gotten several emails from my cousin V (the fashion maven) pointing me to bridal lines that I should check out. FB friends check in on me and offer suggestions. We've gotten several cards and one special package.

I was only able to see one person's reaction to our engagement. Unfortunately, I don't live near my loved ones so the announcements came via phone and email. If I had it to do again, I would wait till I could see their reactions in person. Luckily for me, one of my cousins didn't get the memo and I was treated to her totally spontaneous reaction - sweet!

A few days later, I received this in the mail from said cousin J. It was so special and it made me so emotional about the planning that lay ahead of us.

A completely personalized card front and back offering well wishes and advice. I love the quote she included - "Marriage is that relation between a man and woman in which the independence is equal, the dependence is mutual, and the obligation reciprocal." - Anspacher.

Two wedding mags complete with a note.

She actually went through the mag highlighting things and offering me ideas along the way. So sweet!

And...the most important note on the back.

Thanks, Jenny. Your gift was so thoughtful. I was so touched by the personalization, and the time you took to think of us. What a way kick off our planning!