Don’t misunderstand the title, I am thrilled that Jerrad and I are getting married. We’ve been talking about it for a while, and I knew the proposal was coming. I was still surprised when it happened, but that’s cause he is so awesomely sneaky.

But what is surprising me the most is what happens when you tell people you are getting married. The questions immediately start. Have you set a date? How did he propose? Where is the wedding going to be? Where are you going for your honeymoon? What are your colors going to be? And what the hell does that even mean? Is this the prom?

Then, I started checking out some of those “wedding planning” websites. We have decided on very few things, but one is that we want a small, simple ceremony. We have a tentative date (March 29 – pencil it in. If you are reading this, you are probably invited). But, I’m a “bride” now, right? I guess I should at least check out what I am supposed to be doing.

So, before I continue it is important that I put some things out there. Even though I have no idea how many of you will actually read this blog, or will continue reading. I am going to be posting blogs about this whole wedding planning thing because I think it is the only way to keep my sanity. And Jerrad’s.

As he said on Monday (exactly one day after we got engaged) “my head is starting to hurt”. Also, ever since I wrote my first blog about a year ago, I’ve been intending to write more. I just never seem to get around to it. I think of plenty of funny (and serious) things to write about. I just don’t do it.

Back to the things you should know:

1.) I am divorced. (and annulled if that’s important to anyone.) I got married when I was 24. My parents (and his) paid for an absolutely beautiful wedding & reception. I had a wedding planner, an expensive dress with a crystal encrusted train, doves were released after we said our vows, and my four bridesmaids wore purple dresses.

OK, I know how it sounds, but the dresses were not that bad. (Aimee, back me up here) This is not my first rodeo. (I have always wanted to say that!) My first marriage ended quickly and badly. Unfortunately I was so caught up in the wedding stuff I didn’t even stop to think about the ginormous mistake I was making.

2.) We are footing pretty much the entire bill ourselves. Hmm, let’s see, so do I want an extravagant wedding with 4 attendants again, or do I want a down payment on a house that we will raise our children in?

3.) I have come to realize, maybe with age, maybe with experience, maybe a combination of both, that the “wedding” is not that important. The ceremony, the vows we make to each other in front of God and our loved ones, is the important thing. Fortunately Jerrad agrees with me on all points.

Except he did say “can we have zero attendants?” umm, no – someone needs to witness on the marriage license

So, here’s the thing. I absolutely refuse to spend the next 10 months stressing about the guest list, the invitations, the color of the centerpieces on the tables at the reception, etc. I will, however, keep looking at those sites.

Why? I still want to look beautiful on my wedding day (and lose 20 pounds!) but without the dress with the crystal encrusted train.

I don’t want to make any huge etiquette mistakes.

I want ideas on the wording for the invitations.

But, the bottom line is, we want all the people we love there and we want the reception to be a really really fun party.

Oh, the other reason I will keep looking at those sites is because I plan to make fun of stuff like this:

Tags: engagement, The Wedding, wedding planning

This entry was posted by Cathy on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 at 5:02 pm and is filed under The Wedding. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.