The moment that diamond is placed on your ring finger, is a moment of pure bliss, and a moment that you have been longing for... well for forever. You get to share the news of your love with everyone that you love, and the bliss continues but only for a moment. Once the fleeting moment is over, you realize UMMMM I HAVE A WEDDING TO PLAN?!
Survival tip #1: Pick a date and stick with it. My husband and I chose 4 things that were absolute MUSTS, and agreed we would be satisfied with 3 of the 4 working out for our date. Make your list, and then make some calls!
Survival tip #2: Find help! Let me rephrase, find GOOD help. Find someone who understands your vision and who doesn't make your day about what they want. This also requires you to let your walls down, and let other people take care of things. Face the hard truth that you're not going to be able to do this alone. Decide what things you really want to do, and let your help assist with the rest.
Survival tip #3: Figure out a budget. Whether it's you paying for it, or a parent, or whoever. You NEED a budget. If you are cheap like me, you will want to scrape your eyeballs out of your head every time you get a quote from a vendor. A budget will help you prioritize. Without a budget, you are now entering the unnecessary, and never-ending money hole.
Survival tip #4: Guest list.... My husband and I each wrote down our whole families, and then all of the friends that we wanted to invite. Don't forget to ask your parents, or even grandparents if there is a couple or two they would like to invite. If they are helping you pay for the wedding, suck it up and send the invite. Our guest list was obviously far too large, so from there we narrowed down who we haven't spoken to in years, or maybe if you weren't invited to their wedding etc. For us, this was definitely the hardest uphill battle. But it worked out, it always does.
Survival tip #5: Learn to let go. This tip is one to remember long after your wedding planning is complete, the day has come and gone, and truthfully, all throughout your marriage. When you commit your life to sharing it with someone else, and absorbing someone else's family, you will need to learn to let go, and move on. Not everything will feel like it fell into perfect place, but when the day comes it just does. Not everything worked out the way I wanted, but I still had the most perfect, memorable, amazing, fairytale day.
The truth is, if at the end of the day (or many wedding planning days) you are going to be standing at the end of the aisle with the man of your dreams, then nothing else should matter. Spend your engagement magnifying why you are marrying this person, and why all the tears, bottles of wine, and sleepless nights are more than worth it. You wedding is one day, focus on the marriage that will last a lifetime. I promise, you can do this.
++Bonus tip: Want to know what saved my butt? It was having a short engagement. Less time to stress, and you get things done faster! I mean why draw it out? Isn't the goal of a wedding to be married?
