The love of your life gets down on one knee and asks you to be his wife.
You get a big, beautiful, diamond ring and drink a lot of champagne.
You go around to all of your favorite stores and pick out things for people to buy you.
A lot of things.
Then there's the big, beautiful dress.
The veil.
The bridesmaids' dresses.
The reception site.
The flowers.
The cake.
The food.
The shoes.
The other shoes.
Making an appointment to taste the cake.
No, not this month. Two months from now.
The band.
The song list.
The photographer.
The photo list.
The priest.
The other priest.
The counseling sessions with the priest.
No, not that priest, the other priest.
The guest list.
The other guest list.
The other guest list.
The engagement pictures.
The save the dates.
No, the save the dates don't come with envelopes.
The envelopes.
The stamps for the envelopes.
The addressing of the envelopes.
The finding of the addresses.
The bridesmaids gifts.
The host and hostess gifts.
The hotel welcome bags.
The guest book.
The wedding website.
The hotel contract.
The salon contract.
The invitations.
The flower girl dresses.
The flower girl petals.
The flower girl baskets.
I don't like baskets.
The blushing bride.
I've got news for you, she isn't blushing. Her face is flushed because she's sleep-deprived, severely stressed, working out too much and not eating enough.
This week marks 8 months since Brian and I got engaged.
Don't let my rant fool you, they have been the best 8 months of my entire life. Probably better than all of the best moments of my entire life combined. Seriously. 8 really good months.
This isn't about not being grateful for how ridiculously blessed I am. I am more in love than I ever thought I could be with the kindest, smartest, funniest, most patient and loving man that I have ever known. My life is good. My life is really good.
But if one more married woman tells me to stop stressing out and to enjoy every minute of "this time," I'm going to sock her in the nose with my big, beautiful, diamond ring.
Come on, ladies, you've been here...you know what I am going through...give a sister a break.
I have been dreaming about this day since my dad's cousin, Diana, got married and she danced with me, twirling me around the dance floor.
I have hazy, camera flash memories of her full, white dress and long, beautiful veil. I don't remember much but I do remember knowing right then that I wanted to be a bride.
And I have had a very specific vision of this day. For the last 25 years.
Trust me. I know that when it is all said and done and I have a husband I love and beautiful photographs of us framed in our house I'm probably going to see error of my ways.
And don't think I don't tell myself that every single day. Don't think I don't tell myself how lucky I am and how trivial my stress is in the big scheme of things. But don't think it helps, either. Not yet. Not now.
I am trying to fit 25 years of dreams into one day.
One day that a lot of other people have been dreaming about for 25 years, too.
So, when you see me running around town without makeup on, my hair a sweaty mess...don't just see the big, beautiful, diamond ring. See the 25 years of dreams I'm trying to realize. And then get out of my way.
I've got a big, beautiful, diamond ring and I'm not afraid to use it.
I hear you, girlfriend! This engagement period comes with LOTS OF WORK attached!! We have 2 months and 2 weeks left and I feel like the list is getting longer instead of shorter and I sometimes wish that Mike and I had just eloped and then had a big party when we got back. But alas! It will all culminate in the best day/weekend ever and even if it's not perfect it will be perfect and no one will notice as long as they have a cocktail in their hand and some good tunes to dance to. Good luck to you, Brooks and know that you're not the only one ;)
ReplyDeleteLove,
Franny