My Much-Awaited Debut

Hello? hello? Is this thing on?

Ah, ok, that's better.

Groom-ish guy here, chiming in with a tip: Don't tell a prospective bride she's stressing out, particularly when it happens to be true.

Everyone says planning a wedding is a big job, but the fullness of that reality doesn't really sink in until it begins. I thought planning the engagement was going to be the end of the hard part, and I didn't really have any anxiety about that at all. At least not until we got to the place, I put my hand in the bag, grasped the velvet box, and at that moment my mind went blank. To my credit I did manage to form intelligible words, but all of the suave and romantic things I had planned to say were gone as if they had cought the last helicopter out of Saigon. Fortunately, the event had the intended end result so I guess what I said was good enough.

As we basked in our newly-engaged glory a truth hit me: That was not the end. Fifty-seven months of dating does not culminate in an engagement. There is a wedding after that and someone has to plan it. Most grooms (still a strange sounding word to self-apply) are happy to be let off the hook and let the girls take over at this point but I figure hey this is my one chance to see what a wedding looks like from the other side (unless we consider reality television, which I rarely do) so I thought it would be fun to take a more hands-on approach, within reason. Also someone needs to make sure that there is a sufficient supply of refreshment at the reception, if you catch my drift.

We've only been doing this for three weeks now but plans have shifted to and fro so hopefully we are nearing a point where the basics are settled on and the big aspects can be addressed. We've looked at a few venues so far and are thinking outdoors but keeping options open at this point. Yesterday we went and checked out the tres fabuleux 7F Lodge in Wellborn, and when checking with the lady in the office about available dates I said something to the effect that we hadn't decided on a date yet but it was a ways off, next summer at the earliest. She matter of factly noted that that wasn't "a ways off" at all, and it became immediately clear to me that next July in a wedding planner's eyes might as well be next Tuesday. It's a completely different mindset.

So far everything is going well, but searching Google for wedding resources can be like drinking from a firehose. Weddings are a huge industry and the amount of stuff out there is a bit overwhelming. It reminds me a bit of a recent discussion I had with a customer about painting, and he was nonplussed at the lack of availibility of White Paint. Sure you can go to Lowe's and look at 387 different shades of neutral blankness. What you can't do, however, is buy White.

I'm beginning to think that planning a wedding is going be a bit like trying to buy White Paint, but if everyone out there will just remember my earlier advice I think we'll be ok: Don't tell a prospective groom he's stressing out, particularly if it happens to be true.

That is what I said, isn't it?

Things I love...

Good evening family, friends, and whomever else in cyberspace might be listening...

Happy fourth of July! I hope your holiday weekend has been wonderful!

First, the credit for the 'title photo' belongs to Jessamyn Harris photography via the stylemepretty.com wedding blog. Gotta give credit where its due... great picture! And, definitely something I love... milk glass & flowers (2 for 1)! This picture is truly SO me. Its simple, beautiful, and embodies something antique, traditional, and classy. I always feel like an old soul.

I am currently reading (in addition to the, ahem, 3 to 5 other books on my nightstand daily) Altared, edited by Colleen Curran. I very definitely recommend it to anyone interested in a good story relating to weddings, life, love.

I have spent the last three weeks of newly-blinged-left-hand happiness enveloped in a sea of internet frenzy. Who knew there were so many darned wedding websites? All full of great information and ideas (okay, most anyway). So, in my point-and-click mania I found a couple of standouts. On the photography side, though these peeps are quite far away and won't be on hand for our party, they are super cool!

http://www.justinmarantz.com/

This is the first part of their biography as printed on their website:

He picks up our new Crate & Barrel Rococo stripe dish towel and snaps it lovingly in the general direction of my backside. My posterior. Derriere if you prefer. "You wash, and I'll dry." For us, this one simple statement has become much less about a division of labor and more like a mantra for life. He's the rock in our marriage, but he never forgets that rock would be nothing without the roll. And I'm that high wire tight rope walker, who always remembers how lucky she is to have him as her soft place to land. I'm up and I'm down and everywhere in between and he just stays the course, steadily pushing us, moving us further along the journey. He may be dirty dishes and kitchen cabinet doors standing wide open, but I'm three day old glasses of milk on the nightstand. And for us, it just works. Because at the end of the day, we know we'll fix it all. Together. We're better together. We're stronger together. And together we know we can always count on... "You wash, and I'll dry."

I couldn't read that without thinking of Andy & me. I don't know about the milk, per se, but I have been known to harbor some unintentional science experiments from time to time :-p

So, in the end, I'm not sure who will read this and to anyone who does there are NO guarantees it will even be entertaining or useful in any way... but, its fun! Stay tuned, maybe I'll get more clever as time goes on! :)