So who else out there is trying to plan a wedding? No, you don’t need to raise your hands. I can tell you who are by that panic-stricken look on your face. It’s the same one I see in the mirror most days, so it’s easy for me to recognize it.
And notice I didn’t say “planning a wedding.” I think the world “try” is really key here. I’m hoping you aren’t going through the same experiences I am, but I’m hitting a lot of brick walls. Sometimes it’s money, sometimes it’s simple logistics, but either way I find myself with a bigger and bigger bubble of anxiety in my chest every time I sit down to work on this shindig.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited. This will be my second marriage, but I’ve never had a wedding before. I started dreaming about my wedding day when I was about 10. Whenever we went to JCPenney and they had a new bridal catalog, I would always pick it up and take it home. I spent hours in my room perusing the beautiful dresses, picking out which headpiece I would wear, and dreaming about the handsome, romantic man that I would marry someday.
I do, in fact, have a handsome, romantic man that is willing to marry me. What I don’t have is a dress. Our goal is to have the dress picked out by the end of this month. There will be many decisions that revolve around the dress, so it’s an important one. At first, I figured pinning down a dress would be easy to do, but so far I’m pretty wrong.
I don’t like to follow current trends when it comes to, well, anything. And I’m not much of a shopper, so even though I live in a world where I can buy anything I want to online, it’s just not the most practical thing to buy a wedding dress online (believe me, I’ve tried). I’ve gone onto eBay and typed in “unique wedding dresses.” This resulted in an odd mix, including a short number made of see-through lace and ostrich feathers. I guess this means I’m not that unique. Go ahead and do it yourself, I’ll wait.
The big thing in dresses seems to be going strapless. Since I can’t envision myself having to yank my dress back up every 30 seconds, I’m not interested. (Yes, yes, I know I can have straps put on. But then it isn’t strapless, is it?)
And who decided that bridal gowns should be backless???? Why does anybody need to see my back? “Oh, hello, welcome to my wedding. Check out my shoulder blades. Do you feel a draft?”
So wish me luck next week as I punch my agoraphobia into submission and go dress shopping.
While waiting for my upcoming live action search for a dress (which I look at with equal parts excitement and dread), I’ve been trying to make other little decisions. What will our first dance song be? Hmmm… What kind of cake do we want? Do we even want cake? Or should we have pie? Uh…. What kind of food will we serve? Considering they probably won’t be happy with leftovers from my fridge, I really don’t know…..
At least I have the groom picked out!
Ashley O'Melia, Author 