Wedding Planning: Truths from a Current (Biased!) Planner

So I pondered about whether or not I should make a 'I'm so smart and know what I'm talking about post' about something I've not finished doing yet.

Heck all my friends (or so it seems) just got married. They know how this works. They don't need to read this. BUT- this is a biased truth list. This is a list of truths I have discovered.

I'm feeling a little ridiculous and since I'm in the throes of this whole planning thing, I'm going to make this list and hope you all enjoy trying to figure out what I'm talking about.

So sorry. And for those of you who have been here and done this before- if you feel I'm oversimplifying, incorrectly describing, or basically looking like a fool, please comment that I'm at least a good looking fool, deal?

And in the end, I'm the one who will regret ordering 27 maroon balloons for ambiance, using chinese handcuffs as favors, walking down the isle to 'Ain't That a Kick in the Head', etc etc.

Alright. I'll be vague intentionally in some areas... I don't want to give too much away, you see ;)

So here we go:

TRUTH: Picking out a theme was incredibly fun AND shopping for stuff was an adventure worth redoing.

TRUTH: The system can be cheated.

TRUTH: Handmade bouquet? Waaaaaaay pretty.

TRUTH: Food doesn't have to be 'food', exactly. You'll see what I mean ;)

TRUTH: Personalizing things to make them 'you' is way more fun that being traditional.

TRUTH: When planning the ceremony, it doesn't have to be 45 minutes long. Or it can. But it won't be for us ;)

TRUTH: The best of the best came from yesteryear.

TRUTH: Everyone I know has done mason jars. DON'T DO MASON JARS. PLEASE. I BEG.

TRUTH: Color can be done. And in big, bright bunches.

TRUTH: Gold and silver are and always will be classy

TRUTH: MicrosoftWord and printers and font are nice to have.

TRUTH: Sequins and bangle things are always welcome.

TRUTH: I cannot play 'All of Me' or 'Thousand Years'. I cannot.

TRUTH: You don't need a year or more to be engaged so you can plan a wedding. You don't!

TRUTH: You CAN plan a wedding on a budget. And yes, it will still look good.

TRUTH: Things take some figuring out, but nothing needs to be extremely, hair plucking, bridezilla-like stressful. It just doesn't!

TRUTH: Glitter and toothpicks are time consuming, but so so so worth it.

TRUTH: I need to finish this up so I can go use said glitter and toothpicks.

All in all, I'm really enjoying the whole wedding process. However, I'm really looking forward to what comes afterwards- happily ever after. Forever!

What are some things you learned/discovered/knew while wedding planning?

Conscious: Was, Is, Will Be

Breathing. You've been doing it for a good long while. You don't have to think about it. It just sort of happens... like the millions of other little things that happen in your body that you take for granted.

Cool, wouldn't you say? Because honestly, we'd be a little bit at a loss without breathing. It would be the end of life. Shazzam. Kaboom. No more.

Now let's pretend we could only breathe IF we were conscious of doing it all the time. Or maybe we had to learn how to breathe and in learning how to breathe, we had to constantly be conscious of breathing.

If (in this scenario) you were to forget about breathing, it would start to suck the life out of you and things would become very unpleasant until you get things back on track again. If you weren't conscious of breathing, things would start to die off.

Okay. Nice story. Where am I going with all this?

The other half in your relationship is a part of you that you have to be conscious of. Not in a hyper-freak-control-maniac sort of way, but in a way that looks out for, honors, protects, seeks to serve, seeks to love, and seeks to understand better sort of way.

Breathing is nice, but we take it for granted. A lot. Which is okay, because our lungs keep on pumping along just the same. We don't have to be conscious of how to breathe, how to breathe well, etc etc (short of being in drastic situations, but you get me).

THE POINT: lack of consciousness in your relationship is like our breathing/consciousness scenario. If  you are not aware of what is important and consciously striving for it, things will start to die off.

What sort of important things?

Communication.

The other person's needs.

Acting respectfully and kindly in all situations.

Carrying yourself in a way that reflects well on both you and your other half.

Shall I go on?

Make it your mission to make things God honoring, spectacular, and always on the upside. Nope. It's not easy. Nope. I'm not perfect at it. But that won't stop me from working at it, it won't stop me from constantly seeking God in this.

Are you conscious or comatose?