It’s WEDDING SEASON.

As May comes to a close we say hello to wedding season! My facebook feed is already flooded with wedding pictures and our fridge is decorated with save the dates and invitations to the weddings we’re invited to. Matt and I have 3 weddings to attend this year and as much as I love a good party I can’t help but be relieved that it’s not more than that. Being a guest at a wedding can be pricey and now that we are saving for our own wedding we are feelin’ it even more. However, now that I have the experience of writing a guest list I can really appreciate how much care and consideration goes into inviting people to a wedding.. especially when on a budget. If you’re invited to someones wedding it’s really quite an honor. This couple is saying that they want you there to share with them this huge special day in their lives. You may feel pressure to spend money on a gift and buy a new dress to wear, but it’s worth it to be able to witness something as special as a wedding. Also wedding receptions are a TON of fun.

Now that we are engaged and planning our own wedding I find myself paying a LOT of attention to the way other couples do things. Facebook is interesting in that it’s like having a peek into people’s weddings when you weren’t even invited! Maybe it makes me a creeper but I like that I can look through pics from people’s weddings and pick out things I like or don’t like. It’s strange that everything is so open and public now. I can be logged into facebook and a picture will pop up in my feed of a couple at the altar kissing.. posted in real time RIGHT after they married. Recently I’ve been very attracted to the idea of having an “unplugged ceremony.” I think I would really like guests at our wedding to leave the photography up to the professionals (We will be paying them a lot of money!) and just be in the moment and enjoy our ceremony. I want to look back at pictures from our ceremony and not see iPhones in the air and the last thing I want to be hearing when exchanging vows with Matt is the beeping of digital cameras or the “click” of a smartphone taking a pic. Once the kiss happens then it’s fair game. Maybe this makes me a control freak but I know that  it’s an increasingly common request among brides and grooms these days for guests to put the cell phones away and just enjoy. This is the one time when I get to call the shots and for the 20 mins or so that our ceremony lasts I want to go back to basics before people were glued to their phones and feeling the need to document every moment. I am as hooked to my iPhone as the next person and love taking pictures at weddings but I know that if a couple requested an “unplugged” ceremony I would respect their wishes. Here is good article about the perks of going “unplugged”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bridal-guide/why-you-might-want-to-con_b_3331528.html

Aside from oogling at people’s wedding pics on Facebook I know that attending weddings will feel different now that we are engaged. I already know that I’m going to be reading into every detail and making mental notes on what I do (or don’t) want to do at our own wedding. I think when throwing a party like this there is a lot of pressure to impress people. We will have quite a few guests traveling from out of town, state,  and even out of the country to come for our wedding so it’s important to us to make it worth their while!  This can feel a little daunting however when you’re on a budget and overwhelmed by the cost of everything. Weddings are expensive and there really is no way around it. Even people who plan all the DIY projects they can imagine often still end up spending more on supplies and craft materials than they would have had they just bought the items already made. I hope to find a good balance with this where I will do some DIY to add personal touches to our wedding but also knowing when it’s worth it to just fork over the money and let someone else do the work. This next couple months will involve a lot of brainstorming, list writing, and budgeting for things like decorations, flowers, and favors. While we want to make guests happy ultimately we don’t want to be buried in debt after this is over and we are inviting people who love us and (we hope) are genuinely happy for us and want to be there for more that the free food and booze. We can’t wait to share our wedding day with the friends and family we’re inviting and just want it to be the best it can be for what we can afford!

As the weekend approaches I’m getting more and more excited to go home with Matt. He hasn’t been home in a long time so he’s excited to see our families and we are both SUPER pumped to go to Dinosaur BBQ and have a campfire Saturday night at my parent’s house. Neither of us have seen our families since getting engaged so it will be fun to see everyone and my family will finally get to see my ring. That reminds me that I’m in desperate need of a manicure. Never in my life have I been more self conscious about the condition of my fingernails! I am also getting more excited about dress shopping on Saturday. I have been feeling some mixed emotions and worrying that I’m going to be nervous or self conscious and not like the way I look in the dresses but I need to let that go and just enjoy it. These dresses are designed to make you look good and I need to just be open minded and not so critical of myself. This is a once in a lifetime experience and I need to enjoy every moment.