Month-aversary

Tomorrow will be exactly one month since MJ and I decided to get married, and what a month it has been! I am so grateful for the week we took to enjoy the news for ourselves and not tell anyone about the pending nuptials. We originally waited to tell people because we wanted to tell our families first (his by phone since they are so far away and mine in person because they’re within day-trip distance), and it took about a week to arrange everyone’s schedules. At the time, I was bursting with excitement and was really frustrated about keeping the news quiet, but now I appreciate that quiet week of celebrating together, getting used to the idea of getting married, and talking about what our wedding priorities would be.

Because, as soon as people heard the big news, things have been anything but quiet! It’s been a big shock to move from our normally very private day-to-day lives into the “wedding planning spotlight.” Who knew that announcing an engagement was code for inviting everyone you’ve ever met to get super-involved with every part of your life? Of course, I don’t mean that in a bad way because nearly everyone has come forward with copious amounts of love and support and helpful advice. Fully 98% of people’s reactions have included things like trying to run me down with a shopping cart in Kroger to give me a hug or getting phone calls from long-lost friends or being offered (unsolicited!) help with venues/favors/food or having our having our sisters offer up their wedding planning expertise. And, really, 98% is a pretty freakin’ awesome winning average in any field. So, yeah, life is really pretty good.

I just had no idea what happens after you tell people you’re getting married. And, if I (who grew up in the middle of the wedding business) was surprised, you might imagine that MJ (who never gave much thought to weddings before the last year or so) has been really, really, surprised. The good news is that we have a wonderfully solid, healthy relationship and that wedding planning stress certainly isn’t the worst stress we could have. So, we’re taking deep breaths and trying to get used to the attention. As long as we end up surrounded by loving community on our big day, we’ll be happy. Right? Right!

As far as actual wedding plans go, though, we have actually managed to make a few decisions in the midst of the madness. YAY! More on those plans later.