Anxiety is slowly creeping in. In just a few short months the big day will unfold and about a year’s planning will unravel into what the lovely wedding florist assures me is going to be magical. So far, preparations have been far from the nightmare I expected and was warned of. Maybe it’s because we started planning early – for starters, we locked down the venues months before the proposal. I know – where’s the romance and spontaneity in that? But after five years of “courting” and months of wedding chatter, the proposal was never going to be a big surprise – my only wish was for it to be utterly heartfelt, and that it was. There was no candlelight dinner, hot air balloon rides or kneeling down on one knee – just one sincere question, one knowing “Yes!” and one oh so beautiful ring. Like the proposal, we have planned our wedding to be a relaxed affair –understated but elegant and filled with personal touches. I must mention that after ransacking newsagencies for all the latest wedding magazines (and I have the photos to prove it) and pouring over wedding blogs and marthastewart.com day and night, I was given a timely reminder when Peonies and Polaroids posted a beautiful, inspiring letter from 2000 dollar wedding, which I must also share with you.
Dearest Bride-to-Be
The 12-18 months of wedding planning will pass in a matter of hours or days. When it’s all said and done, the photos will be the primary artifact remaining.
My wish for you—when you look back at those photos—is for you to think:
Look at how relaxed I was. Fully present in the moment. Basking in it. Soaking it in. I was not saturated in stress.
My shoes and dress were comfortable enough for dancing. My beauty radiated out of me; it was not applied to me.
I got to spend quality time with my friends and family. I was myself, not a show. In fact, I was my fullest expression of self.
I do not remember whether the invitations were letterpress or whether the flowers at the ceremony were the same ones at the reception.
The wedding favors or the fanciness of the food did not make memories. The sincerity did. The connection did. The time together did.
It did not matter whether every last detail conformed to the signature colors. Instead of saying, “What a beautiful bouquet,” the guests said, “What a beautiful love.”
This is my wish to you, dear brides, as you pore over wedding magazines and read daily blogs. Some of it matters. Most of it does not. Casting your net in the wrong direction will most surely mean you miss the things you most dearly want to catch.
May your wedding be just one sincere, authentic, happiest day in a long line of many.
This is my wish to you.
All my best,Sara
