Wedding Planning Stress

With our wedding now only 5 months away and realizing how much I still have left to do I'm starting to feel the crunch. I mean, we've been together for five and a half years so is it really that important to have the perfect wedding just to make our relationship official? The short answer is yes. The frustrating part is that I'm the typical girl who has envisioned her wedding since she was a little girl and I'm now faced with making those visions a reality on a budget. I speak of the budget for several reasons. First, no matter how much money we have I cannot justify spending $100,000 on a one day party. There are far too many other things we want more that to have the platinum wedding, but this is what everyone sees at the defining moment in your relationship, one that you stare at photographs of for the rest of your life so it is important. But I want to know why everything is so commercialized? Seriously? Seriously.

All of the high style ideas in my head have to somehow transpire into a budgeted idea that is far short of what I am thinking. So it's almost like I'd rather not do anything at all than to half-ass it. Right? And when did Phil and I start talking about white table clothes and seating charts as our dinner conversation? Phil has been wonderful when it comes to all of this planning and has had far more opinions than most men which has been a blessing and a curse. But I digress. Everyone talks about the wedding planning as if it's the greatest thing in LIFE. When exactly does this fun start? I feel like if there was no budget to think about then it would be tons of fun, but what man enjoys talking about flowers and china patterns at every turn? The answer to that would be Phil. Though he has his days when he'd like to kill me instead of discuss pew decorations and I can't blame him for that. He's been a fabulous sport.

But now that we have like 160 days or less to do the "final plans" I need to get started on the original plans so that we can move to the final plans. Why did I think I could wait forever to do all these things and they would turn out fine? I'm sure they will be fine. Right?

The best part about all of this stress is that I almost love it. I treat some days as if the wedding doesn't exist or has already happened just to keep my sanity and other days I can't wait to call my mom and talk about all that I have to do. I can't wait for it to be over, but I am actually enjoying picking things out. And all of this would be better if I could turn it over to a wedding planner to make all these visions happen, but I'm far too much of a control freak to actually do that. Of those that know me really believe I'll just let someone do whatever to an event that is supposed to represent Phil and me. The next thing I know the event will be unrecognizable and I'll just be showing up as if I'm a guest at someone elses wedding. Too much stress in that for me. So I guess I'll just grin and continue with the plans because if I don't they won't get done and I'll sleep after the wedding. What bride needs sleep? Sleep is for the easy going brides and that's not me so far. My poor husband to be. Good thing he's a good man.

So I have to ask you, how did/do you get through all of the months and days leading up to this grand event in your life? How does your husband/wife-to-be deal with you? Mine just lets me run crazy about town like a bride on a mission to grab the last roll of tulle on the shelf. Because what's a bride without 1980s tulle strewn about the venue? But I'll save that for another time...