Thursday, Jul. 09, 2009

With weddings, something blue doesn't have to be your mood

What's the point of putting the final touches on a wedding invitation if the postal service is just going to tear them off?

The only questions I get asked at work are how the wedding planning has been going. The Publisher once quized me on how many days were left 'til the big day. I've never been good at tests, so of course I failed, freezing like a deer in headlights.

Even my neighbor asked us "Are you kids married, yet?!" from across her driveway.

No respectable bride-to-be considers herself a BrideZilla, but with a name like BethZilla, how can I really refute the comparisons? While I don't bark orders at everyone around me, I do playfully reinact a scene from the new season of BrideZillas with Mr. Big, where a bride blames everything on the groom's family. He has a good sense of humor.

I used to buy several wedding magazines at Barnes & Noble, mostly for their To-Do lists they print, with a schedule for 6-9 months before the wedding. It's now less than 2 months before the wedding and most of the stuff has been taken care of for the past 5.

So far everything has been pretty organized, thanks to my O.C.D. wedding folder. You dare question the prices for something? Don't make me pull out my record of printed E-mails...

While I understand not everything will go according to plan, I try to eliminate how much actually does go AWOL. Still, I didn't expect my wax seals on my invitations to be torn off by the time they reached their destination. I'm trying to find the positive in staying up an extra hour to burn my fingers with hot wax, only to have them pulled off in the mail - but forgive me if I don't.

What gives my parents an ulcer is the weather. Because it is an outside wedding, there's always the fear of the rain gods deciding that the earth looks a little thirsty. That, or strong winds - but I figure we'll just use a lot of hairspray if that happens.

Another thing brides shouldn't stress out about is music. With iPods and cheap portable speakers, couples have plenty of alternatives to the real thing. Still, if you want to book an actual person or band, it's best to meet with them well in advance and have them sign over their soul- I mean a contract. I booked two musicians - one who agreed very early on and one who said "maybe." Eventually, the "maybe" turned into a "Aww shucks, I can't." I'll say it again: Always get a "Yes" early on, or face the unavoidable Sorry conversation a month prior...

Another thing I realized is that you can hire high school orchestra students who are just as professional as the real deal. Sure, they're a little green, but if they're only playing for an hour, it beats another week spent eating nothing but Ramen...