Tuesday, Sep. 01, 2009

The truth about wedding planning

So previously I wrote about how to successfully plan a wedding. Be warned - no wedding goes off without some catastrophe.

Here's some insight to my wedding planning woes and how to properly deal with them (or not, depending on if you want to take the low road).

- I booked my musician a year out in advance. He ended up canceling on me, but that's okay because I booked another musician six months out. She ended up canceling on me a week before the wedding with no explanation. It is safe to assume that I was a wee bit upset.

- Picking your flowers might not seem like a big deal to you, but once you have it all figured out, you think you're safe. Wrong. I got a call the other day letting me know that a certain flower is out of bloom in the ENTIRE United States and that if I want them, they'll have to be imported from Holland.

- Hidden fees are hard to avoid and just like anniversaries, they always seem to creep up on you. This is where planning comes in. It's hard to trust people's words when all they really care about is whether you have a hard copy documenting their words. I should have known better, but I refrained from having people outline costs and going over said costs with me like I was five-years-old. Because of that, I ended up with almost $1000 in hidden costs.

Now let's talk about solutions. First off, it's okay to be angry and upset. It's okay to have a quick crying session in a supply closet. But what's not okay is immediately trying to deal with the situation. First - clear your head. Second, take a deep breath. Third, realize that you can only control so much and that things will sometimes go awry... Then go hide all your kitchen knives...

The most important thing to remember is that it's okay to ask for help. My mother sent out an S.O.S. to everyone she met - and I mean everyone. While picking up a sign she had made for the wedding, she shared her woes with the manager, who quickly called up friends who could possibly help. In the end, I had another band booked in no time.

Our Sleepy Intern was supposed to take photos for me for this big account while I was gone, but decided that he wasn't coming in and he wasn't even going to call us to let us know he wasn't coming in. My coworkers quickly came together to take over a task that was originally my responsibility. And I didn't even have to really ask.

It's four days before my wedding and the number "4" is a bad omen in Asian culture. While I'm pretty much at my wit's end, I am still excited and optimistic. Despite bad weather forecasts, possible bad music, missing flowers, going over budget, and still not having everything ready - I'm content. I know that I have great friends and family who will be there to help out when the time comes... Which is probably soon because my left eye can't stop twitching...

So while no real wedding goes perfectly, it's not necessarily a bad thing. People have flaws, so it's understandable that plans will fall through and promises will be broken... But when it comes down to the important things, like saying "I do" to the person that you love and know you will love for the rest of your life without a doubt... Then love is all you really need to get you through all the other little hiccups.

I'm sad I won't be a Lee anymore, but I will always be BethZilla. Fittingly, my boss, King Andy, gave me a celebratory can of Mountain Dew to mark my last Dew as a single woman and as Ms. Lee. And boy, did it taste sweet...

Four days and counting... Bring it on...