I am officially less than 6 weeks away from jumping the broom. I’ll never be able to understand how folks have engagements that last over a year, because these last 8 months have been TRY-ING, to say the least. They say planning a wedding can be an extremely draining process. They ain’t never lied.
Here are 10 things planning a wedding will teach you:
1. Your date is too far away. I don’t know when you plan to get married, but if it’s anywhere over 6 months after your engagement, it’s too far away. We got engaged in January, and plan to jump the broom in September. SEASONS have passed and we’re still not married. We’re officially over being engaged and if we could do it all over again, we would have most definitely chosen a sooner date. Maybe you don’t mind having a long engagement, but if you read my article “30 Year Old Virgin: Why I’m Waiting for Marriage to Have Sex“, you’ll know why the struggle is real 🙂
2. You’ll have to compromise SOMETHING. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been planning your big day since you were 14 years old, everything won’t go as planned, and it will be beyond your control. I’ve always wanted to get married at the Rockefeller Chapel on the University of Chicago campus. That was my plan. It wasn’t until I got engaged, that I discovered you had to be a student or member of faculty or staff to use the chapel, completely shattering my wedding day fantasy. Oh well, you win some, and you lose some. P.S. I did apply for a few jobs there and they still haven’t called a sista back, but I ain’t mad.
3. Life doesn’t stop because you’re planning a wedding. Oh how I wish it did. The nerve of bills to keep coming, interfering with my wedding budget. The nerve.
4. Your budget won’t be accurate. It just won’t. In my case it was non-existent, but you learn how to make things happen anyway, while letting God open doors of favor along the way.
5. A honeymoon is SUPER important. God bless the couples who didn’t have a honeymoon, because sometimes I find myself more excited about vacationing with my man, than the actual wedding. After you get engaged most of your quality time goes to planning the wedding. It gets worse as the big day gets closer. Newly married couples absolutely need a week alone to unwind and relax after the wedding. Oh, and to work on babies 🙂
6. It’s hard to have your engaged photos featured on ESSENCE. Still waiting. Maybe they’ll feature our wedding photos. Praying. Join me?
7. You discover who ISN’T happy for you. I have to be careful with my words here, but unfortunately every bride I’ve spoken to about my personal issues have experienced the same thing. I don’t know what it is, but weddings and funerals can bring out the worse in people, which is extremely disheartening. It hurts for awhile, and can be shocking, but you’ll be fine.
8. You discover who IS happy for you. After spending too much time focusing on who ISN’T for you, you’d be surprised at who really IS happy for you, making you feel all lovey dovey, and thankful and whatnot.
9. You learn how to eventually relax. Getting married is a once in a lifetime dream come true (well, we all hope it is). God forbid you look back on your engagement process and realize you spent the entire time stressed. The devil is a lie. Let go of what you can’t control and trust that what will be, will be.
10. The main purpose is really all that matters. At the end of the day, YOU’RE GETTING MARRIED! Many people yearn to have true love, and you got it boo! So the photographer is running late, or a bridesmaid lost her bouquet, is it serious enough to stress you out? Nope. All that matters on your day is God, and your significant other. Everything else is secondary.
BMWK – What lessons did you learn while wedding planning? Sound off below!