It's Happening!

I put wedding planning on hold last January.  I was studying for the New York bar exam, working a temporary job, anticipating a possible move to a new state, and there was just way too much going on in my life.  Wedding planning had to stop amidst concerns over finances, timing, and my sanity.  Life got easier and I got a lot more sleep after the bar exam, but the wedding still had to wait. 

Between then and now, I spent a couple months unemployed.  I had a lot of time on my hands and no money, which truly is the most maddening combination.  So sadly, I spent an inordinate amount of time doing the only free thing someone in bridal denial can do: researched products for the registry.  Meaning I may or may not have spent upwards of an hour one day reading consumer reports on the best ice cream scoop on the market.  Naturally, and as you probably already knew, it's the Zeroll Original Ice Cream Scoop and it's available on Amazon. 

"Best toaster," "best blender," "best pillow," "best sheets," "best towels," etc. have all been thoroughly, thoroughly vetted and I can name them all.  Mind you, I did not necessarily register for the winner of best toaster because sometimes the best costs $350, and I may have been in denial about not being able to plan my wedding, but I was not crazy.  I quickly edited that search to best toaster under $50. 

Anyway, so that's done.  Whew!  What a relief! 

I cannot be more ridiculous. 

Regarding what's actually important, we've set a date!  And it's soon.  Very, very soon.  As in 5 months soon.  When we decided that this may be able to happen, we decided to get it done as soon as possible.  We've been engaged for a year this month, living together for two, dating for eleven (since I was 17!), and we're beyond ready to get this marriage show on the road.  Joe told me recently that he can't wait to wear a wedding ring and I resisted the urge to pinch his adorably sweet little cheeks. 

The venue has been booked, the invitations have been chosen, the photographer has been picked!  My mom is flying up next month so we can go dress shopping in NYC! 

Even though Joe and I are both settled in New York now and are both happily working full-time, we've still only just gotten our feet under us and we're very aware of that.  So we're not going nuts with the plans.  We've decided to have a very small wedding of 40 people, mostly family.  We'll get married in front of a cozy fireplace on a cold March day, and in lieu of a traditional reception, we're going to have an intimate dinner party at a beautifully restored 17th century farmhouse about an hour from where we live.  When I thought about what I really wanted, the vision that kept coming was just having our loved ones in the same room at the same time sitting down to a home-y, amazing meal together.  So we decided to cut out all the extras and distill it down to its heart.

I'm pretty outstandingly excited about it.  Though I will say the downside to planning a wedding so quickly is that everything has to be booked and planned and paid for NOW so it's been a bit of a whirlwind setting everything in motion and making final decisions.  A delicious whirlwind but still a whirlwind.  I'll take it though.