Finding Joy

Dave said I needed to blog about today, so here I go.

Wedding planning has been hard. One might even go so far as to use the word "loathing" to describe my true feelings about it. It is the surest way to grump city for me these days. So this morning, when Dave suggested we go (read: dragged me) to the bridal expo here in St. George, I was less than enthusiastic. And he knew it. But he insisted anyway. I had just run the St. George half marathon and my legs were pretty tired. Jenni and Brock were in town for the race and I really just wanted to spend time with them doing FUN things. But, while I was in the shower, they all conspired to get me to the expo. So off we went.

When we got there, we discovered I, as the bride, was the only one who could get in for free. Everyone else had to pay. Dave ponied up the extra cash, insisting it was an investment in his own mental and emotional health for me to have good friends with me through this endeavor.

So, there we were...in my own personal wedding planning hell. There were cakes and tables and photographers and videographers and DJs and florists, all clamoring for my business. I wanted to run. But I was feeling good from my successful race, so I decided to just see what was there and be open to possibilities.

In the space of 2 hours, we found a great photographer we really connected well with who takes the kinds of photos we really like (at a smokin' price), realized we could do a lot of stuff ourselves without hiring out, and got a final count on the tables and chairs out at our reception site (and met our contact for the first time). The best part, however, was right at the end.

We walked into the corner of the room where a photo booth was set up. We jumped in on a whim and took a series of pictures, some silly and some serious, and they turned out SO CUTE. We chatted the guy up for a little while and said we would think about it. I thought for sure we wouldn't think about it, but the more we walked around and I looked at our photo strip, the more excited I got. It was an additional expense we hadn't budgeted in, but it gave me the element I really felt like we were missing. I felt like our reception had no personality. Well, none of MY personality. But I LOVE pictures. I love people being able to take goofy pictures. I love having a record of things that I can look back on and remember my favorite times. I said as much to Dave maybe two or three times as we walked around as we were casually talking through things. He finally realized this was the missing piece and walked right back to the booth and booked the guy for our reception!!

I was floating on air the whole rest of the night. And suddenly, the loathing has disappeared. I'm sure there will be elements I don't love, but I feel so happy about the progress we made today. Dave said, you better blog about this so you can refer back to these feelings...and so your audience can hold you accountable. So here you go. We had a great day of wedding planning! March 17 can't come fast enough now!!