The end of another month is here. I remember, as if it were just yesterday,
telling my sister that the beginning of August feels like the end of summer to
me because that is when school starts and that, to me, is the end of
summer. At that time, our conversation
was taking place at the beginning of August and now like a day has sped by and
it’s two days until the end of the month and a week to her wedding!!! We’ve been planning this joyous event for an
entire year and I just can’t believe it’s so close.
I know there isn’t a soul out there that could even come
close to really understanding what the past year of planning this wedding has
really been like for us (except other brides and wedding planners). The bride, me,
and my mother have really felt it all and have been the three people doing
everything, no hired wedding planner.
The bride has done 50%, if not more of it, completely on her own. That may not sound like a lot to some, but
when you factor in that she’s a full-time student and works two jobs outside of
school… planning a wedding of this magnitude was a lot to handle and shuffle
and organize and strategize over the months.
I’ve probably only been responsible for about 25% of it with my mother
taking care of the other 25% and this past week has almost sent me into
breakdown mode. I only have 1 job to
concentrate on and I’m at my limit where my mental capacity is concerned. And beyond all of that, I’m so stinking
excited and happy about it that I’m not in a bad mood. I’m
just anxious and feeling a little bit overwhelmed with all the tiny details
that the three of us are still trying to put into place and make sure go
accordingly.
Through the midst of my anxious and overwhelmed feelings I
am so thankful. Its times like this that
bring into my front view how truly blessed I am to have the family that I
do. We are all so close and there for
one another. This next weekend all of my
immediate family will be staying in a huge condo together! I think this is the first time we will all be
under one roof for two nights since I was a child. Now we have my son, the only grandchild for
my parents, and future spouses thrown into this family of ours and all I think
is how thankful I am to my Lord for the blessings we’ve all been given through
each other. Family is such an important
part of life and in times like this when we all come together it rings even
more so.
My fiancé and I have discussed our many many options for
saying our own vows and taking that step into marital bliss. We want all our family to be standing around
us to witness it, but do not want a wedding and do not want any sort of
organized event. It just takes too much
time and money to plan and organize something like that. After many conversations and lots of
thinking, our options have come down to eloping either the weekend of my sister’s
wedding, IN ONE WEEK, or having to wait until Christmas to elope when he’s home
from this job. I just couldn’t make that
decision on my own. He’s wanting it done
and over with as soon as possible, I’m wanting all the family to be together
for it, Christmas is just not the ideal time of year to do it because the
holidays are so busy for us, blah blah blah, on and on and on we have went
about this. I finally decided to just
lay it on my mother and sister for their opinions because the one major thing
stopping me from doing it in a week would be taking attention or time away from
the festivities around my sister and her fiancé. I would never, could never, do that if that’s
what it would do or she would feel that way.
The first words out of her mouth when I presented her with the idea and
was asking for her most honest opinion were… “Oh my gosh YES!!!!!” she
immediately thought that would be the greatest thing and give us one more thing
to be celebrating that weekend. So, I’ve
just kind of stepped to the background and let my mother and my sister and my
fiance’s mother make a few little decisions, like where and what time. So, it has been officially announced that we
are going to elope under a gazebo in a public park Saturday afternoon, after my
sister’s wedding rehearsal. There’s
another wedding happening at her chosen venue that evening so we have no choice
but to rehearse from 11-noon and then we have to vacate the premises and cannot
return to do any preparation for her wedding until the next day at 3pm, so in
all reality my family and the out of town guests that will all be there for the
rehearsal are going to have nothing to do from noon until 3pm the next
day. We are just going to be eating good
food and enjoying the company of everyone together. My mom thought that would be the most perfect
time for us to say our vows to one another and have a small 15 minute ceremony,
if you will, since EVERYONE will be in town to share it with and support
us.
Phew…. I’m a little exhausted from writing all that down and
my heart is overjoyed at the exact same time.
God is good, life is good, and after everything my family and I have
been through this past year, experiencing something like this, all of us
together, is going to be a wonderful thing.
It is definitely going to be a weekend full of memories and TWO joyous
occasions to remember for the rest of our lives.
October is my second favorite month of the year, so I wish
all of you a very happy and blessed October.
Pictures will be posted soon of all our family events! I’m going to be married on October 6th!!!!!!!!!!!!
WOW J
