The Big Day of Misconception: Your Wedding Day

The Big Day of Misconception: Your Wedding Day

So much is involved in that big word WEDDING: dress shopping, rings, dancing, vendors, food, ceremonies. Certainly, there is a reason there is a thriving industry just for this personal event in couple’s lives.

But my seemingly short four years in the bridal and wedding industry has made me privy to some info I may not have ever gained otherwise:

Your wedding day is not the biggest day of your life.

 

And why is that exactly?

Your wedding is not just one big day.

Your wedding is a massive string of moments, decisions, and emotions, that cause that day to happen. But without the planning, the happiness, and the stress, A Day to Remember 7/7/2017 never would have happened.

This wasn’t a realization until I was an active participant in my sister’s wedding two years ago as her maid of honor.

Memory lane... activated!

The Experience

Let’s be real and upfront: planning and executing a wedding can be a real doozy of a job. And I mean that, a job. Think about all those skills you are obtaining through every step!

So much planning, so much skill that it takes.

You manage contracts, meet deadlines, manage finances, conduct research on vendors, and hire staff to complete all the necessary event activities. The motive here is all so you can let them run it, kick back, and enjoy being royalty for the day.

 

The Broadening of Horizons

I still remember the call when my sister got engaged in Italy. Yup, Italy. On a gondola. Isn’t that oozing with romanticism?

Certainly raised my proposal standards. Future hub, look out.

 

From that day forward, she was excited and in planning mode. Her wedding game was on, with immediately perusing Pinterest for dress ideas, brainstorming venue options (with some of the tips I gave her from here), and consulting paint color swatches to get the perfect combination for her wedding color theme.

However, there was a little distance barrier considering she was planning in California and I live in Chicago. Needless to say, there was a lot of trip planning and traveling.

 

For one, my mother also lives in Chicago and had to take the train trip of a lifetime to cross the United States for the wedding. She required some accompaniment during this journey, and I was by her side from Riverside, California and Chicago, Illinois. The entire 2 days. Together, we saw the sun rise over the western plains, complete with rolling tumbleweeds, and thick layers of blue, slick ice when Denver, Colorado was pounded with a huge ice storm.

 

And as for myself, that summer, I went to California nearly sixteen times. The turning of the leaves from September to November is permanently affixed in my mind like a quick-motion time lapse video.

 

Truly, I loved every beautiful and exciting second of travel. I got to spend time with my sister and my mother, which was a luxury I had not had before in such quantity and quality.

The Memories

Ahh, yes, quality time.

Varying geography also meant there were skype nights when she was trying to find the dress, whole weekends where we would be all together (figuring out how to get those darn friggin’ bottle openers to attach to the bottled beer favors), and laughing during our Family So You Think You Can Dance (aka family dance lessons because SOME of us hadn’t been to a middle school dance in a long time).

There was also a lot of wine consumption.
This helped much.
Much.

 

Even just last week, we were hanging out after dinner, and my sister turned on her wedding playlist that had been so largely contemplated throughout her planning. The cha-cha slide turned on, and our faces spread with grins, and we got in line to dance, because we remembered those awesome nights a few years ago when we practiced our dances to dominate the day of the wedding.

In essence, the wedding day is just the tip of the iceberg, with all the coordination and memories that ensued tucked behind smiling photos and cake cutting. When I think of my sister’s wedding, not only do I think about the blast we had dollying up and dancing together in our gowns while our feet felt like they were shriveling and falling off, but I remember all the moments that needed to happen that led to that awesome point. So, to me, it’s not one big day at all, but a web of good memories and fun times that happened over months.

May your cobweb be full with memory!