Planning the Perfect Wedding

Planning the Perfect Wedding

Bookstore shelves are already filled with plenty of competent wedding advice, so the last guide needed is another on how to have the perfect wedding. I'll leave the perfect wedding hair to Modern Bride and the perfect wedding favor to Martha Stewart’s “Guide to Prison Weddings”. What none of these experts will tell you is that a lifetime of watching weddings on television will not prepare you for your own wedding. Once you acquire a little knowledge of the wedding industry, you won't need Martha anymore. Your grand affair can be a piece of wedding cake if you know what to expect.

First, assuming you've decided to get married, I must ask you, are you sure? Forever is a long, long time. Do you want to wake up to that face for the rest of your life, realizing that it probably looks as good as it's ever going to look? If this is what you want, what you really, really want, let's get to work. Many decisions await you and many, more opinions will flow your way. Sharing wedding stories is second only to the thirty-six-hours-of-labor-and-no-epidermal stories as favorite tales women tell. Not to worry. You might hear the perfect idea for your day. If not, you'll learn to nod graciously.

Where you are getting married is at the top of the list. Churches and halls aren't your only choices. These days there are skydiving, bungee jumping and underwater weddings, whatever your pleasure. Although the quirky approach is appealing, most folks stick with variations of the standard ceremony and reception. If you're planning a reception, you had better hop to it and get yourself a site. The hot spots go quickly and have waiting lists, some for years. If by chance you want to get married but are not presently in...

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...e day will end. After the honeymoon and the gift unwrapping and returning are finished, then what? It can be unsettling to get on with your life. It can be hard to simply remember what you did before you were planning your wedding. Cry if you must, only don't cry too long. Just as television weddings are fantasies, so too, are the television marriages, where every problem can be resolved with a warm thought, a good laugh track, and in twenty-two minutes.

As much work as getting married is, it doesn't compare to how difficult it is to being married. In the fairy tales, the last line is, "and they lived happily ever after." It's sweet, but wrong. Marriage is work. Romance fades and wrinkles appear. Your marriage can be the best or the worst experience in your life. Much of its success is up to you, and knowing that can help you get started in the right direction.