It’s Wedding RSVP Day

As I write this, I am sitting on the couch nursing an annoying head cold but excited at the fact that it is our wedding RSVP day today, marking a little under six weeks (really?!) until the big day.

At this point in time, I am finding it ever more difficult to concentrate on things like work, when I am suddenly able to work on the seating plan, finalise flowers, pick up my dress in the next couple of weeks, and pay off any final bills. I felt like there was nothing to do wedding-wise for a while except wait and watch the days slowly tick by, getting ever closer and closer. But now it has all kicked back into gear, and suddenly it is just around the corner.

Some of the highlights of planning the wedding for me have been:

• Having my mum with me to pick my dress – I didn’t think this would happen as we live in different states, but we made it work and, as apparently so often happens, I ordered the first beautiful dress I tried on (and I can’t wait to be able to tell people about it!)
• Crafting invitations and decorations over wine and cheeses with my MoH (Maid of Honour)
• Eagerly opening the letter box each day and finding an RSVP postcard there – and then rushing inside to tick them off the guest list.
• The hair and makeup trial – love a bit of pampering and beautifying!
• Watching my dress transform from a plain, unfitted sheath, to a perfect, glittering, one of a kind dress made just for me.
• Seeing the ‘total owing’ number on the budget spreadsheet become less than the ‘total paid’ number.
• Practicing our clumsy first dance with future hubby in our loungeroom, usually in our pjs.
• Drafting my vows and trying to figure out how to put all that love, hope and happiness into words.

Some of the more challenging aspects:

• Managing the budget (it very quickly blew up from what we had thought it would cost, but we made it work through compromising on things like fancy wedding cars and saving by making our invitations).
• Dealing with some tricky guests – “Hey, I’ve just got a new boyfriend, yeah, we’ve been together for three weeks now, so can he come to your wedding?”  Ummm, no.
• Realising that though there are a million amazing wedding ideas from blogs and Pinterest, we don’t need to (and nor should we) try to do all of them to have the ‘best wedding ever’. We needed to spend time figuring out what kind of a wedding suits us and will help us create the memories and experiences we want on the day, rather than trying to live up to something that just isn’t ‘us’).
• Once we decided that, the next challenge was sticking to what we wanted rather than being swayed by the whims of others.  No, we aren’t having traditional vows and our bridal party have uneven numbers (shock horror!).  Yes, we are having science themed decorations, with a bit of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ thrown in, and even giant Jenga and some Jay Z songs will be making an appearance – because that is us! (most people who we know and love immediately gush and grin at these ideas because they know they are so ‘us’ but there are always those who are less open to slightly off-centre ideas who can make you question and doubt yourself if you aren’t careful).

I am so excited to be counting down the days now, and the weeks are both flying by and dragging at the same time. I can’t wait to finally experience and live the day I have been planning officially for the last year, but dreaming about for many years. I can’t wait for my hen’s night in two weeks, to do the rehearsal, get a massage, get my hair and nails done, and finally marry my best friend on the best day of our lives. And then – to relive the experience by sharing my stories and photos with the world!

Ms Gingham says: So sweet!! I just love this outpouring of honesty by Teagan! Thankyou so much for sharing your experiences!

Teagan says: “I am 26 years old and teach English to high school students. I live in Melbourne and I divide my spare time between marking essays, planning classes, researching wedding ideas and gazing at my sparkly engagement ring, which I am still not used to seeing on my finger! Now that I am finally engaged I feel like a lot of things are falling into place in my life – it’s a very good place to be. “