Here Comes the Bridezilla

I made a promise to myself, back when it first became apparent that Serdic and I would likely be heading down the aisle together, that I would not be The Bride for the whole year leading up to our wedding. I don't want to be The Bride who can only talk about The Wedding, who can only think about The Wedding, who expects every person in her life to make their lives revolve around The Wedding for the next year. I told my friend (and bridesmaid!) J this recently and she said "Yeah, every bride says she's not going to be The Bride. Good luck with that." And honestly, the fact of the matter is I'm getting married in less than nine months (eek!) and it is a Big Deal for me. But I am trying very hard not to insist that it be a Big Deal for everyone else. So I was going to try to keep wedding blogging to a minimum.

That, of course, means I haven't blogged in weeks, because about all I think and talk about is wedding stuff! So much for that resolution!

The planning is well underway. Serdic and I spent this past weekend in Hometown, where the big day will take place, meeting with our reception venue and various other interested parties. I have the music for the ceremony well in hand -- anyone who knows me will not be surprised that I have very definite ideas about what I do (and don't!) want, particularly when it comes to music, and we have some very generous and talented friends who have offered to share their gifts with us and our guests, which I am really excited about. I am particularly blessed to have my Aunt C, who has a wonderful eye for the more creative side of things (something I don't have AT ALL), and she is hard at work designing floral arrangements and organizing the multitude of little creative details that we have all come up with. We all have the ideas, Aunt C is the one who actually brings them into being. She was the unofficial wedding planner and decorator for PetDoc and Noise's wedding, and it was seriously the most beautiful wedding I've ever been to (no, I'm not biased, why do you ask?). We are very lucky and grateful that she is willing to take on this gigantic task again for us.

Let's see, what else? Preliminary guest list is drawn up. Church and reception venue are booked. Wedding party has been asked and all have accepted (well, in fact, I don't think I ever asked PetDoc ... I think it's just assumed!) -- it'll actually be a nice parallel, as Serdic and I are both having one sibling and one close friend stand up with us. Nice symmetry there, and nice symbolism of having both our friends and family there to support us.

There are a couple of major things that need to be crossed off the list in the very near future -- top of that list is my gown. My mom and a few other important women in my life are going to accompany me on a dress hunting expedition this weekend -- I can't wait! I've done some preliminary looking online and I definitely have a few dresses in mind, but of course until you start trying things on it's hard to tell what will work. So that will definitely be very exciting.

J and I will also be crossing the Atlantic soon, to have a bridesmaid dress shopping adventure in London with PetDoc. So I am very much looking forward to that. It is strange to be planning a wedding without my sister here, and while of course I can keep her involved through this wild and wonderful thing called the internet (email is a beautiful thing) it's not quite the same. So I'm really looking forward to some "in person" time with her in April, to share everything we've been working on.

So that's where the wedding planning stands for now. Lots of lists, lots of decisions to make, lots of planning still to come. I promise to blog about other things between now and October, though!