No bridezilla here
K.J. HASCALL / Hungry Horse News
Yours truly has plunged deep into the wild seas of wedding planning.
That's probably a good thing considering my wedding is in 128 days (not that I'm counting or anything).
We've sent out our Save-the-Date cards (a not-so-subtle homage to our wild-west tendencies — the photo depicts my fiance and I pinning a calf at his family's recent branding event), booked the photographer (who in a stroke of unbelievable luck is vacationing in Glacier National Park this summer and plans to take our engagement photos in the vicinity of Bowman Lake), selected the flowers, compiled and re-compiled our guest list, and have even tracked down a couple of "back-up" dresses (each costs less than $200) should my attempt to make my own turn into a raging failure.
I've designed our invitations and programs, booked the church and social hall, and have enlisted "the moms' in my do-it-yourself schemes. We're currently planning to make our own food — pulled pork and barbecue chicken — as well as the table centerpieces (imagine Mason jars filled with river stones and sunflowers, completed by a bobby pin glued to the outside to hold a photo of my fiance or myself as children).
Our wedding is on a serious budget (I hear roughly $3,000 dollars is "low cost," though to me that's a staggering sum), but that means we're keeping it simple, and that's what Shawn and I prefer.
In between our wedding and now we'll attend two other weddings, also in Nebraska (did I mention we're having a "destination" wedding?). Several close friends are tying the knot and yours truly is even a bridesmaid in the second one.
It's fun to hear what my fellow brides are planning. I unabashedly admit to outright theft of some of their ideas, albeit with my own personal spin.
This past weekend Shawn and I attended the wedding of good friends and fellow newspaper people Jasmine Linabary (managing editor of the Bigfork Eagle) and Nate Chute (photojournalist at the Daily Inter Lake) in Bigfork.
They could not have asked for a more perfect day. After a short, sweet ceremony at the Little Brown Church (my favorite part was when Jasmine's mother and sister sang a lovely duet), we bid the couple a brief farewell as they made their getaway in a white convertible bound for the reception.
White paper lanterns adorned the charming entryway of Clementine's. Photos of Jasmine and Nate at all ages became the clever centerpieces of the tables. Their specially made cake topper depicted a miniature bride with reporter's notebook and a tiny groom holding a camera.
It was simple, elegant and laid-back. Everything Shawn and I hope our wedding will be. Far from being bridezilla, I am perhaps too lackadaisical about wedding planning. Friends inquiring "how's the planning coming" are greeted with a sheepish "oh, it's coming along." I'm the "things will probably turn out just fine" type, as opposed to an earlier mentioned friend who has five different versions of her wedding planned down to the last cream puff (how she settled on just one version is beyond me).
Instead of worrying about perfection, I'm hoping our guests will look back at our wedding and remember a great party, full of family and friends. But in the meantime, I'd better get back to planning.