The Lulls of a Long Engagement

I have been harping about the advantages of early planning - so much so that I'm sure even the mention of the word 'planning' causes an eye or two to automatically roll.

Well, I'm here to tell you, readers (all 6 or so of you. . .ahem) that there is in fact a con to every pro, what goes up must come down, a gray cloud for every silver lining. . .

I know, that sounds ridiculously negative and very 'say whaaaaat?!' inspiring. I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer, really. . . but the truth is: planning a wedding in advance can cause some pretty steep downfalls.

In my experience (I know this won't be the case for everyone, it all depends on the situation and the individuals), it was kind of hard having such a 'long' engagement. Almost exactly one and a half years. It was so exciting to be able to get things DONE early. Let's make decisions! Let's book venues and vendors!

After those first few big steps, though, it really starts to feel like not much cannot be done for a very, very, what I classify in my mind as: verrrrrrrrrrry-verrrrrrrrrrry-freaking-far-awayyyyyyyy long time. I mean, we had to wait for our engagement pictures, wait to buy gifts for the wedding party, wait to get excited about the bridal shower - I started to feel like everything required a waiting period. For someone who is already incredibly impatient, this was infuriating.

A slice of humble pie: observations about other relationships

I've been writing this post in my head for a while now. I wanted to write it in a way that was honest, but not too mushy-gushy; accurate, but didn't throw other people under the bus. Forgive me for the length - I promise it's worth it for tons of 'about us' goodies. ;) 

Then I realized, the problem was me - well, specifically my super opinionated nature. Whoopsies. 

Jon has been my best friend since we started dating back in 2004. Even during the Year From Hell (also referred to as The Year of Bad Decisions and The Necessary Evil Year - just depends on the mood), we talked daily and spent time together. He is without a doubt one of the truest and best people I have ever encountered. We laugh together, we cry together (seriously, we can't even talk about Toy Story 3 without tears filling our eyes) and we do everything else in between.

personal photo | You may remember that this is also the night we met our DJ. . .

I'm pretty much a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of girl. In fact, the Best Man in our wedding once told me, "you get all of Steph within ten minutes of meeting you. . .good or bad, it's all there." To this day, I don't know if I've ever heard a more accurate statement.

So, needless to say, all of the people in my life - and specifically, our wedding party - knows me ridiculously well. Jon, though, knows me in a very intimate, almost intimidating way. I know, I know, it's so cliche to say "he knows me better than I know myself," or even, "we're soulmates." But I'm going to go ahead and jump on board that wagon because for us, it really and truly is the truth. 

Now I know that all couples do not co-exist like this. I know that it is incredibly strange that we (TMI alert!!) have absolutely zero qualms about one of us brushing our teeth while the other is using the bathroom (warned ya). I know that not every girl is super comfortable with her guy sitting on top of her and, well, tooting (. . .or vice versa. Totally guilty). I know that wrestling and de-pantsing in the middle of the living room is not totally kosher (as a side note, MOH Mem is also our roommate and girlfriend deserves major props because she is completely unbothered by all of our shenanigans. She often just cries with tears of laughter and pulls a random quote from our ridiculousness and puts it on Twitter). Truthfully, I cherish how different and ridiculous we are.