Is wedding stuff eating your brain?

[Independent Gal]

How much of your day do you spend thinking about / researching or otherwise engaging with wedding related stuff? Have you left off doing or thinking about any other hobbies or responsibilities because of it? Just curious.

 

[zoebartlett]

Hi Indy,

I think about planning but then I push those thoughts out of my head.

I dunno, I go in spurts, where I'll be more gung-ho about one thing and then I'll lose motivation. Our wedding is now 6 months away and I have yet to find a seamstress to do alterations for my dress. I even have a list of seamstresses to call (provided by the salon), but I can't work up the energy to make the calls.

There's a whole slew of things we haven't done yet. I wish I could tell you that I was in wedding heaven but I'm not.

 

[mjso]

It is definitely eating my brain! Actually, one of my coworkers told me I''ve been totally off my game since I got engaged, hehe.

I just find it hard to focus on work when I know I have so many decisions to make and things to plan. I think a big part of it for me is that I haven''t been able to decide with the FI exactly WHEN and WHERE we want to have it. Once those decisions are made I''ll feel a lot better. It also doesn''t help that BOTH of our moms are soooooooo into the wedding. His Mom wants us to push out prelim date up to 2008 from 2009 and my mom is already trying to pare down the guest list.

Since we''ve gotten engaged, I''ve been playing a lot less World of Warcraft (which is probably a good thing, lol) and I haven''t been able to read as much as I used to. Every time I go to the grocery store I''m searching for bridal magazines I haven''t bought yet and I''m constantly checking these message boards for new posts.
The bad part about all of this is that it is just causing me to stress out more (since we haven''t made any real decisions yet) instead of making me more excited!!

And then there''s the ring factor, I don''t wear jewlery at all, so I keep getting distracted by the sparkly thing on my finger or the weird feeling of having something between my fingers. With all of this, its a wonder I''m still able to function.

 

[bee*]

I always thought that once I got engaged it would be like a red flag to a bull and I wouldn''t be able to stop planning, as I''m a big planner by nature. What I''ve kind of found is that I know exactly the sort of thing that I''m looking for with everything so once I''ve found that, I don''t look anymore. I will get a bit more done before I go back to college on the 21st and then I''ll put it away again until the summer holidays. I have 17 more months to go though so I''m not in any real rush.

 

[AceP]

it''s a total mindsuck. i spend half my time railing against the wedding-industrial complex, and the other half inadvertently ascribing to it.

 

[misysu2]

I go in spirts, too. I tackle one or two things at a time, and totally throw myself into it, so it''s all I think about for 3 or 4 days. I can be inspired and totally uninspired about things. There are definitely some things I don''t want to deal with, and now I''m starting to feel guilty about not getting to it. It''s tough planning for a wedding 1000 miles from where you are. We''re 5 months to the wedding, and I don''t have a florist yet! EEK!

 

[MMM]

i make lists.
and then i make another list. and another. and then lists of lists!
the problem is getting things actually crossed off the lists!!!

 

[ringster]

OMG YES! - practically all of my free time

although i have sort of planned it that way. i'm getting married may 17, 2008 (got engaged nov 22, 2007) and due to the short time frame have a bunch of things that i have to do. but my plan is to be busy this month and next and then have a few months of no wedding (or not many) tasks before mid april when things will probably pick up again.

 

[ringster]

this is my brain LOL!

 

[CJ2008]

I go in spurts too. It hasn''t been too bad yet, I think the Save The Date cards and now the invitations have been the most time consuming. The dress I found on my first shopping trip and the shoes I found online. And I didn''t settle, I really like everything. Some of the other details I''m kind of relieved the resort will be presenting me with options (we''re having our wedding in Mexico) because I think if I had to plan and choose down to the napkin and plate color and stuff like that I would drive myself crazy.

 

[tberube]

When I first got engaged I was so excited I couldn't think about anything but the wedding. I did get a lot of stuff done in the first three months though...whew! But then the novelty died off a bit I was able to turn it down - at least a sub-psychotic level - to FI's relief. Ha.

At the moment I'm thinking a lot more about the house that FI and I just bought, but I'm definitely still on target with all my planning - I'm still planning in the back of my head. I figure that when the 6 month mark hits (March), we have appointments and save-the-dates to do, so I figure things will start up again then.

 

[tberube]

Date: 1/5/2008 2:42:28 PM
Author: AceP
it''s a total mindsuck. i spend half my time railing against the wedding-industrial complex, and the other half inadvertently ascribing to it.

Ace - totally with you on this one. Though, now that the $$ really has to get spent, I''ve been leaning a lot more on the "railing" side.

 

[gtn]

I think about doing something all of the time... But then again, I haven''t even selected a ering setting yet. I did get my diamond though

I try to get on PS and "get inspired"

*sigh*

 

[mimzy]

i spent the first three weeks endlessly looking up venues and going over budgets and making calls, etc. after those three weeks proved pretty much completely fruitless and i am still at square one, i'm pretty much over it.

school starts again tomorrow and i wont have much time to get a lot of stuff done, so i am only hoping that people are right when they tell me it will come together. these days i daydream a lot more about being married than actually getting married or concerning myself with wedding stuff.

every now and then i get the urge to look up wedding bands or go look for decorations, but generally, not so interested right now.

i'm sure it will be better once we get our ceremony and reception venues down, but until then it is really only aggravating to think about, so i just sorta stopped.

 

[april diamonds]

Ringster - We''re date twins! 05/17/2008! hooray!

I am also starting to feel the pressure since we''re finally into the new year now. I stopped planning between Oct and now because I just got so busy.

But the first few weeks after we got engaged I was super planner, I had gotten our venue, our photographer and my wedding dress! A month later I had ordered my rehersald dinner dress and my bridesmaid dresses! And also finished designing, printing, and stamping the insert card for our wedding invitations. RSVPs are almost done, just waiting till we figure out our menu options before we print!

And then I just stopped. But it didn''t mean i stopped thinking about it. I was stlil flipping through magazines and stuff. Yeah, I would definitly say that it''s all I really want to think and talk about. I try not to talk my family''s ears off too much but now that the crazy holidays are over I''m actually looking forward to start planning again!

 

[teetee]

YES! I have been totally consumed with wedding research. I got engaged in November and started planning in December, well actually just right before Christmas. So for the past few weeks, all I''ve done with my free time is think about wedding stuff. I have already reserved the church and reception venue; and purchased my dress. Oh, and I set up my budget this weekend. But now, I can''t seem to get myself focused... I love reading people''s wedding blogs and photos but they are so distracting and then I''d spend hours reading about random stuff and forget what I was looking for in the first place.

 

[anchor31]

Last winter/spring when we were looking to book vendors, it was definitely eating my brain. I managed balancing vendor research/booking, college classes and exams, apartment hunting, summer job hunting and my sister/MOH''s "I''m losing my sister" crisis, but looking back I''m not sure how I did it.

The dress search was also all consuming for me. It took me 9 or 10 months to find The Dress... I''m sure glad this one''s over.

Now, not so much. We sarted planning 18 months in advance so there''s nothing we have to do in a rush. I''m pretty organized too, so I have a bit of a schedule (what needs to be done each month). This month, we have our marriage prep classes and I have to talk to a couple of vendors to confirm a few things; J needs to pick out the tuxes and book the mini-moon. I''ll probably end-up having to help him with both those tasks even though I said I wouldn''t (

)...

 

[Mandarine]

I''ve got ups and downs...

Right now, it is defintiely eating my brain!!!...but I enjoy it!...

I just made myself a calendar because I''m on the final countdown and want to make sure I don''t miss anything!!

M~