The Year of Weddings!

Some people were born in the year of the dragon or the tiger or the year of rain or the year of “hey, remember that one time?”

THIS is the YEAR OF WEDDINGS!

Before 2015, I’ve really only had 1 close friend (my very BEST friend in the whole world and I was maid of honor and it was amazing) get married, and that was in 2010.

Other than that, there were family weddings now and then. I was a flower girl a few times as a little kid, and I was a damn princess in my fluffy dresses. I was a bridesmaid when I was 16 in my big brother’s wedding (a story for another time…but I had a fender bender on the way to his wedding. I’d had my license for 3 weeks), and I was a bridesmaid in my cousin’s wedding 2 years ago. I’ve attended a couple family weddings over the years that I wasn’t in. I love weddings! But really, I’ve only attended a few as an adult.

NOT ANYMORE!

Last February, the first of my fiancé’s friends got engaged. 6 months later, another one got engaged, and a few months after that, Fiancé and I got engaged. At the same time, there was one couple who had been engaged for 6 years that decided it was time to be officially married!

Then launched the year of weddings. In July 2015, the first pair got married. Fiance was a groomsman, the food was amaaaaaazing, the venue was beautiful, and the bride looked like a beautiful fluffy white princess. In October, I attended my very first gay wedding and it was so fun! The ceremony was so touching, the music was mostly 90s and early 2000s and the crowd was dancing and hyped up.

Next is in November in Boston, a pair of close friends as well. Fiance is a groomsman again, and the couple is getting married in this really rad theater, and I am so excited!

And lastly is us. We’re the last ones in the wedding year, and we’re making everyone we know fly to another state to celebrate. Luckily, we’re asking many northerners to come south during deep winter, and so far the response has been very positive! Lots of family members have said they’re going to make it a vacation and see DisneyWorld and Universal and hang out in the Florida “winter,” which will be in the 60s…..cold for Floridians, practically summer for New Yorkers!

SO MANY WEDDINGS!

I love weddings. I love food, and dancing and parties and cake and my friends. Seriously, weddings are so much fun. And Fiance is great at weddings. I love to tease him and say that “Wedding Fiance is fun Fiancé!” He just has such a great time dancing with me and our friends to music we haven’t heard in years. He really just seems to love the party vibe.

It’s been really cool sharing this wedding process with these friends. July’s wedding was super traditional and elegant, October’s was more relaxed and casual, November’s is going to be a mix of traditional and casual, and mine will also be a mix but leaning towards a bit more formal. I’ve had a really good time hanging out with the other brides/grooms and talking about planning and our challenges and wins. It feels like we’re supporting each other. I can text the girls and ask about how they chose their photographer or what they’re doing for such-and-such.

My BFF has also been an incredible resource! She planned her own wedding on her own, and she knows a ton of people in the area we’re getting married. We’re using the same photographer she did!

My sister is an Event Planner and has planned a bajillion weddings and has been giving me tons of advice and showing me how to do stuff. She’s even offered to be a day-of coordinator!

It’s just all coming together. This wedding planning hasn’t been super stressful, and I’m just so lucky to have such supportive friends and family who are always happy to talk, hash things out, and give advice. This, the year of weddings, shall be remembered.

…and it will be easy to remember our friend’s anniversaries!