As the fairy tale becomes a 'crazy' reality

I was chatting with a good friend of mine, Alyssa, at a party last weekend. She is getting married in December, and became engaged to her lovely fiance, David this past Thanksgiving. At the party a friend of ours asked how all our planning was going...and I was relived to hear someone else say (out loud) that it was much more stressful than they thought it would be.

She's worked for a long time making cupcakes and cakes for weddings, she knows how it goes and all the planning. I spend about 15-20 weekends a year attending or taking pictures for weddings, I know how it goes. Well, we thought anyways.

She figured out earlier than I did how expensive invitations and centerpieces are, so she decided to make her own. I realized that a few weeks ago, and now am following the same path. It makes things a bit more stressful - but luckily Taylor and his family are a huge help.

The biggest thing that makes it a bit of a "painful" process is not having my mom and the majority of my best friends and maids of honor here with me. I luckily have Taylor and his amazing family, and my good friend, Michelle who was a maid of honor twice and is so awesome.

However, it is so hard doing this without my mom sometimes. Not that I can't technically do it alone, it's not so bad, but just not having her here for the moments I always thought we would do together.

Luckily my friends are coming in March, and my mom is coming soon after my wedding dress comes in (early summer), so I am lucky to have those moments to look forward to.

Though it really makes me think twice about moving away and having kids - I can get through this okay, but it would be much tougher to go through all the craziness of first-time pregnancy without my family or friends from home closer.