WebMD Wedding

And so it begins.

I've been searching high and low this week to begin searching for ideas that inspire me. I know the basic outline of my wedding: Purple. ShabbyChic. Budget Friendly. Southern. Perhaps a hint of French. But after that, I am not quite sure what direction I am heading in yet. We want a small wedding, close friends and family, and a small reception, but we want it to be BIG in heart and fun. I know I want a DJ, not a live band. I know I don't want a formal reception with China and and stemware and "Did you order the filet mignon or the chicken?" We are not like that, nor should our wedding be. I am thinking it will have a definite southern flare to it, most noticeably in the food we choose for the reception. Comfort foods. GOOD foods. And comfortable table settings - I do not need every single chair wrapped in a bow and then kissed by a thousand fairies by the glow of the moon before you sit in it.

But all of these definite "don't wants" have led me to begin solidifying my "do wants". Enter: the internet. I got on Pinterest and made the horrifying mistake of simply typing "purple wedding" in the search box. As though I had some mystery illness and needed to WebMD my symtoms. Purple. ShabbyChic. Budget Friendly. Southern. What is my diagnosis oh web doctor?! That seemed so innocent. But then, the literally thousands of posts that included those two words appeared before me. My head literally exploded. I wanted every single cake I saw. Every flower bouqet. Every table setting. Because it was all purple. And wedding. And that is just like crack to me right now. So in order to curb my enthusiasm, I decided to take a break and look into something a bit more calm. Enter: Craigslist.

Now, everything that Pinterest is, Craigslist is not. Pinterest wraps it all in a pretty bow, leads you into fantasy land, and you start to say unhealthy things like, "You know, I think I COULD build that all by myself!! All I need is a table saw and a sturdy pair of gloves..." and before you know it you are in wedding la-la land, and my purple parisian southern fried wedding has all but taken place already. Then you get on Craigslist and type the same two, innocent words: purple wedding. And then it happens. The most white trash, god-awful things begin to appear before your eyes. Now granted, not ALL of it is awful. Some things were actually okay. But then there are things like the piece of cardboard with words painted on with crayola paint sets that say things like "Just got hitched". Now granted, it was painted in purple. So technically it did meet my criteria. Then you see wedding dresses with sad little descriptions like "Never been worn. Didn't quite make it to the big day. Make an offer." Or table settings that consist of a plastic flower scotch taped to what I can only assume was a styrofoam plate with a number scribbled on it.

Now. some of the things I saw actually WERE nice, and were legitimately people who just spent $10,000 on a big party and now are desperate to redeem some of their investment. And I will continue to scour the internet, both Pinterest and Craigslist and dozens of other countless sites, as I narrow down my exact plans. But my point is this - I don't want to go to either end of the spectrum in this process. I don't want to become so caught up in the hype of planning that I end up hiring people to ride in on unicorns at the reception as Enya plays in the background and fairies sprinkle fairy dust as I climb an Eiffel Tower (damn fairies...). But I also don't want to be so low-budget or focused on "Well it's just about the love, so nothing else matters." that I end up serving my guests beenie weenies on paper plates, while Andrew and I exit on a lawnmower with that "Just got hitched" sign I bought off Craigslist.

So now, as my excitement calms and my eyes open to the true task at hand, I seek balance. And calm. I know what I want, what I don't want, and now I know to just take a deep breath and listen.