Wedding update

It's been very interesting, this whole wedding planning experience.

Overall, there hasn't been near the stress that I expected. Mostly, it's been a slow and steady process where we discuss or confirm a couple of items each week.

With a little more than four months until The Big Day, the only big items remaining are flowers, reception food taste-testing, and finalizing a rehearsal dinner menu. The most hectic period of the two-month engagement was the first two weeks. We changed our original plan for a spring wedding, confirmed and booked the church and reception site, and talked with the majority of the wedding party.

Two things that stand out to me have been the "automatic expectations" from extended family or friends, most of whom will be invited, but their opinions aren't as important. Some of the best advice we got was from a friend of Kristi's who said to list five things that are the most important to us, and focus on those. Everything else? Well, let someone else worry about that or figure it out after you have the most important things nailed down.

The automatic expectations come from people who seem to put their desires ahead of the people actually getting married. One person couldn't understand why we didn't want to honeymoon in Ireland. The first week of January. Fortunately, someone else at the table - besides Kristi or I - chimed in with an obvious weather point. It's cold and rainy in Ireland 10 months out of the year, especially in January.

The other interesting twist is when we discuss costs and prices with people who are either from other parts of the country, or who got married more than a couple years ago. Most people lose track that Georgia, especially Athens, is fairly cheap. A draft beer at your local bar is about $2 or $3, compared to $8-$10 in New York, for example. What's more, customs and practices for things like number of attendants and alcohol at the reception are all over the map.

The bottom line is the people who know us, and know our personalities, have stepped back and let us make whatever decision we want. By and large, the people closest to us, especially the groomsmen, have been very understanding and flexible about ironing out details.