Weddingbee Blog

When Mr. Guinea Pig and I first got engaged, we weren’t too concerned about the long engagement we had planned. We wanted to get married in the spring, and 16 months didn’t sound impossibly long. I also figured that with all this time, I wouldn’t stress about the planning (ha) because it would give me plenty of wiggle room for making decisions. Then, a month and a half after we got engaged, one of Mr. GP’s friends got engaged. At a big dinner with a bunch of friends, everyone asked, “When’s the big day?” and his friend responded, “June!” “Oh,” people responded, “a month after Mr. GP and Miss Guinea Pig get married?”

“No,” she replied, “ this June (4 months from their engagement).”

11 months before Mr. GP and I will get married! Mr. Guinea Pig turned to me and suddenly wanted to know why we weren’t doing that; why couldn’t we get married this past May (3 months away at that point)? I fumbled around, trying to come up with a reason more than just, ’because it will be easier to plan’.

I think part of our reasoning was that since we hadn’t been dating for that long, why not take our time being engaged? By the time we get married, we will have been fiance/e longer than boy/girlfriend! But I couldn’t shake the feeling that really, when you decide to get married, shouldn’t you be ready to get married? Why wait?

I’m actually happy with our decision to wait and I really enjoy planning one thing at a time because I have that luxury. But when I saw this wedding, I completely understood, admired, and loved their choice: A surprise wedding: Marisa + John (via 100 Layer Cake). They planned their wedding in a week! What was supposed to be an engagement party a week later suddenly turned into a surprise wedding:

They called their bridesmaids and groomsmen, asked them to be in the wedding (without saying when), then asked them to arrive early to the engagement party so the bride and groom could give them a gift. When their friends got to the house, they found Marisa (the bride) in a wedding dress!

(I love her dress)

Marisa took the week off work to organize things in a flurry. Luckily their wedding planner, photographer, and caterer were all available, she bought her dress as a sample at a discount, and they arranged everything with their minister. Everything was set, and when the day finally arrived, people showed up for the party and the bride’s brother made a toast: “The bad news is that with all the crying and 1000 different people to please with the wedding planning, Marisa and John have decided to end their engagement today” … total silence… “But I am completely honored to announce that they will be getting married tonight!”

Et voila! They got married with a beautiful ceremony at the house, surrounded by friends and family, and had a party to celebrate after! It was everything a wedding ’should be’, and they planned it in a week.

Most importantly, they were happy. It didn’t take 9 or 16 or 24 months to plan, and it was still perfect. Sometimes I find myself coming back to this story and thinking wishfully about scrapping our plans and getting married now. But in the end, it just helps me remember that the most important thing no matter how long you are engaged, is that you do what makes you happy, surrounded by people who are important to you.

{All images and story, from 100 Layer Cake}

Would you ever consider a surprise wedding? Do you wish your engagement had been shorter (or longer)?