Weddingbee Blog

Two, as in, under two months to go until the Pretzels wed! Much like a toddler, I went from a happy, low(er) stress, wedding planning Pretzel to an easily irritated, stressed out Pretzel knot almost exactly at the two month mark. *insert sad face*

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I’ve dubbed the two month mark “the terrible twos”.

Exactly at the two month mark I had a calendar reminder for us to apply for our marriage license. In Washington you need to get your license between 60 and 4 days before the wedding (yes there is a 4 day waiting period to get married). This milestone made the wedding seem so close and our to do list seem so long. Despite my best intentions the control freak side of my personality made a big appearance.

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It didn’t help that the invitations weren’t done yet, that work was chaotic, or that we had a whirlwind weekend trip to Indiana smack dab in the middle. I was out of sorts, picking fights over small insignificant details, stressing that there wasn’t enough time in the day. Problems seemed larger than they were and I found myself frequently frustrated. Poor Mr Pretzel, his steady and supportive reassurances that “It will all be OK” couldn’t reassure me. I.was.stressed. At one point when I was worked up about something completely silly he wrapped his arms around me immobilizing me, suppressed the urge to laugh, and repeated over and over that it will be OK. Finally I relented.

He was right—after two weeks, the terrible twos have passed.

Some things that have helped me get through this spell.

Get something done—anything!

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The biggest stress reliever was getting our 150 handmade invites out the door (post coming soon about our labor of love). But Mr Pretzel was also great about helping me tackle other wedding tasks to help cut down the big list. Mr P also insisted that we track progress towards completion on our giant to-do-list to make us see movement even if the item wasn’t 100% complete yet.

Focus on someone other than you or your fiance

Meeting the new addition to the family

On our trip to Indiana two weeks ago we got to meet Mr Pretzel’s new nephew and celebrate when his youngest brother (Mr P’s best man) got married to Bridesmaid S. Just Sunday we celebrated with Weddingbee reader TPHoliday and her groom at their couture fairytale wedding. In less than two weeks we will celebrate Bridesmaid H’s Las Vegas wedding. All of this celebrating is a lifesaver. It was wonderful to no think about our wedding but to focus all of our love and attention on another bride and groom. Not to mention that holding a baby does wonders for your stress levels.

Be Patient

Not only did I need Mr Pretzel’s patience, but I also needed my own. I was aware that I was out of sorts and the more I tried to not be the more I was. Make sense? Yeah it makes no sense to me either. But I found when I was patient with myself, things worked themselves out.

P.S. - I would be a total fail blogger if I didn’t share some photos from the two wonderful weddings that we attended.

May 15th Fort Wayne IN

Best Man M and Pretzel Bridesmaid S’s wedding

M&S drove away in S’s dad’s Model A

S’s ribbon wands were a hit!

The Pretzel’s clean up pretty good

May 23rd Seattle WA

Weddingbee reader and friend TPHoliday was a vision in her unique silver gown

The Pretzels looking more relaxed with the terrible twos behind them

I was completely unprepared for the terrible twos. It was an emotional roller coaster that I didn’t expect. I’m very thankful that Mr Pretzel helped me keep perspective and that I was able to focus on other people.

Was there a time-frame when your stress increased significantly? How did you get through that time?