Weddingbee Blog

After I’d been engaged for a total of three days, stress and tears had already happened. I’m hoping that was the last of the stress and tears I’ll see for a long time. Don’t worry—I’m pretty sure I’m not turning into a Bridezilla. I think I cried for a legitimate reason (oh, is that what they all say?). See, the thing is, Mr. Opossum and I really want to get married soon. I know that most people are content with a year (or more!) long engagement, but hey, we aren’t most people. We’ve been dating for seven years, have never been more sure of anything, and are ready to get this show on the road!

And besides all of those reasons (which I think are enough), we’re “old fashioned,” so in order for us to start officially sharing a home we want to be officially tied to each other as husband and wife. I plan on starting grad school in the fall, and the most economical and logical way to do it is to bring Mr. Opossum, as my hubby, with me.

Since we got engaged in the middle of fall, that left us with three seasons to chose from. First, winter, which was so soon that it would have been practically impossible. Even I, armed with my huge portfolio of wedding ideas, couldn’t pull that off in time. So that left us with spring and summer. I’m sure everyone knows this, but Florida is blistering hot in the summer. Mr. Opossum was in his brother’s wedding in July and made me promise he would never have to wear a tux in July again. So July was out. Another Florida summer weather phenomenon is rain (and lots of it!). The weather being so unpredictable is something I’m not sure I’m ready to deal with. My best friend got married this past summer and it rained…and she totally kept her cool (you can’t even tell in her gorgeous pictures), but I do not have her composure or patience.

See? No rain here!

Photo by Woodland Fields Photography

Basically, we were left with spring, which is a really nice season in Florida. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuut…Mr. Opossum has a nephew due in mid March (I’m going to be an aunt!!!), and his big brother is getting married the beginning of May. That left us with April, except Mr. Opossum’s the best man in a wedding that is supposed to happen at some point in April, and April also happens to be prime exam-taking time for all the friends I have in grad school.

So we decided we just aren’t going to get married.

Just kidding. Ha. We started looking for dates in late May. And we realized that Memorial Day weekend might be the perfect solution. It gives our guests extra travel time and makes it possible for us to book a Sunday wedding, which everyone in the wedding world knows is less expensive (cheaper??) than Saturday. I’m perfectly fine with saving money (especially when it’s my parents’ and I already feel bad for spending it to begin with)!

I thought that things were working out pretty darn well, but there will always be some kind of conflict with the wedding date. Most likely, someone will not be able to come. And in this instance that someone is important, and Mr. Opossum and I really want them to be there. But we can’t afford (in more than one way) to compromise on some things. Which is why I cried. The possibility of loved ones not attending breaks my heart. So much so that I wanted to start changing things, which would negatively affect even more people.

Of course, my logical fiance talked me down off the ledge. We’ve decided to stick with what works for us because at the end of the day Mr. Opossum and I that are the only two people that need to be present for us to tie the knot. And that is kind of the point, right?