This weekend was The Boy’s birthday and we had a little get together with some close family and friends. People started talking about the wedding and, well, by the time we left I was a bit upset because I felt that things had gotten out of control. It seems that our guest list for the wedding and surrounding events is growing waaay out of control and that people are trying to tell me/us what to do regarding the wedding and food and clothes and on and on. Needless to say, I spent the last two days having a mild anxiety attack. While trying to keep it all together, I may have looked something like this (but minus about 35 pounds [plus, have no idea what The Boy's eyes are doing in this picture]):
Fast forward to last night. We were running an errand and my mind got to wandering about all the crap that I needed to schedule and plan for this wedding. And then I had a brain trust moment. I am a visual person – no matter how technologically advanced I become…I always seem to fall back on the handwritten list. So why not make one? Just a simple chart that would outline the Major Items and the Important Months that they need to be done during (doesn’t seem like those chores happen in large chunks?). This is what I came up with:
Simple Chart. Major Items. Important Months. Done.
It ain’t rocket science. I drafted up a quickie list of the things that were most important to me and to The Boy (and screw everyone else thankyouverymuch). I looked at the timeline suggested in my wedding binder and figured out which Important Months would require us to do our Major Items. Then, I filled in my little handwritten chart – each Important Month had a grid and inside that month’s grid, I filled in the Major Items that I needed to address to make sure that the wedding WE WANT happens.
For example, in August I should be down to my goal weight (I have been steadily [and safely] losing weight and becoming more fit since last year – hence the 35 pound weight loss mentioned above). To celebrate, I am rewarding myself with wedding dress shopping. I’ll either do a bit here in San Antonio or I’ll try to fly out to my old stomping grounds in Los Angeles with my bestie and try them on with other girlfriends there. I also noted later on the chart that I didn’t need to worry about narrowing down (or even deciding) on a gown until November (the better to score a slammin’ deal, m’dear). I plan on posting this chart on my Wedding Mood Board as a constant reminder of what ACTUALLY needs to be done to create our wedding.
Have you run into any wedding stress situations? Had any problems with scheduling priorities or remembering what needs to be done and when? How did you take care of everything? Share, share, share.