Biggest Adventure Yet

I’ve been horribly lax in the frequency of my blogging. Not that I don’t have my excuses . . . . . working 45 hours a week, taking continuing education classes, planning a wedding . . . . .

I was trying to be casual, but I’m sure the word wasn’t lost. Something about it seems to draw attention like a flashing neon sign. So I suppose that it’s no surprise now when I reveal that my latest adventure involved getting married.

We were old enough (mid thirty-something), had been dating long enough (a few years), been through enough (too much to list), and the time had come to make the next logical step in our lives together. Yes, it was finally time to qualify for that lovely little tax deduction that the IRS gives to married couples.

We made the difficult decision to not be selfish and take the easy way out by eloping. The allure of something quick, simple, cheap . . . something just about us where we wouldn’t have to take anyone else and what they wanted into consideration . . . it was a tough decision, but in the end we knew we were making the right choice by ‘sharing our special day’ with others. Yikes!

I’m not one of those women who grew up daydreaming about her wedding day. In fact, until I met my the man who’s now husband, I was pretty sure I was going to age into a crazy dog lady. I had it all planned out. I was going to buy a farm and fill it with a herd of Terriers. A dog rescue and retreat where the Puppy Parade would proceed all day long. And I was fine with that. But planning a wedding? I was lost with no clue where to begin and no one up here to help. I had no idea what I wanted, and I didn’t have much time to sacrifice finding out.

During my hours of lunch break wedding planning, I stumbled upon a multitude of seemingly endless wedding sites, wedding blogs, wedding pinterest boards, wedding chat rooms . . .the list goes on and on. To say it was overwhelming is a huge understatement. But what was most surprising is that with all of the overabundance of information available, very little of it was actually helpful. I did, however, find one diamond in the rough.

To say that I’m frugal would be kinder than calling myself downright cheap. I found a great website called www.thumbtack.com where you can post the services you want, and vendors will bid for your patronage. That’s how I ended up getting a beautiful, absolutely delicious cake and an awesome photographer who took fabulous pictures – both at a steal compared to what other vendors were charging! (That, and by planning the wedding and reception for a Thursday night, which worked for us since most of our friends and family lived across the country and would have to fly up to attend).

We rolled the dice and planned an outdoor ceremony at the Cathedral of the Pines overlooking Mount Monadnock in Rindge, New Hampshire. Lucky for us, the pouring rain finally stopped a little less than two hours before the ceremony, and a beautiful, bright blue sky replaced the grey stormy one. When the official part was over, my husband and I started our life – and biggest adventure yet – together by releasing Monarch butterflies into the wild. Having a wedding wasn’t too traumatic of an experience after all.