(…Or, the beginning of 7 months of Christmas Eve-like anticipation…)
Everyone told me that I’d be excited. But I had no idea it’d be like this.
I’ve barely eaten in a few weeks (save roughly one meal a day). I’ve been awake until 2:00am every night. I wake up early, like really early, easily. It feels like massive amounts of adrenaline are pumping through my veins all the time. I’ve had to give up caffeine altogether (for now) because I haven’t stopped buzzing with otherworldly excitement since I got engaged a couple of weeks ago.
My current mental state is an endless maze–I can’t focus on any one thing, but my mind is constantly weaving down one thought path, then another, then another, then another. There have been small, precious moments with Jesus where I’ve felt a pause amidst this crazy, overstimulating maze, but most days lately are spent trying to make sense of my swirling thoughts and emotions.
It’s nothing negative–it’s everything positive, actually, just all at once. Each piece of my future is so full of anticipation for me that I’m not sure which to tackle first. Where will we get married? Where will we live? Are we going to buy a house? What can we afford? Which venue/photographer/caterer/florist should we go with? And the questions, thoughts, feelings, emotions–they all go on…
No hard decisions have been made yet, but I am strongly leaning towards a few things. First, we’ve decided to get married this July (no definite date until we book a venue), somewhere in Texas. Second, we love the colors navy blue, blush pink, and gold…well. There you have it. Somewhere in Texas, sometime in July, there will be a wedding with the colors navy, blush, and gold.
Rather than try to nail down details that I have not nailed down, let me tell you my vision. My 30,000 foot vision for my wedding and future.
I dream about an intimate, romantic, warm wedding. I want to add small, meaningful details to make it feel just like me and Riley. I hope our guests are relaxed and comfortable and everything–us, the décor, the venue, our officiant–exudes joy and nothing feels uptight or stuffy. Mostly, I pray that Jesus is very clearly at the center of our wedding day and marriage.
Here are some inspirational photos that are helping me form my vision:
Via Mod Wedding (click to go to site)
Via Style Me Pretty (click to go to site)
Via Ruffled (click to go to site)
Via Rustic Fold Weddings (click to go to site)
Via Every Last Detail (click to go to site)
Via BuzzFeed (click to go to link)
Via Southern Weddings (click to go to site)
Via It’s a Bride’s Life (click to go to site)
Via Confetti Daydreams (click to go to site)
So, there’s a very small sampling of my wedding inspiration thus far (all found on my Pinterest boards). If you see something on Pinterest that you think might help me, feel free to send me the pin–simply click on the image you want to send, click “Send,” and then type in my name! I would love some assistance in narrowing down my vision! 🙂
Outside of planning our wedding day, Riley and I are also seriously praying through the time afterwords. We live three and a half hours apart at present, meaning that one of us will need to move so that we can live in the same place. There’s really no easy or simple solution, so we’ve handed the situation over to the Lord and are eagerly waiting on Him to reveal our next steps. In the meantime, we are looking at houses in both places so that we can [hopefully] have a house in place before our nuptials.
Finally, there a couple of personal goals I have before we wed. Like any bride, I want to look my best on such an important day. I’m interested in doing the Insanity 60 Day Challenge (anyone done it?) to tone up, so that I walk down the aisle feeling my best physically. Additionally, I’d like to get my teeth whitened! 🙂 Emotionally and spiritually, both Riley and I are reading several books on Christian marriage as one small way to prepare for becoming one–we’re also going to get premarital counseling.
I realize now more than ever that there’s no way to be fully prepared for planning a wedding, planning a marriage, and planning a life. The good news is that I am completely free from the necessity to be fully prepared. God is behind me and before me. He has orchestrated this love and this life, and so, in the midst of swirling anticipation and excitement, I will look to Him for the one next step.
Sounds like you are on top of things to me! I took me months and months to finally decide what wedding colors I wanted. I don’t know why that was so hard…. Such a fun, exciting time!
It IS a fun, exciting time! 🙂 Not sure I’m that on top of things, but I have colors and a month…so that’s something!
xo,
b
You might move !?!? 🙁
We’re praying about it! That decision is 100% in God’s hands!
First of all, I’m so excited for you, and I LOVE reading your posts about this exciting time! I try not to give too much marriage advice because: 1) I’m no expert and 2) I know that you get advice overload during this time. But there is one thing I try to tell everyone. You may have done this before, but one of my favorite things that I did during my pre-marital counseling was go through Dave Ramsey’s financial seminar as a couple. It really helped us figure out what would work for us together and discuss our beliefs about money and loans and whatnot. We had talked about a lot of that before but it really got us on the same page about things and we learned a lot of great strategies that helped us out as newlyweds with very small incomes. One last tip- someone told me that all that matters is that you’re married at the end of the day. Keeping that in mind really helped me to let go of some of the smaller bumps in the road along the way, and it helped me stay calm when things weren’t 100% perfect. Hopefully you won’t have any bumps in the road though!
Thanks, Sarah! Love your advice about DR. I’ve heard such great things about him! Thank you for sharing in our excitement!
xo,
b
Navy, blush pink, and gold are my colors too!! …Except I’m not getting married …yet. Let’s just say those are my colors for my Pinterest wedding 😉
Regarding the Insanity workout, I’m a Beachbody coach and run private, online, women’s only challenge groups that start on the first Monday of each month. If you have any questions about Insanity (there’s a new, 30-minute version out now!) or any other Beachbody program or my challenge groups, please let me know! You can find me on FB.com/caroline.brooks 🙂
Please continue your wedding series, I love following along!
Hahaha! I love that those are your colors, too! 😉
I would really love to hear more about your women’s challenge groups–can you email me more info?! ([email protected])
Hugs to you, Caroline!
xo,
b
Girl! We got engaged around the same time!! I remember seeing your post on Instagram and getting all crazy excited for y’all. We got engaged on Dec 22 and we’re getting married July 18, 2015. Our colors also involve blush and navy blue!! Seriously so similar! We are planning away over here, too! Starting today I am beginning my wedding workout haha. My best friend is a personal trainer so she has made me a nutrition guide as well as a workout plan. So excited to follow along with your engagement 🙂
Oh my gosh Shelby, that is TOO crazy! How fun!!! 🙂 (By the way, love your site!)
xo,
b
Blair, after deleting my facebook the one thing I missed the most was reading your blog updates. So I casually googled the name of your blog today and run across post after post of wonderful news in your life. First of all congratulations on your engagement, I am so excited that you found soul mate! Second, I honestly can not picture you at a better job! BTW I live in Dallas now so if your ever in town we should get some coffee!
Hey Yessica! 🙂
I’m so glad that you “checked up on me!!” Thank you for sharing in our joy–we are thrilled! I’m in the DFW area all the time, we should DEFINITELY get coffee!
xo,
b
Blair, all these wedding posts are making me cry! I’m so happy for you!! 😀 I was wondering – have you heard of Danny Silk’s Defining the Relationship course? He’s one of the pastors at my church in Redding and it’s an excellent course for couples on their way to marriage. Just FYI!
Kristy
Hey Kristy!
We’re doing premarital counseling through Riley’s church in Denton (Denton Bible Church). But that sounds great! 🙂 Thanks for the recommendation.
xo,
b