I Hear Vegas Is Nice...

It would be unfair to say that my life has been reduced to a wedding because that is not really the case. The wedding does seem to be something I spend a lot of my time talking about now but then you could also argue that I put it out there just as regularly as its brought. You know, like hi, my name is Gauchegirl and in case you wanted to avoid any socially awkward silences, you might be interested to know that I am soon to be having a wedding which is good for at least five minutes of inane small talk...and the fact that the Groom picked the dress should be good for a few more...or something along those lines. In any case, like the white elephant in the room, the wedding cannot be avoided and neither can everyone’s two cents worth that goes with it.

Now I’m not actually bothered by this phenomenon. More confused really. There is quite a dichotomy of views that everyone feels compelled to impart, sometimes in a rather impassioned manner. These responses often contain a variation on the theme if only I knew then what I know now but the riders range from I’d have skipped the whole wedding bit and put a deposit on a house or I’d have just gone all out and done exactly what I wanted. Which is usually a money thing but sometimes is mentioned in regards to certain family or friends that may or may not have been invited to the reception. So yeah, when The Boy and I sit down to consider are we doing the right thing (about the wedding that is, not the marriage), we still haven’t figured that out yet.

I’m sure many would argue that there actually is no right answer though. You can only do what seems right for you at the time and hope that it works out for the best. And maybe some of the responses are more indicative of the length of time that has passed between the wedding in question and now rather than what the better choice would have been anyway. It does seem that its the younger marrieds who tell us I can’t believe we spent that much or did it that way, it would have been easier to just elope. Its often been the older generation that has advocated doing anything and everything you can manage. A life goes on afterwards but you only live once so make the most of it sort of approach. Neither generation (generically) however looks back on their weddings in an unfavourable light.

So the jury is definitely still out. Whether its better to take whatever money you have on you, fly to Vegas and get hitched or beg, steal and borrow as much dosh as you can lay your hands on and throw the event of the century, I don’t know. The one thing everyone seems pretty unanimous about however is that you shouldn’t ever feel pushed into doing something you don’t want to do. Don’t invite people purely out of a sense of obligation. Don’t scrimp on the things that are important to you. Don’t let the hairdresser convince you your “do” is fine if you think you’d have done a better job by hosting a birds nest or fighting with the neighbour’s cat. Don’t listen to anyone telling you that you can’t do something you want to because its just not “done”. And if you really want something for your wedding, then as Nike would say, Just do it!