Celebrate We Will: November 2009

Kyle and I had the rare (and uber fun) opportunity to play "Let's plan a wedding" last weekend. Now, if you had asked me a year and half ago* if I thought "Let's plan a wedding" was a fun game, I'd likely have socked you in the eye. I'm not gonna lie, one of the best feelings in the whole world was waking up on the morning after my wedding and realizing A. I married my soul mate (Eeee!) and B. I never had to plan another wedding. Ever.

But it seems that planning SOMEONE ELSE'S wedding is a smidge different. There's all the fun of making big plans and dreaming about little details, without any of the stress that comes along with actually committing to a decision. A decision that could make or break the ENTIRE wedding and therefore make or break THE REST OF MY LIFE. (I'll admit that I got a bit carried away when planning my big day.) Anyway, when you don't have to make any concrete decisions yourself, planning a wedding is down right fun.

So when two of my and Kyle's dear friends asked if we would help them select a venue for their wedding next year (they live on the east coast and plan to get married here in California) I all but jumped for joy.

Our friends selected a cute little wine country town on the Russian River in Northern California for their nuptials, and asked if Kyle and I wouldn't mind driving up there to check out a few spots. Hmmmmmm, spend a day in wine country looking at beautiful wedding venues along a river? OK! Plus - Kyle and I got to experience that "JustEngagedLet'sPlanAWedding" giddiness all over again. It was an awesome day. I found myself saying things like "Ok, so here is where we... uhhhh, I mean the bride and groom... would stand during the ceremony" and so on. :) I totally found myself getting lost in excitement of it all as if it was my own wedding. But again, without the stress and fear of making, *gasp*, the wrong decision. So much fun.

And the best part is that it seems I'm not half bad as a wedding scout. I diligently took pictures and copious amounts of notes. I checked out restaurants/bars/hotels in the neighborhood so the bride/groom could tell their out of town guests where to go the weekend of the wedding. I asked about preferred Vendors , and bathroom facilities, and the availability of lights and electrical outlets. And then I wrote up a whole report for the bride and groom. Man - if I thought I could actually make a living doing it, I might just toss this whole Engineering career thing out the window and opt, instead, to be a wedding planner. Trouble is, I'm sure every other starry eyed little girl living her life as a cleverly disguised adult would do the exact same thing (either that or own a flower shop - my other secret fantasy job.) Which is why I doubt I could ever make a living doing it. *Sigh* Sure would be fun though.