February 2012
11 posts
My 4 Month Engagement
Since being engaged, I’ve been having so much fun making decisions and planning not just the wedding, but the honeymoon and the rest of our life together. Well, maybe not the entirety of the rest of our life, but at least where we’ll be living.
At first I had mixed emotions about a 4 month engagement.
I wasn’t sure I could figure everything out in such a short amount of time. After seeing a few friends get married with 3 month engagements, however, I realized how totally doable (and maybe even preferable) it could be for me.
There’s very little time to second guess myself.
I had to go with my gut on some things, and for me it’s a bit of a challenge because I’m such an over-thinker. I’ve been envisioning my wedding since I was 5 years old. That means that for the last (almost) 20 years I had been flip-flopping on what style, color, destination, or anything to choose. Over the last month I realized how calming and life-affirming it’s been to make decisions based on where Paul and I are right now in our lives.
We don’t have to sweat through our wedding.
If we had opted for a 6 month engagement, we’d be getting married in the middle of July. In Phoenix. That would be disgusting, sweaty, and really not fun.
I don’t have to listen to people.
Okay, that makes me sound like a jerk so let me explain. With such a short timeline Paul and I need to make our decisions on the fly and not worry about consulting with everyone in the family or wedding party. I think it helps that we’re footing the bill for the wedding (no strings attached there!), and my parents have instead been gracious enough to contribute toward the honeymoon and setting us up for married life! This really takes so much pressure off of us. Paul and I can just be ourselves and make decisions as we’re feeling lead by God.
Paul and I are part of a Redemption Community (it’s like a Bible study) through our church. The family of believers there have been so helpful keeping the stress out of the process. One of the couples there had a 3 month engagement (like I mentioned earlier), and have been really faithful in reminding us (mostly me) of the real beauty of the wedding. Paul and I get to be together for the rest of our lives! The leaders are also very good at bringing us back to reality. They are an amazing couple who have been married for 35 years — and they only had a 3 week engagement!
