60 Days

Here I am... slowly losing my mind.

About 8 months ago I got engaged to a kick-ass dude - someone that thinks my inappropriate jokes are hilarious, my Patsy-and-Adina velour sweats that my mom gave me are flattering, and that I am just generally a genius. The whole engagement thing took some getting used to as, for the most part, I just figured I'd just live with my boyfriend forever and not bother going through the legal and financial rigamarole of the wedding process. That went out the window pretty quickly - especially when I was staring down the barrel of a heart-felt proposal.

So I tried to change my tune: I've been to weddings. I've been IN weddings. Weddings are fun, they're a reflection of the couple that's getting married, a celebration of- oh, who am I kidding? Weddings are the reason I never wanted to get married. They are a total hassle, completely nonsensical and make everyone you know - and even those you don't - completely insane.

Despite my career as a producer - live events and otherwise - I was not prepared for the emotional insanity that would ensue with my family, my boyfriend's family, my friends, my parents' friends - you get the idea. So far I've had my mother add at least 1 additional couple to the guest list each week for the last 2 months, my boyfriend's cousin call to inform us that we must have mislabeled the invitation and she will in fact be bringing her 7 children, and a dear friend (who's getting married 2 weeks before me) ask me to move my wedding to Spring of 2011. I shit you not: people get crazy.

On the plus side, I have managed to, thus far, use my producing skills to negotiate the shit out of vendors' services, my coupon-clipping penchant for procuring discounts on wares and my DIY craftiness to learn and make most every decoration in the venue. Still, with the last two months being where the budget tends to fly out the window with the "let's just get it done - what's another $200" mentality, I've decided to start documenting the chaos. Hopefully not only to keep me in line, but to help anyone else that might need an idea or two.

60 days and counting (as per www.theknot.com checklist - an obnoxious yet annoyingly helpful tool for anyone planning a wedding).

There has to be an easier way to throw a wedding. And I'm determined to find it.