Welcome to the Real World

{Someone else's rainy wedding day, via Pinterest}

I got married last weekend!  What a whirlwind!  In so many ways, it's hard to believe that it's over.  The past few months of my life have felt 100% dedicated to preparing for the wedding - every shopping trip, every Saturday and Sunday afternoon, every meal, every run. It becomes a lifestyle! I truly loved the planning, even in those moments I thought I was going to lose my mind.  Balancing wedding planning with what I came to refer to as "real life" (as if somehow the wedding wasn't real as well), was tough, and sometimes felt impossible, but in the end, the day actually arrived, and we actually got married! 

Admittedly, I'm a little bit of a perfectionist, but also a sloppy one (if that makes any sense?).  Though there's still a handful of things I would have added, and a few vendors that didn't fully come through for us in the end, I have been thinking more and more about the day as a whole, and trying not to let the imperfections taint my memories.  Remembering how happy and loving our guests were, how everyone stayed on the dance floor until the final moments, all of the compliments we received on how special and close our ceremony was, and how, in the end, the wedding really was personalized and crafty, just as I'd always wanted it to be.  

With all of that to mull over and soak in, no one tells you that the days after the wedding can feel like a total vacuum!  The months and days leading up to the wedding are packed with friends and family, and once it gets rolling, the day itself is full of all of those same people, and so much love.  Though it's ever so cliche to say, it's a blur.  I tried to pause a few times during the day, particularly during the reception, to process it all, but even standing there looking around, I could still feel it all slipping through my fingers.  Time just moves too quickly.  Afterwards, though I may have thought some quiet time in my own home with just my husband was all I could have ever wanted after 4 months of insanity, it turns out, I missed the rush.  Slowly, everyone goes back to work and school and home, and though, all of that love is inevitably still there, it's harder to feel.  I experience this after every big holiday or major family visit, so it's no wonder that the days after my wedding were a mixed up blur of emotions.  As AChef and I try to stir up as many memories as we can to record them for the future, when our wedding day isn't so crisp in our minds, I am also trying hard to hold onto those pinches of loneliness, and use them for good, sharing our excitement, love and support for others in the days following their own weddings.