I have always expected to be involved with the planning of my own wedding. Hell, I'll move high rises 10 feet to the left to make the city a better place, so how hard can a wedding be?.....
... Yeah, right. All the time I (or Kathi, or both) think 'hell, let's just elope.' The array of decisions, and parties who have an input into those decisions, is astounding. In a previous job I planned an annual fundraiser (12 months of planning, 100+ volunteers, 1000+ attendees, and well over $100,000 raised), so I have some idea of planning large events, but the great monkey in the works for weddings is family; both families in fact. Now don't get me wrong; I love my parents, and Kathi's family is great, but they all want input into the wedding (which often translates as 'you want to do it this [our] way'). And of course, being family, to say no invites the dreaded 'I'm your [insert relative here]; don't I matter? *sniff*'. Sometimes eloping looks really appealing (and since my boss is the Mayor, and therefore a JP in effect, he can do it. 5 minutes at the start of Council and then we're done. Of course I still have to sit through council [it's my job], but at least that day I could wear a tux.)
*sigh*; what keeps me sane is looking at Kathi: at the end of the day we'll be married, and together permanently, so all the family stuff I can deal with. And we're awful close to having the date and place nailed down, which will make the rest of the process a lot clearer (can't pick a hotel, or a limo, or a caterer, etc., without knowing which city and date the wedding will be). No, I'm not telling where; not till it's signed and sealed (hey! you wanna spoiler??? The ship sinks; soylent green is made of people; Cloverfield is a giant monster, and Spock dies).
--An interesting observation from the guy's side of things: wedding planning is not quite as bridalcentric as I was expecting. Oh sure, it does lean in that direction, but by and large the vendors/websites/etc. have recognized that grooms are people too. In fact, the only time I get snarky to a vendor was when a reception venue had no pictures of the outside of their building. I'm a city planner by training, remember?? This is a HUGE red flag for me; what's wrong with the outside that they won't show it (or talk about it, as I found out)? Well, having been outside their building I know the answer: most of the store fronts are vacant, and the sidewalk looks like it survived the Dresden firebombing. Score one for city planning radar!!
But in general, other than being a bit pushy (but not quite so bad as Best Buy salestaff), the wedding industry has generally treated me well. I'm still ready to turn on snark mode, but I'm equally ready to not need it, and actually get the beast planned. We'll see at any rate.
That's all folks; off to bed.
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