Weddings and Crazy

Today's Royal Wedding led to a discussion of how weddings can bring out the crazy in people.  Since I'm not a Princess, a lavish, no holds barred, fairy tale affair just wasn't going to happen for me, but I did have an idea of what I wanted. To avoid hurting feelings, I'll limit myself to saying that I was shocked that so many people felt entitled to complain to me about anything and everything I asked for.

Mind you, I was determined not to be a Bridezilla, but many people acted as though I was one if I asked for anything at all.  And I do mean ANYTHING!  "I don't have to wear a suit, do I?"  "Do I really have to wear a dress?"  "What do you want me to do with these, again?"  "Don't tell me I have to pick your colors for you."  And don't even get me started on the guest list... It was clear to me that this wasn't MY day in ANYONE'S mind.

Since I had just gone back to work (and had no accrued leave) I put in 12-14 hour days to earn enough comp time to make the trip to Las Vegas.  There was no time to work out, even out tan lines, order a dress (I bought two off of eBay and picked the one that could be altered to fit me), or follow along with those crazy checklists found in wedding planners.  I certainly didn't have time for other peoples' drama.  Rather than deal with the craziness people were showing, we went without attendants, dancing, a slide show, and other things I really wanted.  When we got to Vegas, everyone disappeared to do what they wanted and more or less forgot about the things they agreed to help me with.  People scheduled things without asking us and were upset because we weren't where they wanted us to be.  Others made "assumptions" about what "we wanted' which were totally about them.  And then there were the constant phone calls from other people at all hours - not inviting us out, but asking for directions, advice, or opinions.

Finally, on the night before the wedding, we grabbed both kids, told everyone to leave us alone, ordered room service, and we all spent the night watching TV.  It was the most stress free night of the entire trip.  By the time I finally made it down the aisle the next morning, and miraculously fully dressed (the hair/makeup ladies were an hour late and as it turned out, I'd lost so much weight I had to have a good friend literally pin me into the dress and in the meanwhile, everyone and their brother was calling me for directions instead of reading the damned signs and figuring things out for themselves), I was so relieved that I burst into tears.  Yep, I cried throughout the entire thing.  Not because I was mad or exhausted or disappointed or scared, but because I really just wanted to be married to my husband and not have to deal with everyone else's CRAP.  I did pitch a fit and insist on one thing "frivolous" thing that I wanted, though:

Maybe we really enjoyed our hour on the lazy river because we were away from the crazies, but this was a LOT of fun.  Just the two of us having a good time with a bunch of people cheering us along, buying us beers, and my brother's gracious willingness to take some great pictures free of charge and no strings attached.

I hope that when my kids get married, I am better at not being crazy.  :)  Haha, probably too late for that.  Oh well.