Setting the Date!

As soon as you get engaged there are two things you will hear non-stop: "Let me see your ring!" and "Have you set a date?" 

The first question of course is no problem since all newly engaged ladies are thrilled to show off their rings.

The second question however can be a bit frustrating to brides early on.  I know for myself setting a date was the first thing to be done, and it feels like you can't do anything else until you set a date.

There were a few issues that made setting a date a bit difficult for us. First I had in my head that I wanted our engagement to last about a year.  Which would have meant getting married in December 2010.  This however, was quickly thrown out the window.

Around the time of our engagement one of my younger brothers applied for an overseas program which would have him living in Egypt or Turkey from August 2010 until January 2011.  So, since I couldn't (wouldn't) get married without him there, we were left with the decision of getting married before August 2010 or waiting until sometime in 2011.

Well, long story short(ish) we decided to have a summer wedding.  July 31 fell into place because I wanted as much time to plan as possible (remember, I really wanted a year to plan) and we didn't know when in August my brother would have to leave.  So, I cut it as close as I could.

As it turned out, Matthew wasn't accepted to the program, but our date was set, and it was absolutely the right date for us.

Now, I can't help but think that I was sooooo glad to be married, and not still in the final planning stages.  I was so glad that we didn't wait.  I'm so glad to be enjoying our newlywed life instead of still anticipating the wedding!

As it turned out I had more than enough time to plan.  But, I fully believe that had we had a longer engagement I would have still been just as busy, and had just as much to do.  I would have just taken on more DIY projects, added more details, and made myself crazy.

So, now that you've heard how we set our date (and made it through a blog post with no fun pictures) we can start on more fun stuff, like my dress!  That's the topic of my next blog post (and there will be more pictures with the next post...I promise!) so stay tuned!