Countdown begins!

Now that the wedding is under a year (345 days from this entry, to be exact!), I've started concentrating on all the little projects and purchases that I don't want to deal with later. And while 345 days sounds like a long time, the first year of my engagement flew by so quickly that I'm starting to getting anxious.

After my experience watching my future sister-in-law plan her wedding, I saw just how chaotic and busy it becomes the month or two before the wedding. Nancy was worrying about tracking down missing RSVPs, organizing the seating arrangement, selecting the church readings, planning the rehearsal dinner AND working full-time! By the time I approached her with my ideas for programs, she was so overwhelmed that she didn't care about their design anymore.

I don't want the clock to beat me! I don't want the chaos and insanity to squash all my creativity! So I've decided to work on the little things now instead of later.

So what CAN be done so far in advance? Here's what I've begun:

• Place card holders
  
• Monogram design
• Program design
• Menu design
• Table names
• Table name design

January 15, 2011 seems so distant right now but with all the other events going on this year (weddings, baby showers, elections), I want to finish anything that can be done during non-busy times.

Your wedding countdown is very sneaky. It tries to convince you that each day you have left is devoted entirely to your wedding. Even someone like me, who loves this stuff, cannot dedicate the remainder of this year to just planning her wedding! I have relationships to maintain, friends to keep and a full-time job to pay for all these wedding expenses! And there are some projects that may take me much longer than I had anticipated. It's better to do a little each day than to kill yourself trying to do everything in just one.

So brides, get done what you can NOW; don't wait until later.

In the words Thomas Jefferson,

"Never put off till tomorrow what can be done today!"