I just came across a card that a dear friend of mine, Bronwyn, wrote and sent to me right after I got engaged. Recently married, only six months beforehand, she gave me the best advice.

In the end the promises you make to each other at the alter are all that matters.

Re-reading this again now, with all the planning behind us, got me thinking. This advice is simple enough, but at the same time can be easily forgotten. Well, at least momentarily, when drowning in wedding details.

There were a couple of things that Tai and I did during the planning process that after reflecting back on them I feel helped us from becoming completely overwhelmed and stressed, allowing us to stay focused on the purpose and importance of what we were doing, getting married.

Take a break. We made a promise (or was it Tai made me promise?) to set aside one night a week that we would not talk about the wedding at all. This ended up being really important and helpful for us to not get completely consumed by the wedding and take time for just us, as a couple. We did joke though that once the wedding was over we weren’t going to have anything to talk about. But, don’t worry. We do and you will too.

Here’s an idea. How about taking time to take in this?

Never a bad idea in my book. It’s one of the better advantages of living in LA and sunsets for me somehow always make everything better.

But, when you are planning a wedding it can’t be sunsets all the time right? Back to the planning.

The attention span for all things wedding. Tai was very helpful with the planning. I was lucky. I learned though that I had to be sensitive to not just jump into wedding mode the second he got home from work or the moment he woke up in the morning. I wished I would have learned that earlier in our planning, but once I did it relieved a lot of my frustration. Where I was wedding 24/7, he wasn’t and that was ok.

The wedding to do list was key, although it seemed to be never ending. Both being list people it helped us to see what needed to be done and when. More or less kept us on track without constantly having to remind each other.

Most importantly have fun! Figure out what works for you as a couple and enjoy this time together as you plan for your day, a day that will be wonderful and unforgettable, but mostly because it will be the start of your new life together as Mr. and Mrs.

(signs by The Back Porch Shoppe)

In the end that is what it is all about. Which, by the way, is pretty incredible.