Getting engaged proves everyone else just wants the wedding

As I type this I can’t help getting distracted by the sparkly diamond ring that is currently residing on the third finger of my left hand. Yes that’s right – my boyfriend proposed! I couldn’t be more excited and happy. Although we have talked about getting engaged before, it was a total surprise.

The first step was telling our family and friends. We made phone calls to our families, then I posted a picture of my ring on Facebook. Then we went to a celebratory dinner while our phones buzzed off the hook with well wishes. I was giddy with happiness. Even Awesome commented that I had “crazy eyes” (in a good way, he said). I blurted “We’re engaged!” to the waitress before she could tell us the specials.

Of course, all of this was just the calm before the real storm – the barrage of questions from every single person I’ve ever talked to. When is the wedding? What type of dress do you want to wear? How many bridesmaids will you have? Outdoor or indoor venue? What’s the budget? Are you going to have a wedding planner? What about your honeymoon?

At first, answering these questions was kind of fun, because it made me think about things I really haven’t thought about before. But then I started walking the thin line between extreme excitement and extreme anxiety. Thinking about a “someday” wedding is delightful; thinking about a wedding that could be as close as a year away can be panic-inducing. I’m only on the third day of my engagement and people already want to know if they should choose chicken or fish?

My mom was really excited, probably more so than anyone else, as evidenced by the plethora of emails she sent to me during a six-hour period. We also went shopping for a baby shower and ended up talking non-stop about the wedding. I’m the first child in the family to get married, and I’m her first-born, so it’s no wonder she wanted to discuss it for hours. It is fun to talk about what I might want, but I am starting to get a little overwhelmed already! No wonder women become bridezillas.

For now, I’ve just decided to enjoy our engagement for at least a week before making any decisions about the big day. My mom did order me a wedding planner that I can write in, so I am looking forward to getting my hands on that so that I can at least attempt to start to know what I’m doing! In the meantime, I’m just going to focus on trying not to be distracted by the most expensive piece of jewelry I’ve ever owned.