Conflicting Interests

How am I supposed to plan a wedding when all this darn work gets in the way?!

On the other hand, how am I supposed to get all this work done with the wedding planning temptations constantly surrounding me?!

I know that this is not nearly as big a dilemma as a working mom goes through, but it is the first year I've been working where I've wanted to prioritize my personal life over my work. For many jobs, this may be manageable, but as a teacher of AP and honors kids, I find that I am constantly torn between needing to keep my promises to my students while trying to give myself the time I need for things that matter most to me. Not that work does not matter, work matters a heck of a lot, I love my job and I love being the responsible, dependable teacher that keeps the students interested in school. To really get buy-in, I feel like kids need to see my constant enthusiasm and my unending dedication as an example. But I have my limits, and I feel like my wedding planning is being put on a back burner, which may in turn lead to me losing out on something or someone I'd prefer as a vendor at the wedding.

So something has got to give. I am working on a compromise where I am productive in both areas, but it may mean that I sacrifice complete control in both my classroom and my wedding. I have a lot of supporters and helpers out there to help me get through the roughest patches, and I know that in the end, the kids will understand if I give them their essays back a day or two later.

The dilemma comes to a head as I look over at the 400 ungraded essays I have sitting next to me that I put off to blog about my wedding.

Oh well.

Date and Location?

The questions were immediate. "When's the date?!" I don't know! I have an idea of what I want, but a decision like this requires some major research. 

This is literally what I have struggled with the most, brides. Some of you probably have lived in the same place your entire life, and have attended the same church, and have “always wanted to get married” somewhere special from your childhood or current home, or even a spot that has significance in your relationship.  I do not have a connection to one place. I have a connection to many places.

The background to this struggle comes from two key points. One, my fiance’s family has a propensity for beach weddings with 2/4 siblings getting married barefoot. Two, there is one place that I have lived that stands yards above the other places—the mountains. 

For the first point, I did not want to do the “same ol’ thing” and get married alongside the ocean. However, Kyle loves the water and would be thrilled to have a barefoot wedding.

For the second point, a mountain wedding means a destination wedding of my dreams. But reality keeps trying to butt in and stop me from following those dreams to be “practical” about location.

And along with location comes the elusive date. Some people choose a date, and then search for an open location for that date. I wanted to choose location before date. Some things to consider for those of you in the planning stages: Mountains mean chilly (even in July), so indoors is preferred. Mountains also mean gorgeous views, so outside is essential. See my dilemma.

Add to this the complication of wanting fall color for my wedding back drop. It is literally impossible to plan for mother nature. If it is an Indian summer next year, we will have heat and greenery. If it is unusually cool, we'll have snow. But I want yellow leaves. This is one of those things where I won't be able to freak out when it "goes wrong". Even if the leaves are brown and on the ground, the mountains should still be pretty! At least I hope.

So, after flying to Colorado, visiting numerous venues, and getting estimates, the place and date are still elusive in this wedding planning process.