As a 29 year old female, I have found myself firmly lodged in the time of my life where lots is happening - both for me and those around me. It seems like everywhere I look there are engagements being announced, new wedding pictures, or a scan of a sonogram. Granted, my semi-obsessive Facebook habit facilitates this. When in history have we ever been able to be so in tune with the lives of people we barely know?
Right now, I find myself obsessed with weddings, and well, with love in general. I'm helping my younger sister plan her wedding. I'm starting to casually pre-plan my own as well. Thinking and daydreaming about colors and flowers and dress styles as well as song playlists and menu choices. I read wedding blogs, post on wedding related message boards and watch wedding programs on TV.
There's only one problem.
I'm not engaged.
That's right - I am a Lady in Waiting. I have been with my boyfriend, G, for almost two and a half years. We've lived together, shared our lives, and talked about our future together. We intend to get married, but he hasn't popped the question yet. I know it's coming, he has assured me of this, and all that's left for me to do is to attempt to be patient, carry on with my life, and keep otherwise occupied.
Easier said than done.
Many women can tell you about this feeling - knowing you have found the one you want to spend your life with, and yet having to "wait" to start truly planning the beginning of that life. Due to dictates of society, the ball is often in the mans court when it comes to the proposal of marriage. It makes sense to a certain degree - so often, women take the helm in planning the wedding and making all those decisions. The proposal is the one wedding related area where a man can have complete creative control of the situation.
G, as progressive as he is in many areas, is very traditional when it comes to all this proposal stuff. In one of my less-than-patient moments, when I tried to get some information out of him over the summer, he revealed to me that he really wants his proposal to be a surprise. In his words "I believe that every woman should have a great story to tell about the day they got engaged." Well, that statement certainly helped me quiet down. I am a feminist, and I like to consider myself to be pretty empowered as a woman, but I'm not going to lie - the thought of my guy planning something memorable makes me smile and makes the waiting a little easier.
So here I am. I've been "officially" waiting since about this time last year. G and I have discussed everything, and all systems are go...but yet, I am still waiting.
Let me be completely honest for a minute here - it's driving me nuts.
Everyone around me is telling me to calm down, be patient, and stop obsessing. It's pretty much impossible. And frankly, I don't think I should have to stop obsessing about it. I've found the love of my life, and I can't wait to declare that to the world and officially begin our lives together.
I haven't booked a venue or bought a dress or picked a date or anything like that. What I have done is started some constructive daydreaming about what I would like our wedding to be. Some pre-planning, if you will. I've found a pretty supportive message board of other women in the same position as me, and through communicating with them and pre-planning, I find that my wait has been made much easier.
I hope that this blog will be a place for me to share what I have found in my pre-planning, to post inspiration pictures and probably a vent or two and hopefully, to sooner as opposed to later turn into a real wedding planning blog. I'm super excited about this time in my life, and I think it would be pretty cool to be able to look back and see how everything played out.
So there you have it...I'm a waiting gal, but I'm otherwise engaged with pre-planning, daydreaming, and working to make every day count.
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