Obsessed with being obsessed

I have a confession to make, I am completely obsessed with wedding magazines. I especially love the features on real couple's weddings. Obviously some of them have been professionally planned and all the photos are professional, but I can't help but love their ideas and I want to steal them all! 

It's gotten to the stage though that I've been having wedding dreams, I haven't even set a date yet and I'm already stressing about the ceremony and the reception. I have to admit though that a few people's comments have gotten to me. But after reading my new bible Offbeat bride, I have a new sense of "whatever". I mean who gives a shit if someone else thinks that my ideas are kiddie - its my effing wedding! I will not dress my bridesmaids in olive. I refuse to serve boring wedding cake. I don't want what everyone else wants - I am not everyone else. Although I guess thats what every bride thinks of themselves.
 

Getting engaged has been one of the most exciting things to happen to me of late. I don't remember being this excited ever. I was really excited when I met Kelly Clarkson last year - I mean the build up for that was crazy. At first we didn't know if we were going to meet her, and then it looked like it wasn't happening, and then suddenly we were walking through the back entrance to Rod Laver Arena and standing in line waiting to shake her hand.

This engagement has been much the same. It all started when our close friends decided to get engaged and do the whole married thing. Cookie and I have talked about it in the past, at one stage for about 5 seconds we wanted to do it badly, but after I moved back to Melbourne and we began living together we didn't feel that rush to want to walk down the aisle. We were comfortable functioning in our own special way. We didn't need a piece of paper to say that we were legally a couple - we just knew it. I am not a romantic person either - I would say that I have my moments, who doesn't, but I've never really considered myself to be that girl. The type of girl to settle down and do the whole shin-dig of a wedding.

So when Lydia and Deniz tied the knot in a beautiful elegant, fun wedding that was when I started to think "Well maybe this wouldn't be so bad". I didn't know I wanted a wedding until I was at one! I mean the cake alone was enough to make me re-think all my pre-conceptions of boring weddings. Look I haven't been to may weddings, singing at them with a choir in primary school doesn't count because I honestly have not much memory to go on, BUT the weddings I have been lucky enough to be invited to have been wonderful.

Maybe it was the cake, the free booze, or the fact that in a few years I'll be approaching 30 (which scares me half to death), I suddenly really really really wanted to get married.

There is a moment in Twilight Eclipe, where Bella expresses to Edward that she wanted to get married - not for the cake, the dress and fab engagement presents - but because it was a way to bound her and Edward together in every way possible. You can't get closer to a person than by marrying them.

So getting back to it, the idea of an engagement was in my head. And I started hint dropping like nobody's business. Turns out that Cookie was receiving the hints loud and clearly and was planning his own surprise. So when Cookie said he wanted to go to the Gold Coast for a holiday it wasn't just to do the theme parks, it was to propose. And I guessed it weeks before hand, but I didn't believe it until he was kneeling on the balcony floor of our hotel room with a tiny ring in a giant box in his hand. I still didn't believe it - and I won't go into detail but I did swear...alot.

So now we are engaged. It's been two months now, I've only worn my ring for about two weeks of that - and most of the time it was securely tied on a necklace. So now the fun part begins. I get to plan two parties. An engagement party and then a wedding. I'm very excited but I have no idea where to begin. Lydia gave me a book called "Offbeat Bride" and I've read it over and seen the website. It's perfect for me because it's totally what I need right now. I need someone to say to me that yes my ideas are good and if you want to have a mario and princess peach cake then go ahead! So thats what I'm doing. I'm going to create a wedding that reflects mine and cookie's taste in the finer things in life. Like video games, music and maybe a few film references thrown in for good measure. It's gonna be fun, it's gonna surprise everyone and maybe I'll remember to blog and share whats going on in the lead up to the wedding. Thank you so much for reading and please share any comments you have below! xoxoxoxoxo ev