It just feels right.

I sit here, thinking about what I should write, with the biggest grin on my silly little face. Tonight, my fiancé and I booked our wedding reception venue. Mind you, this wasn’t an easy task. More like six months in the making. When we got engaged, we were both quickly swept up into the orchestrated motions of others, planning a wedding neither of us quite dreamed of and with little exuberance for. Don’t get me wrong; I love my fiancé and would do anything for him … and if that meant doing something that didn’t exude utter romanticism and a heart-palpitating flurry of excitement, then so be it. But then again, I’m not one to fold without a fight first. (And I rarely lose.)

Although I love my new job, I put in some hefty hours. Even when I’m not sitting in front of my work computer, I’m constantly thinking of new marketing ideas that my clients would drool over. My point is that when it comes to working an eight to sometimes five, six or nine o’clock job, one doesn’t always have ample time to be calling various photographers, churches, venues, videographers, floral companies, DJs, etc. etc. Particularly when those people don’t put in a few extra hours in the evenings or weekends to do business for those of us who are freedom-challenged. Trying to plan an extravagant wedding could be a full-time job, and it is, for some people. But for those of us on a budget, we look to our mothers and friends (and the occasional fiancé IOU) to help us make the tedious phone calls and ask the tough questions.

Well, after six months of sporadic wedding planning where I’d give up, take a break, dust off my worries and start planning anew – over and over again – I realized that I needed to follow my heart and do what felt right. Why didn’t I do this all along? Good question.

You see, I was never the plan-your-wedding-day-from-the-age-of-five kinda gal. Sure, I daydreamed about it … but I didn’t obsess over it like some girls tend to do. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that … ahem.) So I had no idea what I wanted … but I learned that everything comes at a price.

Needless to say, it took some time to sift through all of the options (because I had to entertain them all to learn what I really wanted … of course) and settle on a direction. Recently my fiancé and I had a heart-to-heart and realized that we were kidding ourselves all along – a big wedding, albeit nice and all-encompassing, really wasn’t what either of us wanted. We didn’t have time to worry about all of the little details … we preferred to spend the day with our family and close friends, not just in the same room as them. A guest list can get out of control pretty fast, and asking yourself, What’s two more?, seems like a good method until you open your laptop one day to find a small town. Then try wading through the must-haves, definitely’s, sure why nots, oks and I guess so’s that mysteriously appeared out of nowhere – and that’s just your parents’ list. (They’re a lot harder to cross off than add, believe you me!)

So we’ve come to the conclusion that we should share our special day with those we have grown up with – who have seen us transition through the first 20-something years of our lives – and those who we now share our rare – and precious – free time with. We’re both content with having our parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and dear friends bless our day with their mere presence and help us embark on the next wonderful journey in our young lives. This doesn’t mean that we don’t wish to have anyone else share in this defining moment – we do. But not at the expense of my sanity and our savings account.

And with this intimate setting, we can truly have the wedding of our dreams. We plan on marrying in his family’s Catholic Church in honor of his heritage, culture and faith. The Church is a beautiful structure, and we both prefer that God is at the center of our union, regardless of anything else. I look forward to the day of promising both my future hubby and my Lord and Savior to honor both and love with my whole heart until He calls.

The point is, it’s up to my love and I to start our marriage off on the right foot – in a setting that feels right to us and radiates with love.

And finally, after months of learning the hard way, we’ve finally found our match.