The Engagement Party 
Wednesday, January 9, 2013 at 1:32PM
Preach in The Stress Test: Life Advice


So this is my first go at this and I’m as green as a city kid on a ranch.
I didn’t know that there were so many different do’s and don’ts with not just
the wedding, but with the time leading up to the wedding. The engagement
party was my first taste of these trials. My forever girlfriend (I hate saying
fiancé ) and I wanted to celebrate our pending union with our friends and
family. Thing is my age group is still into the club/bar scene and the precarious
task of balancing my friends and close family was more challenging than I
thought. We knew our folks wouldn’t be comfortable at a crowded bar or
lounge. So in the end we decided to split the engagement party into two.
One for the younger crowd and the next one more family oriented.

As she did her thing with the first venue all I saw was dollar signs. “Dear God,”
I thought ” We didn’t even get to the wedding planning.” I was already exhausted.
I soon realized as much as your woman can say weddings and other stuff is not that
important it goes out the window when it becomes hers. Oh and forgot one detail. My
woman is an event planner by trade. (Holy Pewter Linen Batman) The level of
questions and detail required to pull off this event had the party goers ready, salivating
even for the main event. An event we are committed to make memorable. 

All in all, both parties came off without a hitch. First one in a bar lounge second
at a state park. While I was earlier bitching about the dough spent on the events,
we pulled it off and still maximized the dollar. The experience made me realize how
important communication is in our relationship. Sounds corny but it helped to limit
our expectations and compromise on alternate ways of  achieving a goal. It also
showed me how to not get caught up with the little things and enjoy the moments
leading up to the event. Because there is less than 150 days till the date. Yeah
Team Stress !!  

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