The wedding is on--off--on--off--ON!

Last week, I told Groom3000: “We’re eloping.”

Saturday—Bride3000 looses it: I’d been searching for wedding venues on the Internet for what seemed like the millionth time and came to the conclusion that planning a wedding would be the death of me. The most desirable locations were waaaay outside my budget and I found that the stress of simply searching for venues haunted my dreams and caused my skin to break out. The whole thing looked hopeless.

“I can’t do this, I just can’t do this,” I cried to Groom3000 every night last week. By Saturday, I’d already looked into the process of marriage via courthouse and Googled “best places to elope.” I made Groom3000 promise we wouldn’t have a wedding. He reluctantly agreed as long as I’d stop crying all the time.

I can be such a drama queen.

Sunday –Bride3000 gets a grip: Lunch with my family for my dad’s birthday. Of course, wedding plans came up in conversation, making Groom3000 cringe with the image of my bawling and yelling the night before.

Yes, there were some tears, but sitting down with my parents and seriously talking about our wedding budget gave me the reality check I needed. I’d been searching for the wrong venues, and I completely ignored Groom3000’s desire to have a real wedding with all of our friends and family—sorry, babe.

After lunch, I had renewed determination to make a realistic list of venues. Hello—there are plenty of beautiful wedding venues to fit my budget if I search within my price range. Duh! I dug out all my local wedding magazines with directories of wedding venues labeled by dollar sign. I highlighted all the venues labeled “$$” out of “$$$$$” and started sending email requests.

Today—Bride3000 takes a break: Spring break is next week and Groom3000 and I are seeing four venues in suburban Maryland. (I’ll post the possible candidates after we make our final selection.) It’s exciting to think that we’ll most likely know where we’re getting married by the end of the month! Groom3000 is just relieved I finally turned off the waterworks.

Now I’m wondering: How should I prepare for these visits? Are there any questions I absolutely can’t forget to ask these wedding coordinators?