Some things I'm learning along the way to the altar with Brianna...

While preparing for Brianna’s bridal shower I had so many moments that made me go “hmmm” that I thought I would share some of them with you.

I’m the sort of person that once I get a thought in my head it’s pretty hard to get me off it. For example their wedding colours are black and gold, so I really, really wanted to get large letter balloons that were both black and gold spelling out: LOVE and their initials B & C. Funny thing about this is “they” whoever “they” are don’t make large letters in black, only gold. Which is odd since in my lifetime I have absolutely seen, around the world, black letters in my travels. Since I had a bridal shower committee, and was delegating tasks I wasn’t on balloons, so I still haven’t gotten to the bottom of the mystery as to why they don’t make giant letter balloons in black. But I assure you my friends, one of these days out of nowhere you will read a comment, probably on my Twitter about the day I found the large black letter balloons.

Another thing that totally made me go “hmmm” during the lead up to the big day is how much simpler life was because I pulled people, let me clarify; RELIABLE, people into planning the shower into the mix. Honestly up until the moment the light bulb came on that I should do this, I was totally stressing out about how to get it done with everything else that was already on my plate. When I started that group chat with my BBC a load was lifted off my shoulders; immediately. So, if you’re a parent reading this knowing that one day in your future this might become a role that you will need to fulfill, trust me when I say, put a bridal shower committee together to simplify your life so that you can enjoy not only other aspects of your life; but also the bridal shower itself.

Something else I’m learning is that marrying a child is significantly more expensive than I thought it would be. There are all these teeny tiny hidden costs. I’ve always said; “if you want to start an insanely lucrative business then make sure it services one of these three groups of consumers: BRIDES, KIDS OR PETS.” Now that I’m a bride’s bank, I can definitely say, from experience, that people running businesses attached to brides are making a fortune.

The biggest “hmmm” I’ve had along the way, and a big part of this came from comments that many of you shared with me; is to make this moment in time my number one priority. To clear all other “obligations” off the table, allowing them to take a back seat so that I could be wholly present along this journey of marrying a daughter. It’s so easy, well for me anyway, to treat all of this wedding prep as “one more thing to do” not out of disrespect to how special it is for my daughter and Craig, but more out of being a busy person who wears so many hats in my daily life. The minute I consciously decided, and then physically moved all other life responsibilities to the back burner, knowing that they will all be there tomorrow, or the next day or the following week, I was able to fully immerse myself into this other occasion, that hopefully will happen ONCE in our life time. Bills will always land in our inbox, appointments can be changed to a later date, but marrying one’s eldest girl. That should be special, because it is. It should take priority so she can feel like this is her “once in a lifetime” moment to be pampered, spoiled, showered with attention and love. Letting go of all those other pressing, time consuming life tasks to put my entire heart and soul into being with her and being there for her is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. And I have all of you to thank for helping me get here.

So much love and gratitude to you wise people,

xo SB

PHOTO CREDIT: @TARAWESTPHOTO