Getting Married Without Crashing

I have not blogged in a long time due to getting engaged and planning a wedding. Being a bridesmaid twice I had witnessed the stress and exhaustion a wedding brings. I was on a mission to make my wedding OVER FATIGUED PROOF. I want to share how I was able to handle such a big event without having a long lasting crash.

The first smart step in my mission was finding a photographer who was willing to work with me. We did 4 different photo sessions. In October, a month and a half before the wedding, I did bridals and photos with my husband. Then a about two weeks later we did photos with our families. All that was left for the photographer was to come to the reception and snap photos of all the traditions that go on there and to do a few shots outside the temple on our wedding day. I must add another bonus to doing photos early was that the autumn colors were at their prime and our photos were a lot more beautiful than they ever would have been in November.

We did things a little backwards and had our wedding reception the night before our ceremony. This way we didn't have to cram everything into one day. The day of the reception I made sure I had a lot of help getting ready. I even had time to go and get a relaxing pedicure and manicure.

We had our reception in my parent's home which made me feel so comfortable and there was a nice cozy feeling to the atmosphere. We had guests come from six to eight so we were not up terribly late. My husband and I sat in tall chairs with padding, so we didn't have stand as we talk to our guests. When the reception was over I just straighht downstairs took off my humongous dress and relaxed.

I made sure our wedding ceremony was in the afternoon so there was plenty of time for me to sleep in and get ready. (I am not a morning person; It seems like it takes me a couple of hours just to feel half descent A doctor told me its probably because my medications need to kick in and my body needs to un-kink the muscles from sleeping in one position all night- anyone else with cfs/fm like this?)

I didn't make a big deal about a formal luncheon. My parents invited close family and friends over for left overs. My husband and I ate and then we took off on our honeymoon.

Originally we thought of going on a cruise or to Mexico for the honeymoon. After thinking about it planning a trip like that is a whole different event to plan on top of a wedding. Time changes and traveling affect me and i would already be pretty worn out from the wedding. We decided to keep it simple. We stayed two nights in Salt Lake City. Warren's grandparents were very kind and let us stay in their condo in Park City, which is only a forty minute drive, so we went there. The next day after the wedding I literally slept all day and poor Warren was stuck watching t.v. the whole time. After a week and a half of rest i was able to get into the swing of things and teach my piano students.

Warren and I have been married for 2 1/2 months. I am so blessed to have found a man who is willing to marry me despite my health problems. Being newly married is always an adjustment and it has been health wise too. All of the sudden I have a 6'5 man sleeping in a queen sized bed with me and he snores. I don't think I got a good nights rest for the first two weeks. Good thing I love this guy to pieces! Now having dinner and a clean house fall on me. My husband works full time and goes to school full time. He knows how I'm feeling by the state of the house! He has been wonderful by helping do dishes (which we have to do by hand) and even will make dinner on those days that I have no energy whatsoever. My sister, brothers, and mom will even come over and clean. I have a great husband and family.

I found this article about Pacing for special events. It has some great advice