So the journey continues… to see how I got here please read Engaged!! from a males mind part 1

A few months have now passed since we have become engaged and although the excitement is still there reality has set in… things must be organised and paid for.  We had entertained the thought of eloping, heading away up the coast with just the immediate family.  As romantic as this might have sounded at the time, we both felt that if we didn’t have a day with all friends and family to celebrate the occasion then we might resent it… Yes Sara wants the big dress and nice reception… and I do too… well maybe not the big dress… or do I??

Going through this journey I feel that there are definitely two different people in this relationship… now with no offense given out, Sara is the excitable, impulsive yet very well organised in what she wants… (think of an excitable puppy dog that runs around all day and always wants you to give her a belly rub in certain way).  We only have 7 months and things need to be established.  I’m the laid back, things will happen but very conscience and understandable on how things will be paid for kind of guy… Sara and I have never wanted to have a wedding that would run us into debt and I think we have done well keeping costs low that hasn’t taking away elegance or style.

Having said all that, it’s amazing as soon as you say ‘wedding’ to anyone, the cost of their service or product goes up… I swear at the moment every business now knows I’m engaged.  It has me questioning the price of everything… looking at the receipt at woolies (supermarket) the other day I was looking for the hidden (this guy is engaged mark up)… how did they know?? As I eyeballed the pimply kid at the checkout with his crooked smirk… $50 for this??

Must have been the tomatoes…

Anyway, we were organised (Sara was) enough to have the ceremony/reception, celebrant, photographer, rings, car, music, suit, dress, invites, flowers, cake, honeymoon all booked within the first few months of being engaged… happy days!

Oh and before you think I will let Sara walk around with a handmade oversized wooden ring forever… I did get her the one she wanted.  Thumbs up to Waterdale Jewellery in Ivanhoe in Melbourne!

Here was one of the dilemmas I faced when trying to pick a wedding date.  We wanted a short engagement and thought spring would be a perfect time of year… We wanted October because that would coincide with the month we met.  With only the 8th and the 22nd of October left at the place we are to get married, the 22nd quickly go dismissed…

The 8th it was; but for anyone who follow the AFL would know the 8th was exactly 1 week after the grand final… not a problem I hear you say?  Well the AFL is one of the only competitions where if a DRAW occurs in the final then the game would be repeated and the teams would come back next week… As a Collingwood supporter (and yes I have all my teeth and although I have a few tattoos, you are probably surprised I can string a sentence together… even Joffa wrote a book), I knew this might be a problem.

In 2010 Collingwood played St Kilda and the match did happen to be a draw… the week after this game my best mate was having his engagement party.  Although not a wedding the dilemma for people was still the same. Footy or party?  Luckily we were able to do both and disaster was diverted…  Collingwood won in the replay by the way.  Yeaaawww!

So back to what would happen to our wedding if an AFL draw happened?!  Being a day wedding I suggested we set up a few plasmas and let the people have the best of both world… Footy and Celebrations!!  Luckily for us, the Head honcho at the AFL changed the rules; there would be no replayed Grand Finals anymore… extra time will be played to obtain a result… Music to our ears and also for the 100,000 people at the MCG that want to see a result…  how the hell did I turn an engagement post into a footy post?!?

What I have learnt as a male in this process is that

• Organisation is key.  Sara is the one who can take credit for that.
• Being a yes man in certain situations is  what you have to become.  Keeping her happy but not at the expense of yourself is the key to your engagement being successful.
• Don’t be selfish and rely on your family to pay for this wedding… yes some of us will be fortunate enough to have our family pay for it, but the satisfaction of earning the money to do it yourself makes all the difference to me.
• This advice I was given… if you are stressed at anytime, just relax and think of the honeymoon.  All bad things will go away when you picture yourself on you honeymoon without a care in the world.
• Create the wedding you want and not what others want
• Encourage your partner… there will be times your partner will question herself.  Love her and encourage her.  Her stresses will come out, and it’s your job to keep her in check.

So with 5 months to go until the wedding, my excitement grows and my excitment for the way Collingwood are playing footy diminishes… the way I see it now, as soon as the Football season finishes my married life will start.

Call this my pre season!