Wedding Wednesday: Gettin' Serious and Serious Travel Plans

I have a confession to make: Ben and I haven't been planning the wedding on just Wedding Wednesdays.  Because we are now feeling the pressure of a big, expensive event bearing down on us, we've started planning the wedding on Wednesdays, and Tuesdays! I can't believe it myself.  For while though, we really did get by with just doing stuff on Wednesdays, and maybe setting up an appointment or meeting with a vendor on a Saturday or Sunday.  But that just wasn't cutting it sadly.  I say "sadly" because I love this wedding, I'm super excited about getting married, and getting to see a bunch of friends and family members that we haven't seen in a while.  But I've been trying to avoid something. I've been trying to avoid losing touch with reality. 

It is incredibly easy to get sucked into the hype that this wedding will be thee most important day in my life--the hype that it all has to be perfect and great and sunny, and everyone has to match. And you have to have DIYs and personal touches and enough time for pictures, and good food and open bar and homemade candy or everyone will hate you.  And I'll be the first to say that I did it, I...I became a "wedding porn addict."  Wedding blog after wedding blog, post after post, picture after picture, Pinterest pin after Pinterest pin.  If you've never explored this big world known as the "wedding industrial complex" then you're safe.  But if you have, you know how it's so easy to submerge yourself into a universe that is always pretty and always perfect, but so difficult to tear yourself away from being fascinated with...yourself, and what your wedding could be.  I know this probably sounds confusing, but in a nutshell, I've been trying to avoid boring people to death with my wedding plans! Oh, thank goodness for this blog where I take one day a week to obsess and write about my flowers and cupcake frosting!  

So this week, it's more ceremony stuff.  We're getting sheet music together, researching communion items, editing our readings, and working on our personal vows. AND, if I have a spare moment, addressing invitations.  

But there's one other thing I haven't talked much about on this blog, and it's a very important thing.  Before the month is up, Ben and I will be purchasing our plane tickets for GREECE!  Depending on who you are and your outlook on travel and life, you may have reacted to that statement like this:  

It's OK.  I've gotten that many times. Some background:  I LOVE TRAVELING. And throughout our time together, Ben has come to love traveling as well.  One of our life missions as a couple is to invest in memories, not materials. We may not ever have the nicest furniture, the biggest house, the most expensive car, or even the fanciest wedding!  What we will have is moments at dinner reliving that amazing night we spent in the nicest hotel we've ever stayed at in Maui.  Or longing for one of the best tacos from the best little taco shack we've ever eaten at in Monterrey Mexico.  And I could probably stay up all night listening to Ben talk about his childhood driving back and forth to Oregon.  You're always going to need a new computer, or a new iPhone because they come out with them every year, and we all know the lifespan of those wedding invitations.  But things that don't die or need to be repaired are memories of experiences you've had. 

Ben and I did a lot of research on potential honeymoon destinations, before we realized how expensive weddings are. After we came to our senses, we decided that Greece was a more realistic destination for us.  With equal parts beauty, history and romance, we think it will be a great place to relax and recoup after the wedding.  

The reason we've gotten so many surprise reactions to our decision, is because people are worried about us.  "What about the economy?" they say. "What about the riots?"  I could honestly go on and on and on about why those two things haven't deterred us from going to Greece, and why those two things will probably never stop us from traveling anywhere ever.  But I won't.  I'll just show you this, the view from the hotel we'll be staying at in Santorini: 

And this, the Parthenon, which has survived many good and bad economies I suspect:

Last one:  

So basically, we've heard everyone's concerns. We're taking them into consideration, and we're working with an expert to plan a successful and fun honeymoon.  And that expert has assured us that we will be OK.  

And I suppose if we do get stuck in a riot, what better place to be than on those steps, right? However, I should point out that the picture of the steps is in Santorini. Most of the political action is limited to Athens, the capital. But riots or no riots, Ben and I are looking forward to collecting several memories from our first vacation as husband and wife!  The Ashmans...in Greece! 

And to be safe, we did purchase vacation insurance in case my new kidney decides that it hates Greece and wants to go back home.