For some general context, my husband and I are from VA but got married at his family's cabin in ID. We drove across the country to be here, and since it took place at the family cabin, I was responsible for every little detail of planning rather than a wedding-specific venue that has resources and services. I poured my heart and soul and free time into making this wedding everything I dreamed of my entire life. We got engaged in 02/2024 and our wedding was set for 10/11/2025. A month and a half before that date, my mom was diagnosed with leukemia, and we had to push the wedding back a year while she received treatment (she is cancer-free now!). So the anticipation and excitement was extended an entire year. We also have a 17 month old son and are 15 weeks pregnant with our second baby. Because the timing worked out, when we cut our wedding cake, we found our the gender of our second baby. A wedding and gender reveal all wrapped into one. So the anticipation of the wedding date was even more intense the past few months knowing we'd also find out what this baby is.

Okay, so now that context has been established, here's what I'm dealing with. The wedding day was truly incredible. I mean, just an absolute dream come true. All of our most cherished friends and family were present and happy together. All of the decor came out exactly as I had envisioned, as did my hair and makeup. I am just obsessed with the dress I wore and my husband was so incredibly handsome. My son was an absolute angel the entire day and was so happy around everyone, despite not getting a nap the entire day. The ceremony was very emotional but in the best way possible. Even though it rained the entire day until the very end of the night and we had to rearrange some things to keep everyone under the tent and dry, it was perfect. And when we cut the cake, we found out we are having a daughter! Before I knew it, the day was over and it was time to get out of my dress and nurse my son to sleep...right back into mom mode. My husband and I then went out by the fire and had some chocolate before going to bed. I was over the moon when we went to sleep, but when I woke up the next morning, I was immediately overcome by this wave of grief and sadness. The thought of the day I have dreamed of my entire life being over has left me feeling empty. And the day was so magical that I fear I will never have another day that is mine where I feel so happy, loved, beautiful, special, and worry-less. As someone who has gone through severe anxiety/panic attacks in my life and still deals with anxiety/ruminating thoughts every single day, I finally had a day where I didn't have a single real worry the entire day. I didn't think about finances, work, or other daily-life struggles. If something were to go "wrong," I didn't have to be the only one to fix it. My entire family and my vendors were there to help. I normally don't like being the center of attention, but I did that day.

I now sit with this fear that I'll never get another chance to feel that way again. I look upon my sneak-peek pictures that our photographers sent with such immense fondness that it leaves a pit in my stomach. So much so that I am actually scared for the nostalgia to come when we get our wedding video back from the videographer next month. We spent so much time planning and anticipating, then dealt with the heartbreak of my mom's cancer diagnosis, followed by even more planning and anticipation, and then...*poof* it's gone. The next day, all of our family began their travels back home and those local went back to normal life. We've been tearing down tents and packing up our car to drive back to VA tomorrow. But I have just sobbed the entire time. I'm not ready for it to be over. I look out the window to the property and just wish I could relive that entire day all over again. I feel horrible that this is how I'm reacting in the days following our wedding, but my husband has been incredibly supportive. I truly feel like I am grieving because the day went better than I could have ever imagined. It's so backwards. Even changing my last name on Facebook brought tears. Not because I have some sentimental attachment to my maiden name but because it's another loose end to tie up this wedding day chapter. I think about going back to my job (which I love btw) and responsibilities, and I just panic.

I guess I am just looking for some advice on things I could do to pull me out of this funk. We don't have a ton of disposable money to be able to plan much else right now or start a big hobby to take the place of wedding planning. We will be going on a honeymoon next year that my husband's parents are graciously paying for, so I can do some planning with that. And, of course, we have our baby girl coming. I feel so stupid for feeling this way, but it has been all-consuming. Any out-of-the-box ideas are more than welcome. Or even just validation that I'm not crazy.

My wedding venue is outdoors under a large pavilion. There’s a little circle garden but it seems bare. I’m not sure how to spruce up this space, with a fairly quick setup. I won’t be setting this up, most likely it will be a family member, so I don’t want to make it too difficult. I was thinking maybe a pre-decorated trellis? Twinkle lights?

Any fun or unique ideas?

in the midst of dental school my fiancee surprised me with the dream proposal 🤍 here’s to forever

The big news in wedding planning world today is that The Knot will be merging with Zola. What a bummer. Zola was different. It was honest. It was simple. It had everything without the gimmicks and partnership links.

RIP Zola

PSA to Brides in America - you need to be aware of how Private Equity has harmed the U.S. wedding industry and its impact on your wedding. We urge brides to have empathy for the small owners that have been held hostage by massive private equity firms hijacking the wedding services industry. If you want to support these amazing creatives that work to give you the wedding of your dreams, please show your support by signing the wedding industry petition asking Congress to act and hold a hearing into these harmful, deceptive and monopolistic business practices at the hands of massive private equity firms. Info below. Link to petition here : https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/the-knot-advertisers/

Considering using a camcorder rental service (who would then edit clips to create a film) and am hoping to hear from others who have gone this route!

I’m going dress shopping next weekend and while I’m trying to be excited, I’m so nervous. I don’t have the best body image and I’m worried that I won’t find anything I like. I struggle with finding clothes on a day to day basis because I’m so fixated on all the little things I don’t love about my body, so finding a dress to wear on the day where I’ll be the center of attention is daunting.

I’m worried I won’t find something I like or something I feel like a bride in. I have a few dresses from each of the stores we’re going to picked out to try on, but I can already feel the doubt creeping in that I won’t look good in them. I’m worried that when I pick a dress, I’m going to have to work really hard to maintain my body as it currently is to keep the dress a good choice. I recently went through cancer treatment (a huge reason I am so hard on myself and why I have a weird relationship with my body) so I’ve seen my body change A LOT in the last few years so I’m struggling with picking a dress under the guise that my body won’t change in the year between buying it and wearing it. I gained 20lbs in treatment and I’ve lost about 40lbs since in the last two years, so I just feel a lot of pressure.

Any other brides who struggle with their body image have advice for dress try on? Don’t worry, my therapist and I are very tight and we’re working on this all 😂

Still processing this! My partner popped the question with a lab pink sapphire ring. I always wanted something non traditional, and the color i is just unbelievably so prettyyyy

It’s 5 days till the wedding. I’m walking down the aisle to oasis- Half the world away ( piano version ) and the worry is hitting me, I know it’s not the conventional love aisle song to choose. But I didn’t want everyone was picking and any love song I did like just didn’t sound good as an instrumental version.

Over the months and months of still not finding that song, it got to the point where I had to pick a song; the council needed to know to approve it. I sat down with my fiance and we went through some songs that actually had meaning to us. Half the world away was on the list and that’s what I sent off, he still doesn’t know. I’ve kinda forgotten about it since but with the wedding so close now I’m like eeeeek was it a panic moment

Thinking about the lyrics, I am actually worried it’s not appropriate. ‘I can feel the warnin' signs
Runnin' around my mind’ ‘I'll book myself into a soul asylum
'Cause I can feel the warnin' signs
Runnin' around my mind’🫤🫤🫤

As much as it has meaning to us. I’m just worried now probably more about what people will think. But literally I don’t have another song and if I found another song doesn’t anyone know if you can change it last minute regarding the council?

So I'm curious: if your partner proposed with a lab-grown blue diamond instead of a natural diamond, would you be happy with it, or would you feel disappointed?

I bought a vintage veil for $300 because I liked it in the moment and now I don't think I like it anymore. I removed the big poof on the back to see if that would help but I don't think I like it with my dress. I don't feel like it goes with the dress.

Does anyone know where I can sell a vintage veil? Is anyone looking for a veil like this? I love my dress and I feel like it needs a simple veil to with it

Thinking about getting my emerald-cut engagement ring there..

For brides who got their engagement rings from Costco, how has your experience been?

We got married on September 26th. Our wedding was definitely not as planned. My vows were lost at the altar, the groom's family left before the mother-son dance, the bridal party wasn't working together during photos, the groom's pants and vest were lost, and so much more went wrong. I love my husband so much, and don't get me wrong, I'm glad to finally be his wife. But I can't help wishing our wedding day had been completely different. I keep seeing other people's wedding posts, and everything looks so perfect. Everyone looks joyful, and it makes me wonder what happened with ours. like my heart breaks because as a girl all I dreamed about was my wedding, and I can't help but feel it was terrible.

Has anyone else felt this way after their wedding? Any advice?

Buna, am o Mașină Profesională de Baloane cu Fum – 4 Duze, mufa pentru DMX LED RGB, Telecomandă Wireless, 1500W nou achizitionata si mi au dat la ea un lichid de fum si unul pentru baloane. Cel de baloane nu este compatibil, baloanele nu se formeaza si astfel iese doar fum. Va rog sa mi spuneti, voi ce lichid folositi? multumesc.

Thoughts on Stayees.com?

Theres a beautiful dress for a really good price on the site but not sure if its going to be quality or even close to the advertised Pic.

4 days to the wedding, my mother had a big heart attack, and most likely wont be able to attend my wedding. Im feeling heart broken, my mother means so much to me and I kmow how much this wedding means to her, I can't even imagine her not being there with me. Some advice or own stories would be much appreciated.