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.