Guilt

"Guilt is the price we pay willingly for doing what we are going to do anyway"- Isabelle Holland 

Talking to Momma AZ the other day she not-so-lovingly referred to our wedding venue as "The Middle of Nowhere" and then explained that if you looked in a dictionary under the entry ARIZONA you would find that same description.

The Middle of Nowhere, AZ

I may or may not have had a small breakdown at this assessment of the state in which I reside. Let me give you the full backstory though. When we first discussed engagement we decided one thing: in order to have OUR wedding we would need to plan it BEFORE we announced it. That's right, it was a covert op. Seriously, we met with the caterer, the venue, secured hotel property- it was on. Then I announced it to my family who, as predicted, said we should get married in Miami, in Atlanta, in... well anywhere but ARIZONA!

To this slew of insanity I responded calmly with "We've planned to get married in Sedona, and we've put money down." I could swear I sucked the air right out of my mother's lungs with that sentence.

So what's the point of this rant? I know that deep down my family would complain about anything I do- it's a wedding and I understand it brings out the crazy in people. But this is the way that both myself and Mr. AZ want to start our marriage and once they see how beautiful the Middle of Nowhere is, I think minds will be changed. If not oh well, it really will be our wedding, just the way we'd like it.

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So I'll share another piece of Momma AZ wisdom: "Eff it- you're the bride!"I realize this is where some of the "Bridezilla mentality" can stem from, but you know what, it's true. You're the bride (or groom), and you get this one day to declare your love and devotion to another human being and that's amazing. We should celebrate it just the way we want to, within reason, and be happy. For me that means feeling slightly guilty my family have to fly out here to come to the wedding, but also realizing if we had it in Miami or Atlanta all of Mr. AZ's family would have to fly out. Either way someone's flying- might as well fly to where we want to be! 

Do you have any guilt associated with your wedding choices? Would you, like me, make those same choices all over again?