What Comes After "I Do"

On my 24th birthday, my boyfriend since college proposed. While it was the happiest moment in my life so far, I was not allowed to enjoy it for very long. Within minutes, phone calls, text messages, BBMs and emails began flooding in, asking when the wedding would be. Immediately, the focus was turned away from our commitment to a lifetime together and toward the overwhelming and incredibly exciting process of planning the party.

When it comes to getting married, I imagine every bride finds it very easy to get caught up in the party-planning element of things. After all, this is meant to be the one day in a girl's life when she can be a total princess—here's to hoping I can avoid Bridezilla status, and that there will, in fact, be more princess days left in store—so everything must be perfect. Whether you're planning an intimate affair for 15, or a blowout bash for 500 of your nearest and dearest, every detail deserves your utmost attention. There are plenty of would-be party planners (mothers, grandmothers, aunts, cousins, friends, sales clerks) with tips of their own to offer to make sure your wedding goes off without a hitch. But what if there is a hitch? Anyone who has been to a wedding knows weddings with hitches are still joyous and memorable...even if the cake melts, the band doesn't show and the groom is an hour late.

After months spent deciding on a date with my groom, selecting the guest list and designing invitations, and choosing my dress, shoes, flowers and color themes, I feel I'm finally ready to start preparing emotionally for the real journey—what awaits us after"I do."

While I appreciate the generous wisdom of so many women who have gone before me as they educate me in the politics of table seating, the virtues of white versus ivory, the essentiality of at least one good Bach piece in the processional, and so on—what I am most craving as I prepare for the impending end of my singledom is some good old-fashioned life advice.