For Zac

After being engaged for three weeks,

here are some things I know now:

The first two days are great

because literally everyone you see gives you attention.

Showing off your ring doesn’t make you seem like a conceited prick during this time,

though you’re the only one who thinks you seem like a conceited prick.

You want to tell everyone you’re engaged and how it happened,

but you’ll act all bashful about it when someone else asks you to recount it all.

People will tell you to start looking for a venue

and booking a date but don’t work too fast

and make sure to stop and enjoy your engagement for a while

but if you don’t get a venue soon nothing will be available

but wow you decided on that quickly are you sure you took enough time to slow down?

Everyone’s opinions will suddenly be heard whether you asked for them or not.

The guest list you started with

will definitely not be the guest list you ended with.

Filling up an online registry is actually a lot more stressful than you thought it would be.

What kind of bath mat do we want? Will we need a ceramic popcorn popper?

Budgets are basically the mask you wear

when talking to parents but then anytime you try and book, buy or nail down anything the mask gets ripped off

and you’re left confused and feeling a little knocked out.

Yes, you can DIY most of your wedding,

but what’s more expensive, the time it takes to make some paper flowers

or just giving up and purchasing your bouquets at Michael's?

All in all, wedding planning hits you like a hurricane to the side of the face

and includes 16 months of suggesting “why don’t we just elope?”

But then you remember it’s not about the venue,

or the rings,

or the food,

or the 30 extra people you invite because your parents want them there,

or the stupid budget that’s likely to change anyway.

It’s about that goofball you fell in love with in the first place.

It’s about the fact that you could not imagine your life without that goofball

sitting with you making fun of the ugly colored bath towels you picked out on the registry.

It’s about time you just settled down

and married that goofball because when you look at him,

you realize he is all that really matters from here on out.