Thoughts on Wedding Planning

Thoughts on Wedding Planning Oh and PS- Id love your opinion Wedding planning has been an interesting experience for me and very different than I thought it would be. To be honest, I feel like Im supposed to be a lot more obsessed with wedding planning than I actually am. I finally realized that what had me in somewhat of a dark cloud: meeting with vendors  who quoted me outrageously ($40k just for flowers and decor!?!!) and made me feel bad about my wedding.  These same vendors referred me to other vendors (wedding photographers, lighting packages and chair rentals) that were thousands and thousands of dollars.  I started to feel very discouraged, which made me question the purpose of this whole big wedding thing. Why so many Americans do this whole cookie cutter wedding thing in the first place anyways?! Well, for me,  I got engaged and logged onto sites like TheKnot.com and all this crap is what they told me to do. Wedding sites and magazines are really good at making you feel totally paranoid that everyone is going to be booked up immediately and that you might miss out on your dreams! Thanks to the florist I met with a few days ago for getting me out of my funk. She opened my eyes and now  Im taking a new approach.  Most photographers arent $ 10,000, chairs are not $18 each and the hotel has a boat load of stuff they can do for free if you just ask. In addition, the wedding industry is one you must question, research and negotiate with.  Her widsom revealed that Ive been lined up to be TOTALLY ripped off! So after doubting having a big wedding at all, to changing my color scheme at least 3 times (from yellow to champagne to todays choice: purple) the pictures in this post are what Im thinking of doing for my September 2012 wedding. Please tell me your wedding planning experience or experiences youve had with other brides.  Any advice? Oh and PS- Id love your opinion Long or short bridesmaids dresses? Silver or purple with this bouquet? Another thing romantic weddings cannot do without  are beautiful wedding dresses. Where did you find yours/ where are you looking?