Over It

"I'm over it" has become my wedding planning mantra. I don't want to become a Bridezilla but I'm constantly amazed by how ridiculous anything is when the word wedding is involved that it's hard for me not to channel my angry Latina half and start calling people 'idiots' in Spanish.
I'm not good at biting my tongue. I never have been, so when Unnamed Historical Museum tells me that renting their venue for a wedding is somehow 2,000 more expensive than having a Sweet 16 with DOUBLE the attendants there, I can't help but ask why. Her response? Absolutely nothing. Chalk that up to five vendors who I have officially sacred off. I'm awesome... or something. Well, at least I know how to get vendors to stop stalking me.
Every layman's response to my question regarding the price of weddings boils down to this: they're more expensive because they can be. Bullshit. If enough people refused to pay inflated prices, we'd be fine. So, I've started to use a tactic. I'm asking people for quotes for a party. A reception is a party, so don't give me any heat about lying. Then I'll slip in that it's for my reception and I'm watching as people literally try to find a way to back peddle. Every single time they've come up with a reason for it to suddenly cost more. Sickening. And you know me, I tell them so.

TL;DR: I'm out of control.

So how can I regain control? By telling myself that I'm over it, even though I'm totally not. I have other things to focus on, like trying to find a venue, or a theme, or a caterer (I still haven't met with Abbey Rd - that's next week).
What happened to Dallas? Eh, turns out that they require a minimum for their catering. Big surprise. I knew that the sentence "The venue is free as long as you use our catering" should have had something tied onto it. We're not having an open bar, which drastically decreases how much we're spending with any caterer like that. That, my friends, can really mess you up if your vendor wants you to spend 8,000 on food and drinks.

Everyone keeps suggesting that my venue fit my theme. Wait, what theme? Am I getting married or throwing a prom here? So I start Googling themes and the first thing I see is a bridesmaid's lament about a terrible Midsummer Night's Dream theme where the bride made them all wear stupid fairy wings. I laughed.
More inspiration boards show me butterflies, Victorian, Retro, lemons, and more ugly color combinations than these eyes can handle. We're too eclectic for that. Every inspiration board seems like too much, even if I like a sample of this and a bit of that. Butterflies are cute. I liked this one daisy bouquet that had a fake butterfly nestled on it, but that's the extent I'm willing to take the butterfly theme to. I feel similarly about most themes.
So, I'd like to dub my theme: Whatever the hell I think is awesome. My inspiration board is my keen sense of what is awesome. Is it all going to flow? Probably not, but I'll like it and honestly, that's all that I really care about.

Catering Restrictions

This is something I'm having trouble wrapping my head around. Vendors with catering restrictions are just ridiculous. It's MY wedding day. It's MY thousands of dollars. It's my family and friends and things should be reflective of what we want. I should be able to use any caterer that I want as long as they are licensed. I should be able to use any cake company that I want. I should be able to use any DJ that I want. I shouldn't have to pay for nuts and mints when I don't want any damn nuts or mints.
Now, I understand other restrictions like why I can't throw rice in certain venues. I understand why I can't tack decorations up or cause otherwise particular changes to certain landscapes or buildings that may be used for other things.
However, if you're going to tell me that I have to use your catering company, your food better be amazing. If it's not and I'm honest with you and you're not willing to work with me, then stop harassing me. I'm simply not interested in being bullied into your inadequate food.
Dallas doesn't seem to have these same ridiculous restrictions. I think there are too many options for people to have such close connections with each other. Dallas is starting to win by a landslide... I just wish it was for more of the right reasons.