I never thought I would get married. I didn’t really see the point. Yet, here we are. Organising a wedding in our 50’s. Whodathunk?

Here are some things I notice about planning a quinquagenarian marriage: (don’t worry, I had to look it up too!)

It is all consuming
Initially, the planning kept me awake and woke me up and generally interrupted this old girl’s sleeping pattern. Which makes me grumpy and decisions difficult.

White dresses are humbling
Cue salad and spanx. We all know menopause causes chaos and slows down the “I’ll just eat less this week and lose that extra kg” thinking. White dresses also make me question this whole body image farce that we are living in. (Aside: not a good idea to read a biography of a woman with eating disorders when you are dieting!)

Fast is good
We basically have organised everything in 5 weeks. Snap decisions and move on. We know it is not going to be perfect, but we are giving it our best shot. The wolf got so fed up with me not being able to decide about a ring, we stayed in one shop until I had designed the whole thing.

We are careful about duplication
While this is my first (and only) wedding, it is not the first for the wolf. We are very careful to avoid repeating anything that happened at that one. For example, Cotton Eye Joe is on the not play list.

You can actually do what you want
Yeah, we had a budget. And we blew it on the venue and the band. So what? Yeah, there are rules and regulations for getting married. We broke them. So what?

When you are a 50 year old getting married, you really can do what ever the fark you please: Feel like arriving by boat? Do it. Want your mum to walk you down the aisle? Do it. Want your friends to do the ceremony? Do it. Want your significant people to wear whatever makes them feel like a million bucks? Do it. Want to have a live band and a DJ? Do it. Want to eat cake in the afternoon? Do it. Want to have your photos taken at a alien communication station? Do it. Why not!!!!!

Did it all.

Honestly, getting married was the most fun time I have ever had. People travelled from far and wide and I got to feel like a bloody rock star for a day. Totally recommend it.