You're getting married on September 11th!?!

Some of you may be wondering why in the world we would choose to get married on September 11th. We weren't in any way trying to get that date, but that turned out to be the date that worked the best with when and where we wanted to get married. And in an interesting way, it's somewhat appropriate because it will allow us to pay tribute to Andy's mother who passed away on that day (not in the attacks on the World Trade Centers). The more we thought about it, the more it seemed that that day would work well because we can take some unhappy things and replace them with happy things.

Of course paying tribute to her will not be the same as having her here. I actually started thinking about how hard this has to be for Andy tonight when i was reading An Atlanta Bride's thoughts on having to go through her wedding without her father.

It’s hard to come to terms with knowing that my dad won’t open my hotel room door on my wedding day to see his little girl all dressed up as a bride. I won’t get to see him looking dashing in a tux and have a proud look on his face as he walks towards me to give me a heartfelt hug and kiss. Missing from our guest book will be his name. He won’t be there to walk me down the aisle and ease my anxiety as I take him by the arm and prepare for the next moment when he gives me away. He won’t be there to give a toast to my husband and me and convey genuine sentiments of lifelong love and happiness. Also missing from our reception will be the father-daughter dance. And I feel sorry that my mom will also have to get through my wedding day without her husband at her side.

And, yes, i'm posting about my wedding planning again, but that's because i'm spending most of my free time working on the wedding and it really does seem to help me let go of some of the stress by blogging about it. It gives me a way to get some of my thoughts out of my head so i'm not thinking about things over and over and over...