Da Prez Sez: Wedding Stress

By Morgan Chambers

In most issues of the Enscquire, Da Prez Sez deals with aspects of life somehow relating to life in ENSC. This issue's column is going to be something of a departure.

I've been in SFU's School of Engineering Science for almost 5 full years now (longer than I sometimes care to contemplate). During that time I thought I'd learned how to deal with stress. I've pulled all-nighters, written multiple midterms in one day, scraped together enough money to pay for tuition and worked under the gun to finish deadlines at work. In most cases, I deal with the stress while I'm awake, and once asleep, my mind doesn't dwell on the trials of my waking life (although there have been a couple of notable exceptions - mostly dealing with Physics). However, in the last couple of weeks I've discovered there is a form of stress that I've haven't learnt to deal with. Wedding stress (NO, NOT MINE). Last month, my boyfriend's brother got married, as did close friends of ours. Unfortunately, both couples got married the same weekend, one in Saskatchewan and one in Vancouver, so we were unable to attend both weddings.

As blood is apparently thicker than water, I found myself in the wilds of Saskatchewan. I had volunteered to make the wedding cake and had been asked to be the unofficial official photographer. Two days before the wedding, I was having nightmares about trying to find a wedding dress. I was running around with my shorts on underneath the one I was trying on asking everyone what they thought. The night before the wedding, I dreamt I was in Vancouver and it was raining (the wedding the next day was outdoors), I then realized I was in the wrong city and was trying to get to the airport to catch my flight except my ride was trying to go the wrong way down the Lougheed highway (and it had snowed so traffic wasn't moving). Last night, 2 weeks after the last weddings and 2 months before the next one, I dreamt that a friend of mine showed up to tell me she was getting married next week to a guy I didn't even know she was dating (who was a friend of mine to boot).

Some people may say that my wedding dreams are a result of my unacknowledged desire to get married (don't get a rash Dave, it's not true). However, I think its a result of communicated stress. I've been watching several close friends deal with the tribulations of getting married. Not only do you have to send out invitations, keep track of who all is coming, get the rings, get the license, order the flowers, decide on the type of cake, decide on the menu, keep track of how much all of this is going to cost, rent a place to have it, figure out who's wearing what, and decide on a seating plan, you also have to find enough time to yourself that you don't lose your sanity in the bargain. And apparently things don't end with the ceremony. You then have to send out thank you notes and wedding announcements (and a billion other little things that come up).

I now have newfound respect for anyone who wants to plan a wedding, especially a big one. Most brides and grooms I know don't remember much of their wedding, it was just a big blur. So what's my point in all of this? Elope. Pick a nice place you've always wanted to go, go (don't tell anyone or they might show up), have a great time, come back and have a huge party. Nice and simple (and think of all that money you could spend on your vacation instead of on a day you might not remember).

Previous Next