Worry Warts are never attractive

****From Lila's perspective****

Am I allowed to feel happy? A couple of weeks ago Caleb swept me off my feet in the most incredible proposal. I am so in love with him yet so conflicted over everything that is about to happen. The problem is that I have been down this road before. I had the engagement party, gift registries, bridal shower, bachelorette party, fairytale wedding....but this is all new for Caleb. So I feel like I don't deserve a second round of all this yet Caleb shouldn't be cheated from his experiences. Is there even a feasible compromise?

You're probably thinking "What's the big deal? He's a dude and dudes don't give a crap about weddings." That would be true, but Caleb isn't like most guys. Of course I end up with the rare male that does care about it all. He comes from a large and tight-knit family that are all about the huge celebrations; there is no such thing as low-key with them. Let me give an example: a random Sunday night dinner that is not for anyone's birthday, job promotion, baby announcement, any type of celebratory event...still includes five course meals, wine toasts, and some decadent dessert. A backyard bbq wedding just wasn't in the cards.

Then there was the matter of finances. My parents had already thrown me a big production and neither they nor I were in a position to forego those expenses again. Caleb was the youngest of three kids, was it fair to ask them to do it all? This should be a time for me to be glowing yet all I could do was stress.

He wrapped his arms tightly around me as we browsed the furniture store scoping out potential master bedroom sets. It didn't matter how beautiful the set was, my response was always lackluster. Caleb lifted my chin up and looked deeply into my eyes, "What's going on?"

The ramble monster came out full force. He didn't interupt once, this can be an dangerous thing to do with the ramble monster. When I was finished Caleb took my hand and led me to a bed where we both sat down. Now it was his turn. "Do you know what I want on our wedding day? Just you. Anything else is a bonus. That day should be about you and me, not all of that other fluff. We don't need registries because between the two of us we're pretty established with things. If you don't want a bridal shower no one is going to force you to have one, but if some women who care about you want to do something nice for you then that's all it is, people who care about you doing something nice. That's allowed right?" He kissed my forehead.

"What about your family?"

"Lila, I'm disapointed in you, you're usually so good about thinking outside the box. Why not have the wedding under a tent in my parents backyard? As far as food, when have you know my family to need an excuse to cook? You know my good friend Perry is a professional photographer, Reed probably knows a good DJ, and you could wear jeans and a t-shirt for all I care. You look beautiful in anything."

I sighed. He was truly the yin to my yang. "Sounds good."

Caleb looked around, "Now can we found a nice bed I can have my way with you in?"