{Jessica Pledger Photography}

As many of you know I am now a “Mrs.” as of August 2nd, 2014.  I couldn’t be happier…sort of… To my surprise, I have been filled with sadness these past few days.  Ironically, I also feel happy to be married, happy that I am in love, and happy that the wedding had very few imperfections (even the weather was great – a cool front in August!).  So why the sadness?  Apparently, it’s called “Post Wedding Blues”.  Why wasn’t I warned about this?  Did I somehow miss the memo?  It’s a very frustrating feeling to have completed this most important event and feel empty and sad afterward.

I know all weddings are overwhelming and even more so for those who DIY everything (like me!).  I’ve read some articles that say bride’s feel sad because they no longer have all the wedding stuff to keep them busy…I don’t know if I agree with that completely because I am ALWAYS busy and I’m not the type to “relax”.  I think more accurately, it’s the fact that the anticipation is over.  It’s like being a child who waits for Christmas to come all year and then it seems to be over in an instant.

After some tears and obsessing over what could have been better, I finally realized that I don’t need to apologize for this completely normal feeling.  Most people don’t really understand why a bride would feel this way, but the honest truth is that it doesn’t matter.  All too often I am in the business of apologizing for my feelings, but after this life-changing event I don’t feel like apologizing or even trying to explain.  My advice to those who can’t understand?  Practice your listening skills and don’t try to “fix it”.  So then how does a bride fix it, you ask?  Well, I’m not a counselor, but I’m getting past the sadness by choosing to focus more on the excitement of the next chapter of our lives.  I’ve also found some comfort by creating hand-made Thank You notes and displaying mementos from our big day around the house.

I’ll probably never stop being a planner or a dreamer, but instead of planning and focusing on the wedding, now I get to plan and dream about the rest of our lives…and I’m definitely dreaming big.

On the other hand though, I am pretty excited to see the rest of the photos! 😉