Countdown to Crete

My wedding website says that I have 31 days until the big day. I’ve never particularly liked countdowns.  They make me feel as though I am ticking my life away, making me forget that it’s not just the milestones in life that matter, but the moments in between.  I dislike putting so much weight onto one day, event, or holiday.  Countdowns make them so exceptionally fleeting, they become immediately replaced with nostalgia and a framed photograph or Facebook memory. 

Bridal Shower at the Colony Hotel in Kennebunkport, Maine.

Because of this, as excited as I am for the wedding, I’m also dreading it.  I don’t want it to be over.  I look back at the bridal shower my mom threw me in June and it feels like it didn’t really even happen.  An amazingly happy day that lasted several hours and felt like a minute. Tears, hugs, laughter, reunions ripped away as quickly as the 

wrapping paper that covered the gifts, now just a memory of a wonderful day. There is no reason why the wedding shouldn’t feel like this multiplied tenfold, and much of me is consumed by wanting to say “SLOW DOWN, I’m not ready for the planning and anticipation to be over!”  But time is never listening.
 
Philosophizing aside, I am beyond excited.  Seeing all the plans, the Pinterest boards, the screenshots, the dog eared pages of magazines coming to life is the stuff of little girls’ dreams.  And I’m blessed that I’ve been indulged by my partner and my parents to have my dream wedding on the island of Crete.  It is not the easiest place for guests to get to, its distance meant my parents could not join me for walk throughs with wedding coordinators, and compromises have been made to allow for cultural differences and logistical necessities.  But even from afar, there has been a lot of joy in planning, and I hope everyone feels just as indulged as I in 31 days’ time.   

At least one thing we don’t have to worry about is getting the paperwork together to have a legal marriage while abroad.  Murat and I officially married soon after he entered the United States to comply with immigration procedures.  We did so happily and 

Waiting to be called at City Hall.

had a special day, but being called by a number at City Hall like you are at a deli waiting for a pound of ham wasn’t the ‘wedding’ we’d always dreamed of, and it was important to us to have our family and friends celebrate in our union and love.
 
I keep picturing September 21st over and over in my head, though I hope to let most expectations go on the big day and just celebrate and enjoy whatever unexpected or crazy thing happens.  If DJ Nikos misses a few ‘must-plays,’ or the flowers don’t turn out Pinterest perfect, or the meltems in Crete is so strong my hair comes undone and tangled, it won’t matter.  I’m ready to soak in the fact that Murat and I put up with years of long distance, and that in turn, my family and friends are willing to travel long distance to rejoice in our long-awaited wedding.

Spinalonga Island of Elounda, Crete. Clear water that is a siren's call for a swim.