"How's the wedding planning going?"

H2B and I hear this question every day at least 10 times, almost always accompanied by a been-there-done-that-I-know-it-sucks-and-I'm-glad-as-hell-it's-over smirk from people who are already married, or a you-unlucky-sucker-I'm-free-as-a-bird-saving-thousands-of-dollars-hahahaha smugness from those without marriage on the radar. I guess it's a natural thing to ask a person who's getting married in !!!165 DAYS!!! but it gets a little...frequent.

I snicker, shift uneasily and hear my own voice squeak about three octaves higher as I reply "Ehhhh, it's going!", realize the conversation has gotten totally uncomfortable and then strive to change the subject as quickly as possible.

The more I hear "how's the planning going?" I wonder:
-do people REALLY care about how it's going?
-do people really want to hear it's going well?
-are they expecting me to/secretly hoping that I'll flip out and have a major meltdown when they ask for entertainment and gossip fodder?

For those who really do want to know: I go back and forth between feeling overwhelmed ("OMFG, so much to do!") to completely hakuna matata about the whole thing. Yes, that was a Lion King reference. You're welcome. I need to settle somewhere in the middle, a happy land of getting stuff done while avoiding freakouts.

Right now, the biggest things I'm excited about are planning a honeymoon and designing invitations. Not so thrilling: choosing a first dance song and finalizing the guest list. How do you pick a song to dance to that isn't corny and overdone and completely lame, but still lovey and nice? Also, I'm pretty sure that when I die and go to hell for eternal punishment, my job is going to be creating a wedding guestlist and a seating chart for my family. I would rather clean elephant cages.

So the short answer to "how's the wedding planning going?" would be a shrug, a smile, and "OK, I guess!" It's going. Is it EVER smooth sailing? Is it ever as big a disaster as a Bridezilla would have you believe? The main thing is, this wedding is happening October 17. Everything will come together. Some things are ahead of schedule and others are more challenging. I'm not having the fantastic life-altering fun fun fun experience some girls seem to enjoy when they're planning their weddings. It's no nightmare, either. It's going. 165 days from right now, we'll be sipping on our to-be-determined signature cocktails and hopefully preparing to cut out of the reception and get into honeymoon mode. That means I'll probably be asked about planning...1,650 more times, minimum. I can handle this!