I admit it...I had fun.

I can't stand weddings anymore. I am all about marriage and the covenant between man, woman, and God, but today's weddings are ridiculous.

Yes, I know - I had a wedding. And even though my dad will whine and complain about it, he wanted it. Matt and I didn't have the money - I would have been happy with a potluck after church. I didn't care about the dress or flowers or decorations - I wanted to get MARRIED.

Sadly, so few girls/women think like this. All they think about is the wedding and being a bride. They spend years dreaming about it and planning it. I know of one gal who spent over two years saving up money for her wedding. TWO YEARS!! For what - one day?? She could have gone down to the court house with less than $50 and the end result would have been the same - she'd still be married.

But it's not about the marriage...it's about the wedding.

I know people who enjoy those Bridezilla shows on TV, but I can't stand them. It's just more proof that people don't care so much about the sanctity of marriage as they do about throwing a bigger and better party than the last person. It makes my skin crawl.

It doesn't help that for five years of my life I worked at the Winchestertonfieldville Anvil Factory (that's code for a resort in northern Michigan - I can't mention them here because they got their panties in a bunch the last time and wouldn't promote me). While there I was an event coordinator. Weddings = events. Oy.

When the maid-of-honor passes out in a closet and gets stuck, someone is arrested for drunk driving in the parking lot, and another guest has to get stitches from a drunken fall then YES, it IS possible to imagine your bar bill being over $7000. No, 60 minutes before the reception I will NOT take off all of the table clothes and have them ironed, and, no again, you will not get a discount because of the creases on the clothes. Surprisingly, no matter how many times you call me with a different list of guest rooms needed I will NOT lower your room rate by $50/night because you went up from 15 rooms to 16 rooms.

That's just a sampling of my favorite stories. Weddings bring out the worst in people, and I think marriages would be better off without weddings.

Despite all of this, however, I recently agreed to help some friends coordinate their wedding. I was just the go-to-gal on site to help keep everyone organized. Most of the people I knew at the reception left by 8pm, so I had a while to sit around by myself (couldn't dance - still recovering from bronchitis). I didn't know what to expect, and I found myself enjoying the wedding, but for all of the wrong reasons.

I had fun planning again.

I was there early and helped set up. I stood in the back during the ceremony and told the bridal party when to walk (and told the late guests that they had to wait to be seated). I decorated, got microphones, cleaned up, and hung out with the facility and catering staffs - it was great! It reminded me how much I used to enjoy my job at the Anvil Factory. I loved being busy and being involved. And, for the first time in a while, I didn't leave the wedding early (well, I couldn't, but I liked chatting with the staff, too).

I really used to enjoy event planning. I had forgotten that. It was fun to remember it again.