Wedding Jitters

There are fewer than five weeks left until David and I take care of a little bizness called matrimony, so I thought I'd fill you all in on how planning is going, what our ceremony is going to look like, and the extent of my pre-wedding jitters.

1) Planning: Sucks. David and I are having a "non-wedding" wedding, which means that we have literally invited only our immediate family, we are not having a reception or rehearsal dinner, and in fact, we are not having a formal wedding ceremony--just a ceremony that we throw together with our families, to take place here:

http://1percentforopenspace.org/gunsight-bridge/

This is the Gunsight Bridge in Crested Butte, Colorado. We are going there for a short weekend/wedding escapade at the beginning of August. Our "non-wedding" wedding means that our planning has been very limited, though I have to say, I'm a bit incredulous that people throw big weddings given the fact that the calls, appointments, and scheduling involved for a "non-wedding" wedding is still pretty substantial and annoying!

2) The Ceremony: This is what we are hashing out right now, since we recently found out that the woman we'd hired to marry us was no longer available on our date and time. Sooooo, much to the (presumed) disappointment of our mothers, David and I have decided to marry ourselves, which is something that peeps can do in Colorado. (Lucky us!) (Actually, lucky for my parents, because now they get to see their little girl get married in a ceremony with swear words!)

This kinda puts all the pressure on us, however, since we are now responsible for creating and organizing a ceremony that makes us (and our parents) happy. Right now, we're thinking that we will include: thank yous to our parents, nice words said about deceased grandparents, our vows, and a little section where our nieces and nephews stand up and say what they hope for us in our marriage. We've also agreed that if I have to be walked down the "aisle" (i.e. gravel hiking path) by my father, then David is going to be walked down the "aisle" with his mamacita. (My reasoning here is simple: I don't want to be the only person that everyone stares at.)

3) Jitters: Ummmm, a bit! David is my partner, straight up, no doubts, fo' sho, but there's something about a whole wedding--and the process that goes into it--that makes one nervous! I'm not seriously nervous, but more in disbelief that all this is really going to take place. Before I met David I wasn't sure I'd get married and settle down, so doing the whole traditional deal--even if we've stripped a lot of the traditional crap out--is a bit overwhelming. For instance, I spoke to my brother on the phone this morning about plans to ride our mountain bikes on the morning of the wedding, and he kept saying, "Whatever you want--it's your day."

Can I just say, BLECH! What I was actually thinking was, "Well, in fact it's just a Saturday, please and thank you never say 'It's your day' again!"

*What is your attitude about weddings? Any ideas about other cool stuff with which we could fill up our fancy schmancy ceremony?