Why Wedding Planning Needs to Stop Trending

We all did it - made our stuffed animals, Barbies and dolls get married when playing "pretend" as kids. Or, maybe you're normal, and have not been secretly planning your wedding since you were old enough to say the word "marriage."

Whether you've been dreaming of your Princess Bride moment for the past 20 years or have simply considered planning a wedding, you'll understand that it's far from a leisurely walk in the park.

In society, we constantly see glamorized weddings. Hailey and Justin Bieber? The Royal Wedding? Our favorite social media influencers? I know we all hop on the latest wedding Pinterest trends, hoping our day even remotely looks like theirs. It's hard not to - the vision is so close, right there at our finger tips.

No one stops and actually thinks about what it takes to put on that kind of production until you're knee deep in napkin choices, and picking between ivory or "warm" white drapes for your arch.

At this rate, the guests will be sitting on the floor, eating fajitas with their hands, and joining in our group singalongs playing from my iPhone for the entirety of the reception.

Sure, could I have hired a wedding planner? Maybe. But in today's economy? Think again. I can't even afford eggs.

My fiance and I are pretty average people - we have average jobs, live in an affordable townhome, and don't live lavishly (unless you count daily Amazon packages a lavish lifestyle). And yet, here we are, struggling to not only afford, but to choose how our wedding day is going to play out in extreme, tiny details.

At what point did this day of dreamy bliss turn into an overwhelming, chaotic fiasco?

Perhaps it all stemmed from the fact that there are over 2,000 venue options (probably an exaggeration, but that's how it feels) to choose from in Colorado. You cannot just simply pick a venue you like - you have to pick one that has a ceremony space, a cocktail hour space, a getting ready room, and a reception area. Did you want to bring in outside catering? Big bummer for you - the venue you like does not allow outside catering. So, you opt in for venue option number 2, which allows you to pick your own caterer. Oh, wait, it doesn't have air conditioning because it's a mountain cabin that was built in 1950? Crap, I guess you settle for option 3, where everyone has to bring their own toilet paper.

I might have added a bit of drama in that last one.

The endless sea of options in Colorado for planning a wedding are out of hand, and I know I am not the only bride-to-be with decision fatigue.

If it were up to me, I would simplify it down to a few choices. Or, I don't know, lower the prices for common wedding necessities like forks and knives - you know, things people have to have in order to eat a meal.

I'd like to give wedding vendors (lol, I know I take wedding photos sometimes) a piece of my mind. Yes, weddings are trending in Vogue, we get it. It's a giant, moneymaker of a day because these poor fathers are going out of their way to make their little girl's dream day come true.

What if her dream is simply to experience a day with less stress? What if she desires her family to support her and unite, even if just once in her life? What if she longs for an intimate moment with her fiancé, the person she will spend her life with, without the world's chaos intruding? What if, for just one day, she wishes to forget about the world's turmoil, filled with political hatred and anger, and deteriorating daily? What if she wants the process to be straightforward and enjoyable, because heaven forbid wedding planning is, fun?

The trend of elaborate weddings makes for an ideal social media spectacle, but it's not what the majority of brides truly desire for their special day. Perhaps, some brides are traditionalists who simply wish for a day filled with love and happiness, rather than an extravagant, over-the-top event where every moment seems like a scripted scene from a Shakespearean play.

Perhaps the childhood dream of marriage was not about the "wedding" at all. Maybe the dream was that I fell in love, and started my own family.

Maybe, just maybe, weddings shouldn't be a "trend" anymore.