Happily Ever After

My mom sent me an article from The Student Review called "Happily ever after…What Kim Kardashian, TLC and my Dad Taught Me About Wedding Planning and Marriage."

Like most BYU students, I consider myself an expert on weddings. And like most BYU girls, I consider myself an expert on wedding planning. My friend's mom told her she could plan a wedding in one day with Pinterest and I believe it. I browse websites like Style Me Pretty and Green Wedding Shoes, looking for ideas for that magical (and far off) day when I finally say "I do."


We all know the stats of Kim's wedding. She had three wedding dresses and a 2-part special on E! Yeah, not gonna happen for me or most of the girls I know. Most Mormon girls are lucky if they can find a cultural hall/park/backyard that's cheap but still big enough to ensure the maximum number of guests aka the maximum number of gift cards.

But, like the author pointed out, does it really matter? Does it matter whether your wedding cost $10 million if after 72 days you don't want to be with the person? Does it matter if the only people at your wedding are your parents friends and a couple of teenagers who are there for the food if it's going to last forever?

Love, commitment and selflessness matter, and centerpieces, rings and dresses don't.

Sam wrote a blog a couple weeks ago about how she and Trent "finally scratched and crawled" their way into the blissful newlywed stage. Do you think Kim and Kris "scratched and crawled" to be happy? Probably not. And they have a 72-day marriage to show for it. Sam's right, to making it work requires a lot work, not a wedding sponsored by Living Social.

Luckily for me, I don't have to look to Kim as an example for how a wedding, or more importantly a marriage, should work.



I can just look to my parents. My mom talks about the dozens of times when she thought to herself that she could pursue a fight to the end; that she could fight and fight and fight and end the marriage if she wanted to. But she didn't. And she doesn't. And 20 something years later my parents still cuddle on the couch and take magical trips to Mackinac Island.

I wasn't there for their wedding, but I know it wasn't a Kardashian event. I know my aunt was literally 9 months pregnant and my uncle had a superb mullet. They danced to "Fortress Around Your Heart" by Sting. My mom had one wedding dress and it was made by a friend. They splurged on the chocolates but not the photographer.

I'm not a saint, I still want a dress like Kate Moss's and strings of lights and piles of salted caramel macarons. But if I've learned anything, it's that it's what comes after the Kate Moss dress and the strings of lights and the salted caramel macarons that's what's important. It's the scratching and clawing, it's the forgiving and forgetting. And then after all that, I'll have my own husband that will cuddle with me on the couch and take me on vacations to picturesque Michigan islands. And take me to McDonald's sometimes, because we all know I need that too.