Planning a wedding can be a tad bit stressful on occasion. Okay, more like an all-consuming giant blob monster that overtakes your life until the big day hits you like a mack truck packed full of well-wishing, long-lost relatives, old friends, new friends, and even some strangers who just came along for the chaotic joy ride.

I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to have a peaceful wedding. There’s always the option of eloping, but most people won’t let you get any peace doing that either. I get it. Weddings are fun (for the guests). They’re an opportunity to have family or friend reunions and to celebrate the love of two people you care about. They remind us of God’s love for us and our call to love one another. I’m all for the idea of weddings. But after planning our wedding, I realized I was a little burnt out on the reality of weddings. In fact, I would say I suffered quite a bit from post-wedding stress disorder.

Of course, the week before the wedding was a beast. On several occasions, I found myself up all night groaning with stomach pain and vomiting up my guts. I wasn’t sick. I hadn’t eaten anything that didn’t agree with me. I was purely stressed to the max. The first night of our honeymoon, I got sick again. Fair enough. It had been a stressful day, and I couldn’t quite get used to the idea that everything was finally over. I kept seeing our photographers in my face and hearing people ask me what they should do now. After some much appreciated comfort from Matt, I finally fell asleep, hoping that the stress was finished.

It’s been almost two months since the wedding, and I was finally able, today, to sort out the box of leftover reception decorations and figure out what I wanted to sell, keep, or give away. I did not wait so long to do this because I was busy or lazy. Looking at that box made me want to throw up (again). On a few occasions since the honeymoon, I have woken up with a sick stomach. I also feel stressed whenever I drive past a bridal store. But I think my bout of post-wedding stress disorder is finally coming to a close. I was able to untangle loads of white lights, pack them up in bags, and place an ad on Craigslist to try and sell 33 strands of lights. It was frustrating, it was tedious, but I managed to do it without feeling sick to my stomach.

Here’s to never being a bride again and learning to enjoy weddings once more.

Anyone else struggled with post-wedding stress disorder? What signs showed you that you had finally overcome it? How long did it take to get over it?

Wedding lights