Let The Wedding Stress Dreams Begin

Burning Words
4 min readJan 4, 2025

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A trip to a world that only exists in my head brought me back to reality.

Photo By Sierra Bautista

I’ve been dreaming about my wedding for years, and now that I am planning one, it makes sense that the nightmares are creeping in. I am getting married in October of this year, and so far, I have booked/chosen the venue, food, bridal party, flowers, dress, suits, DJ, and overall theme. That may sound like a good portion of things I have checked off the wedding planning master list, but trust me, we still have a long way to go. But don’t get me wrong, I am loving every second of piecing together this special day for me and the man I love.

That being said, I can confidently say that I am not the first person to experience wedding stress dreams, but the one I had last night had an impact on me.

My dream is set in a church. (Is it the plan to get married in a church? No, it is not.) As guests are arriving, I am sitting in one of the chairs that are set up for the ceremony. I am in my wedding dress without my makeup or hair done, and most of the guests who come to greet me are wearing elegant white dresses. I don’t freak out; I don’t scream or ask them to leave, but I hug them. I don’t feel any anger or frustration. I am simply happy they are here.

As I go back to the room that has been designated as our salon, something catches my eye through a small window. There is another wedding happening at the same time in a different room. The bride is wearing the same dress, and her hair is done the same way I want. I could only see one side of her face, but she was talking, so I could only guess she was reading her vows. I don’t freak out; I don’t go storming in and claim that it is my wedding day and my wedding day only, but I simply walk past with a small smile on my face because that bride looked beautiful.

Currently, in the real world, I have yet to book anyone to do my hair and makeup. This stress seems to have seeped into my dream because as I am walking into the salon, I freeze, and I realize that I don’t have a stylist. Without missing a beat, I point to one of my bridesmaids and say, “You’re doing my hair.” I point to another and say, “You’re doing my makeup.” I don’t freak out; I don’t cry and proclaim that the day is ruined. I sit and let myself get pampered by the women I am so lucky to have standing by my side.

Once I am ready (since this is a dream, my hair and makeup are done in 3 seconds), my bridesmaids begin to walk towards the door to get ready to walk down to the altar. As I reach for the door handle, I stop right before grabbing it. I realize I have been missing something this entire event. Where is my groom? No one mentioned seeing him the entire time I was speaking to guests. I didn’t see him when I was walking back to the salon. I obviously didn’t care about being seen in my dress since I was greeting people in it before the ceremony, so it’s not like people are trying to keep us separated. He’s not here. I start to freak out; I start to cry. My vision gets blurry, and I can’t see where I am.

I wake up.

Planning a party for 150 people can consume your sanity and your patience. Once that part of your brain is vacant, it leaves room for self-doubt and judgment. I am incredibly grateful that I have the means to even have the wedding that I am dreaming of, but it takes a lot of brain power. Last night’s dream grabbed me by the shoulders and said, “You see? You see all those things that went wrong, and you didn’t care? You only started to feel like things were falling apart when the love of your life wasn’t there.”

Yes, this is a stressful time, but in the end, it’s all about being able to celebrate the love I have for another person and getting to share that with the people who support us. I am incredibly lucky. It just took a little trip to an alternate reality to remind me.

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Burning Words
Burning Words

Written by Burning Words

By: Emma Gomes…all I got to say is I’m excited. Let’s do this!

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