Hey! I’m Lisa. I’m beyond thrilled to share my wedding planning experiences with you guys.
I wanted to start by saying, "I’m not your typical bride," but let’s face it—who is? One of the most exciting aspects of wedding planning is that you’re creating a personal celebration for you and your groom that reflects who you are as a couple.
That being said, my situation is unique because I’m actually already married. I'm also an Army wife. My husband Michael and I met as teenagers, growing up on the same street. We got engaged in late September of 2011, soon after we found out that he would be leaving for a one-year tour in Afghanistan. After receiving our parents’ blessing and sealing the deal with a beautiful ring, we got married in a small civil ceremony at the home of a family friend, just five weeks after we got engaged.
Michael’s currently deployed in Afghanistan, but as soon as he gets back we’re kicking off our lives together with a proper celebration with friends and family in our hometown of San Diego. Our vintage-inspired fiesta wedding will incorporate all the best things about SoCal living: beaches, delicious Mexican food and laid-back fun. Because I’m currently finishing up graduate school in New York City, my dad has taken on most of the wedding planning duties in California. He’s a natural.
Throughout this process, I’ve learned not only is there no such thing as a "typical" bride, there are also no rules. I struggled with wedding planning at first because to me, weddings were synonymous with big, fancy, and uptight, none of which I can identify with. I also mistakenly believed that caring about things like decorations and seating arrangements meant I was superficial, but that’s not the case. You can still be a strong, independent, fearless woman while thinking long and hard about the kind of flowers you want in your centerpieces. Sometimes I’ll be up late working on a project, and to give myself a mental break I’ll scroll through photos of real weddings to get new ideas. I’ve embraced my inner bride!
While I’ll save the nitty-gritty for future posts, just know that my amazing journey with Michael has followed a winding road full of twists and U-turns. It’s not easy spending your first year as newlyweds apart, but it’s something that a lot of military wives have to face. I hope I can shed some insight on not only what it’s like to plan a long-distance wedding while in graduate school, but navigating a long-distance marriage as well. Trust me—it’s fun!
—Lisa Turner
Lisa Turner is a real bride who is navigating the planning process with her friends and family while her groom, Michael Turner, is serving in Afghanistan. Already married last year, the high school sweethearts will have an official reception in January of 2013 in San Diego when he returns to the U.S. The party will take place in a clubhouse near the beach, complete with Mexican and vintage-inspired touches to celebrate their marriage in a fun and very California way.
