Let me be completely honest. I’m getting married in two days. As such, and as one might expect, I’m quite preoccupied with all things wedding-related. So, please bear with me as I spend my time and use this space to discuss my adventures in wedding planning – and what I learned about this unique community – over the past year. In no particular order, here are some of my learnings:
1. Like diet pills and pyramid schemes, the wedding industry can be a scam.
As much as we tried to keep our wedding as green and low-cost as possible, the industry has a way of making the pre-betrothed feel as if they need to have the super-deluxe photography package, or has a way of justifying why a tent rental should be more expensive because it is for a wedding. For all of you planning on getting hitched, I’m not saying the entire industry is a scam, I’m just saying enter this community with a bit of caution.
2. Despite this, most people are really, really nice and will go out of their way to make your day super-awesome-wicked
It’s true. From full-course trial meals with our caterer to retail/service store staff going above and 
beyond to ensure we got exactly what we needed, most people were incredibly helpful and honest.
3. There’s no better way than to create an instant bond with people than to tell them you’re getting married
As soon as you mention you’re getting married, people – from random strangers on the street to waiters to telemarketers – can’t help but express their happiness for you, tell stories of their own wedding, and give advice for a long and fruitful marriage. There are often hugs involved, and promises to send wedding photos to far-off European countries. If that’s not community building, I don’t know what is!
4. You learn a lot about your circle of friends and family, and your partner.
I’m not going to lie – at times, there was conflict. With such a big, emotion-laden, expectation-riddled event to plan for, how could there not be? Having said that, going through this planning process with my friends and family has definitely drawn us closer together and allowed us to understand each other better.