Man, I thought this was going to be easier has become my wedding planning slogan. Ugh. Putting together what I thought were relatively simple invitations turned out to be quite the ordeal.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's very frustrating when everyone has a different idea about everything. This goes for more than just invitations, but here's the short list of tiny dramas encountered on the road to inviting people to our nuptials.

• what to include in/on your invitations


• who to invite/not invite


• how many people to invite (which, of course, depends on your food cost-per-plate)


• whether or not to include registry information


• where to register, if anywhere


• when to send invites


• how to explain the unusual concept of hometown receptions


• etc.


• etc.


• ETC.

As I work on completing the last step in this lovely process, I'll admit it's kind of empowering to know I can figure all of this out. More importantly, Ed and I have been engaged for a full year plus one week, and we're more excited than ever about getting hitched. Here are the invites (and yes, Mom, I censored our return address).