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"After you get your proposal, it should be all rainbows and butterflies &amp;amp;#8217;til your wedding day, right? Well, sorry to burst your butterfly-filled bubble, but wedding planning is pretty much like taking on a second job. That you&amp;#x27;re not getting paid for. Sure, dress shopping will be filled with smiles and champagne&amp;amp;#8212;at least the first few trips&amp;amp;#8212;but there are a bunch of bridal buzz-kills you should definitely be prepared for. WEDDING&amp;amp;#8217;S CAN BE REALLY (REALLY, REALLY) EXPENSIVE Unless you&amp;amp;#8217;re planning a wedding with unlimited funds, you&amp;amp;#8217;ll likely suffer from sticker shock at some point in wedding planning. It flat-out stinks when you&amp;amp;#8217;re excited to do the fun things (like go dress shopping!) and you realize the basics (like a caterer) are going to eat up most of your budget. EVERYONE&amp;amp;#8217;S OUT TO MAKE A BUCK I HATE haggling. I would 100 percent suck at buying a car, because I&amp;amp;#8217;d rather pay the sticker price than have an hour-long back-and-forth with a car salesman. Most every vendor you&amp;amp;#8217;ll encounter while wedding planning can be talked down. But I didn&amp;amp;#8217;t really have the patience to play Let&amp;amp;#8217;s Make a Deal. EVERYONE IN THE WORLD WILL WANT TO WEIGH IN That shiny new ring on your finger is a beacon for unsolicited advice. Of course you&amp;amp;#8217;ll have to field suggestions from your mother-in-law and co-workers&amp;amp;#8212;that comes with the territory&amp;amp;#8212;but don&amp;amp;#8217;t be surprised when cashiers and unmarried guy friends start telling you what venues you must look at and why you have to hire &amp;amp;#8220;this one great heavy-metal cover band.&amp;amp;#8221; ... EXCEPT FOR YOUR GROOM I was shocked when my formerly opinionated boyfriend turned into a highly uninterested groom. There were some things he had strong feelings about, like the band, but when I asked questions like, &amp;amp;#8220;What tie do you want to wear to the wedding?&amp;amp;#8221; I often got a blank stare in return. &amp;amp;#8220;DREAM WEDDING&amp;amp;#8221; CAN MEAN LOTS OF DIFFERENT THINGS My mother-in-law thought our wedding should be a black-tie event in a New York City ballroom. My mom was picturing a beachside affair. Rory and I wanted something in between. Everyone will have an opinion of how things should be. Just doing your own thing&amp;amp;#8212;which sounds so easy!&amp;amp;#8212;is often an uphill battle. SAYING &amp;amp;#8220;DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY!&amp;amp;#8221; CREATES MORE PROBLEMS I didn&amp;amp;#8217;t care what color shoes my bridesmaids wore. &amp;amp;#8220;Pick something you love. Or wear something you have,&amp;amp;#8221; I told them. Well, one of my bridesmaids almost had a meltdown on my behalf: &amp;amp;#8220;What if we all wear different colors? Or what if I wear flats and she wears platforms?!&amp;amp;#8221; &amp;amp;#8220;I really don&amp;amp;#8217;t care!&amp;amp;#8221; I said. When my mother-in-law asked what to wear, I told her, &amp;amp;#8220;Wear something that makes you feel beautiful.&amp;amp;#8221; &amp;amp;#8220;But what color? Should it be long? What fabric? Should I match the bridesmaids? Blah, blah, blah!&amp;amp;#8221; I thought that letting people pick what they like would make things easier for me. But it seems people really want guidelines! Has wedding planning been super-easy for you? What unexpected challenges have you come across? What&amp;amp;#8217;s been the toughest part so far? More on wedding planning: * Why You&amp;amp;#8217;re Having Problems Wedding Planning * What the Week Before Your Wedding Should Look Like * The 5 Best Moments of Wedding Planning More Ways to Get Glamour Visit Shopglamour.com for cute stuff starting at just $10! Enter the latest Glamour sweepstakes! Follow us on Twitter Add us to your iGoogle homepage Photo: Thinkstock "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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