By Jessie Gorges, editor

 My husband, Chase, proposed to me about 2 ½ years ago, and I was ecstatic to have a huge Catholic wedding. But after a long engagement and a some-what-of-a-mess wedding, I wished I would have considered elopement. For the newly engaged, here are some reasons to elope:

It doesn’t matter what the weather is like. Nothing says spring like a wedding. In fact, my wedding day, March 20, was one day before the first day of spring. I imagined flowers blooming, birds chirping and green grass. OK, so maybe I was asking for a bit much. But snow? Really? That’s right, it snowed on my wedding day. The roads were slick and about a quarter of my guests didn’t make it to the wedding.

You don’t have to wear a wedding dress. I hated my wedding dress. And when I say hate, I mean pure disgust. To be completely honest, I would have rather walked down the aisle in a sack cloth than this concoction of itchy tulle and satin. Don’t get me wrong; when I first got the dress, over two years ago, I was in love with it. But after it sat in my closet for an eternity, my hatred only grew. After going to several weddings during my engagement, I saw various versions of my dress, and by the time March 20 rolled around my mermaid-style-gown-was overdone. By know no means am I a trend setter, but I would have liked to stand out on my wedding day.

You don’t have to worry about the florist screwing up your flowers. Yep. That’s right Dillon’s floral screwed up my flowers. The florist had called me at least two times to confirm the ribbon colors on my $225 bouquet. I wanted the ribbon to be champagne. But when we picked up the flowers the day before, I was repulsed by the Pepto Bismal pink the florist strung on my rather pricy flowers. I was so busy that I didn’t have time to get them fixed, so in addition to chocolate brown and champagne, Barbie-doll- pink became my unofficial wedding color.

KU fans can stay home to watch the game: Apparently, I had about 20 die-hard KU fans who attended my wedding. It was clear when one of Chase’s uncles brought in a flat screen for the “big” game, I was being upstaged by college basketball. I’m glad that those die-hard fans made it to the wedding, but to find my guests intensely glaring at a TV screen during our first dance was beyond the pale.

You don’t have to plan your wedding day around others. My brother-in-law, Nicky, was the cause of five date changes. He’s in the Navy, and Chase refused to get married without him. Which I completely understand, but after the third time of changing the wedding date, people stopped taking our big day seriously. I had at least a handful of people say, “I can’t believe you’re still engaged,” and several more people say, “You know those long engagements don’t usually make it.” I love my brother-in-law and I’m really glad he made it, but five date changes were a bit much.

When it was all said and done, my hair started to thin because of all the stress, my bridesmaids had called me “Bridezilla” at least half a dozen times, and I had maxed my credit card. I hope some day I will look at all of these misfortunes and laugh, but not any time soon. Even with all the stress and hard work, my husband and I made it. I’m glad to be married and couldn’t have asked for a better match.