DEAR ABBY: I have been engaged for 18 months, and we still have not set a wedding date. Every time I talk to my fiance about it, he suggests we elope to Australia or something. At first, it was because of his job. When I finally pinned him down about what was bothering him, he confessed that he absolutely does not want a wedding reception. He wants to marry me, but he wants it to be just the two of us. No guests.
Advertisement
Abby, the irony of it is that I am a professional wedding planner. My dream is to have the wedding I have always pictured. I want about 100 friends around me at this important time. However, my fiance cannot stand to be the focus of attention, and he says he would be miserable if I make him go through with it.
I tried to draw an analogy by asking him how he would feel if I told him he could not be a policeman anymore because I would be miserable. He says it's not the same because that is his job. Well, I am a professional wedding planner and coordinator. This would be MY ultimate dream job. Please don't tell me to scale down the wedding -- it is not possible to invite one cousin and explain you cannot invite the other, etc. I'm at a loss about what to do. -- FRUSTRATED IN TEXAS
DEAR FRUSTRATED: I have good news and bad news. The good news is I'm not going to tell you to scale down the wedding. The bad news is I think you should rethink marrying your fiance at all. A man would have to have his head encased in concrete not to know that a woman's wedding day is one of the most important events of her life. As a professional event coordinator, your life revolves around social events.
Please think beyond the wedding to birthdays, anniversaries, events around babies -- all the occasions you will want to mark with a celebration. He won't want to participate, and if he does, he won't enjoy it. You two can try counseling and perhaps compromise. But will you be happy with someone who is so introverted and self-centered? Only you can answer that one.