There are very few things in this world that bring me as much joy as weddings do. I mean, how can you not love a giant party where you get to wear a pretty dress and watch two people care about vow to be best friends forever?

I’ve never had a wedding of my own, but I have high hopes for what it will look like when I finally do. I hope I will get to wear a gown shaped like a cupcake and carry a bouquet of the most beautiful flowers I’ve ever seen. I hope my future groom’s eyes will well up with tears of joy as he watches me walk toward him. I hope everyone I care about will be there to witness me giving my heart to the person I love. I hope the saying “Dance like no one is watching” will be something people take to heart during my reception. And I hope that when I look back on that day, only the most joyful of memories will spring up in my head.

I could go on for hours listing all of the things I want to happen on that day, but for all the things I hope my wedding day will be, there is one thing that I hope the day is not. I hope it’s not the happiest day of my life.

I know how pessimistic that probably sounds, but before every bride-to-be accuses me of hating her happiness, I am not saying I hope no joy is felt on that special day, like I said before, I believe there are few things as magical as a wedding. But isn’t it scary to think that this one day could be the climax of our entire lives and then we’re just left with 50 years of monotony?

It’s so easy to get swept up in the excitement of planning the perfect day that we forget that a wedding is about so much more than just a pretty dress and a good party.

Your wedding day is the beginning of the most intimate earthly relationship you’ll ever have. When walk down that aisle and recite your vows, you’re saying “I do” to a lifetime commitment with the one you love. You’re saying, “I do” to a lifetime of lows, of arguments and cloudy days, and you’re saying, “I do” to a lifetime of laughter, encouragement and sunshine.

That person who was waiting for you at the end of the aisle is the person you are going to experience all of life’s blessings with for the next 50 years. They’re the person you’ll buy your first house with, the one who you’ll spend all your lazy Sunday’s with and the one you’ll have children with (or a dog, if that’s more appealing).

I would hate to belittle the joy that the future holds by labeling this single day as “the very happiest.”

The flowers, the gifts and the sparkly dresses are wonderful and exciting things, but those aren’t the things that should be bringing you happiness. The reason for your joy should be the one you’re exchanging rings with.

I hope that when my wedding day comes I will get to wear my dream dress, listen to my best friends give toasts that make me cry and dance with my dads to some cheesy father-daughter love song. I hope I will feel love in ways I’ve never experienced before, and that nothing but happiness will fill my spirit that day, but most of all I hope that happiness is one that doesn’t go away as I ride off into my happily ever after.