by Maureen Thomson of Lyssabeth's Wedding Officiants

WARNING! The following is an intervention directed at you. Yes--YOU! You with the bridal magazine in your hands. If more than one of the following applies, then you might want to rethink your upcoming nuptials:

• All you focus on is the wedding. You don't give a thought to the 50 years +/- that follow the big day.

• You've stopped dating your fiancé because you're too busy with wedding planning.

• You've blown up at at least one vendor, dragged everyone around you into the drama and then regretted overreacting.

• It's a month before your wedding and you've ordered the linens (in the perfect hue), the cake (white chocolate with raspberry filling) and the dress (to die for!) but you don't have an officiant; in fact, you haven't even thought about your ceremony.

• At least one person has called you a Bridezilla and you're not sure if they were kidding or not.

• You've uttered the phrase "But it's my wedding!" to anyone, anytime, anywhere.

• You've severed a relationship because of an argument related to the wedding.

• You use the word wedding more than 10 times a day (reading it in this blog post excluded).

• You've racked up a mountain of credit card debt that you and your new hubby are going to have to face post-wedding. (Bonus points if he has no idea how much you've charged.)

• You spent weeks traipsing all over town trying on scores of dresses until you found THE perfect one, but you don't have an hour to write your own vows.

• You secretly (or not so secretly) feel that the wedding day is more about the party than anything else.

• You've had some serious doubts about your relationship of late, but you push those thoughts aside because the possibility of calling off the wedding is too horrifying to think about.

Take it from someone who has been there. Divorce isn't fun. In fact, it's heartbreaking. As exciting as the looming big day feels, as enticing as it is to know you'll be Queen For A Day, the wedding will be over in a heartbeat and then you'll be looking at the Rest Of Your Life staring you square in the face. I have but three words of advice to add to the above. Think. Big. Picture.