Please tell me I'm not the only person who is having a hard time wrapping their head around being a "bride."
Don't get me wrong, I'd marry my FI tomorrow in sweatpants in a Courthouse! It's the not the marriage, it's the wedding. There is so much to consider, so much to plan, so many details. And then there's all the weird attention on you for just being a couple. I told FI I'd feel better if I could debate someone at the altar before the vows because that's a form of attention I'm used to hahahaha.
Re: Newly engaged and freaking out
I never dreamed about getting married when I was little. I didn't think I wanted children or marriage until about two years ago. And it wasn't until a few months before my FI proposed (after we'd had some serious talks) that I started thinking about what kind of wedding I would want. Even then it was just a kind of general, "Winter would be nice," kinda feel.
So now I'm burying myself in planning stuff when I feel motivated because I knew less than nothing. I'd be happy having siblings (including two or three besties who are pretty much siblings) and parents get together for a small ceremony without a wedding party. He's a little more traditional, so we're doing a small, subdued wedding with a lot of planning and budgeting time.
As for the attention... people will forget or will mentally move on (thank God, amirite?). We've already had friends get engaged and married in the time we've been engaged (two months). And I have two people about to announce pregnancies, so yay.
And yes, unsolicited advice by the droves. One girl told me to buy a dress a size or two bigger because "most women gain weight before their wedding." Ummm. I've worn the same size for fourteen years. Not injuries, nor birth control, nor getting in and out of the military have changed my size significantly.
But yes, someone will have an opinion on literally everything even if you don't ask. So learn to shrug it off early. And good luck.