It’s only February, but my fiance and I are already thinking about November because that is when we’re getting married! It seems like it’s a long way away, but in reality, the time will go by quickly.

I knew weddings were a lot of work, but I don’t think I realized exactly how much work goes into a production of this magnitude until I got into the mix of it. Between talking about mood, color schemes and food, I’ve discovered something unexpected. Planning a wedding is a little like planning a book.

Wedding planning has been fun. I’ve enjoyed being elbow-deep in details and imagining what our special day will be like. But sometimes it gets a little overwhelming. Even with help. However, I’ve come to view all of these little details and the insanely long checklist as if I am creating a new world for my characters. And, really, that’s not too far off the mark, is it? For our wedding, my fiance and I are planning an experience—a whole world, really—for our guests to enter, a world that influences what they see, smell, taste and hear: the colors, decor, flowers, food, drinks, music and more. When they come in from the chilly November evening for our event, they’ll be taken to a place that we have envisioned and created with the help of our very creative wedding planner.

What will guests experience on our special day? Well, we’re hoping for a really romantic vibe with rich colors like burgundy, navy and emerald mixed with candlelight, flowers and greenery.

As a writer, I’m obviously really focused on words and, in the beginning, I had wanted to rely on words to convey the mood and the love that my fiance and I share. I view words as art and love to display them in this fashion. But, this doesn’t fit both myself and my partner and I wanted our day to reflect both of us, not just me. So, we nixed the word concept. And really, I’m not sad about it. Doing so, has led to something completely new and a different level of understanding.

This whole experience has taught me about how to show something to people without necessarily using words. I know that not many other people feel the emotional tug of a sentence (much less a single word) like I do. But, the planning process has been a great reminder that color and scent and other elements can convey emotion, meaning and build an experience that reflects who my partner and I truly are. When I’m world building, I plan to remember the details that went into planning our wedding to help inform decisions that will help convey mood and emotion and the overall feel for a world and the various people who occupy it. I have a new way of looking at and building a sensual, believable and multidimensional world.