I thought it'd be fun to write just a little about the week leading up to the wedding, and maybe the day itself. Nothing like seeing a wedding from the crazy bride perspective! We were fortunate that our families could come out the week leading up to help since inevitably some things can't be taken care of until all of the final decisions are made. The best part, at least to me, was having so much time with our families.
My parents arrived Friday night, exhausted but excited, and so were able to help me on Saturday to finalize the flowers. We also made another stop of many at Kinko's, where Andy and I tried to figure out how to print the menus and the little cards that were attached to the champagne glasses. Despite all my test prints, whenever we actually got them to Kinko's, they were off. So at that point, all we could do was print the menus (which was actually a simple printing job), and fiddle with the files more. Since Andy's parents arrived that night, he went to see them, and the Schultz family had an evening together.
Little did I know that after Sunday most everything would be finished. I'll admit, the month or so before the wedding I was pretty burned out. We'd been engaged so long, and I'd been planning so long, that it could have gone off without all of the extras I'd planned to do the week before. I'm so humbled that everyone wanted to make everything match up with my crazy imagination perfectly - my motto for the week was, "if it doesn't happen, no one will know!"
Andy and I ran some errands in the morning (very important, time together before the wedding), and our families were ready to get to work! With only six days before the wedding, you would think I would have been nervous about all the things to do. But, I really wasn't. In fact, it all seemed really do-able. Especially since everyone was ready to work! Andy's mom generously brought her circular cutter to cut out the menus, and I had this circular paper punch that, in my mind, would really dress up some plain cardstock circles. It lasted about ... five minutes. Six punches and hours later, we finally had enough menus! I was really afraid everyone would hate me after that; the whole time I said we should just reprint the menus and cut them out with straight cuts. But once they were finished, we got started on the escort and photo sharing cards! Those were a short job, so it was on to measuring out M&Ms and printing and assembling programs. It was an eight-hour work day in the wedding sweatshop.
Monday was a work day, so no wedding work got done. Instead, we went to Lucille's for my uncle's birthday! It made me really miss having family close by for celebrations. It was an early night, which was a good thing, as it gave us a chance to pick up some supplies for the rehearsal dinner afterward.
Tuesday was the last work day before the wedding, and also my last day of work in that particular position. We had dinner with Andy's parents, and made a strategy for finishing up the last of the details. I still hadn't bothered to get a garter, despite having a garter toss in the schedule! We finalized the reception timeline with our DJ, and spent the rest of the night pulling together our gifts for the rehearsal dinner.
Originally, I thought all of the menus, programs, and favors could go together Wednesday. But since we agreed to drop it all off at the florist Thursday, I'm really glad everyone got me going early! My mom and I sat at the kitchen table and tied together all of the favors before Andy's parents arrived with some sealing wax and a blue garter. When I'd originally conjured up adding a monogram to the menus, I didn't think sealing wax could cost that much. But when I went to buy it, it seemed outrageous! 10-15 seals per box, at $6 a box ... is too much money. It ended up I read it wrong, and after my mom and Andy's dad stamped all of the menus, they barely used a whole box!
Since the work was done so early thanks to so many generous helping hands, we opened some wedding gifts, I made a picture for the signing frame, and trekked over to Islands for dinner. Not the best dining experience, but sure nice to have everyone together!
Thursday was the rehearsal, and getting really really close to the big day. First, my family got together to try on and pick up tuxes. We then took everyone's hard work - menus, favors, the guestbook frame - all to the florist. I wasn't really comfortable leaving it all there, even with my detailed instructions, since we left it with someone I didn't recognize. But, I had detailed instructions, and the one lesson we learned from the wedding is that our florist is amazing.
When I woke up that day, I felt a little tired. But, seeing as how we had all been working so hard all week, why would that be unusual? Plus, the weather had turned a little cold. It wasn't, until we got to the chapel. I was exhausted, my throat was raw, and I could hardly talk. I was determined to make it just exhaustion. We were early and they let us watch the rehearsal before us. The rest of our party arrived, and we met with the coordinator before the actual rehearsal. We handed over the marriage license paperwork and at that point, it seemed awfully official! Our coordinator that day was a riot, directing us all where to stand and what to do during the ceremony. So many people were there, though, that to me the whole thing felt real. Even if I could only squawk.
By the time we got to the restaurant I was getting depressed. Everyone was there. Everyone was excited. Everyone was having a good time. I had been waiting for the rehearsal for so long, and now I could only smile and nod at people. The dinner was wonderful, Andy's dad gave a very sweet toast, and I think everyone really liked the gifts we had picked out for them. It would have been so much more fun if I wasn't about to fall out of the chair! We called it a somewhat-early night, Andy and I exchanged wedding gifts, and I took a hot bath to try and feel better.
Friday rolled around and there was very little left in the way of wedding-related tasks, much less last minute emergencies. In fact, I'd planned most of the day to relax! I started out with brunch at Le Creperie with two of my lovely bridesmaids, and dragged them to Rite Aid. In all the preparation, I realized I was out of razors! These are the kinds of things you forget when there's so much going on! We met my mom, grandma, and aunt at a little nail salon. Afterward, we picked up my dress from the store, clean and pressed and ready for the next day. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at Albertson's to order some lunch for the wedding day, and checked me in to the hotel. It didn't really feel like I was getting married the next day, even though there was no more work to do! We checked me in to the room next door to my parents, and carefully hung my dress over the second double bed in the room.
My last single dinner was with my parents at Polly's. No wild partying, no strippers, no alcohol. Just the three of us together. It was lovely, and calm, and even though I was feeling better I didn't want to jinx it. That night I painted my toenails.
The whole reason I bother is just to remember the outpouring of love and excitement the week before the wedding. Not all weddings have contentious familial drama. Not all weddings have last minute emergencies. Not all brides are bridezillas (although regarding the menus, our families might disagree). The wedding day itself truly was the happiest day of my life, but the celebration started an entire week before the "I will."
My parents arrived Friday night, exhausted but excited, and so were able to help me on Saturday to finalize the flowers. We also made another stop of many at Kinko's, where Andy and I tried to figure out how to print the menus and the little cards that were attached to the champagne glasses. Despite all my test prints, whenever we actually got them to Kinko's, they were off. So at that point, all we could do was print the menus (which was actually a simple printing job), and fiddle with the files more. Since Andy's parents arrived that night, he went to see them, and the Schultz family had an evening together.
Little did I know that after Sunday most everything would be finished. I'll admit, the month or so before the wedding I was pretty burned out. We'd been engaged so long, and I'd been planning so long, that it could have gone off without all of the extras I'd planned to do the week before. I'm so humbled that everyone wanted to make everything match up with my crazy imagination perfectly - my motto for the week was, "if it doesn't happen, no one will know!"
Andy and I ran some errands in the morning (very important, time together before the wedding), and our families were ready to get to work! With only six days before the wedding, you would think I would have been nervous about all the things to do. But, I really wasn't. In fact, it all seemed really do-able. Especially since everyone was ready to work! Andy's mom generously brought her circular cutter to cut out the menus, and I had this circular paper punch that, in my mind, would really dress up some plain cardstock circles. It lasted about ... five minutes. Six punches and hours later, we finally had enough menus! I was really afraid everyone would hate me after that; the whole time I said we should just reprint the menus and cut them out with straight cuts. But once they were finished, we got started on the escort and photo sharing cards! Those were a short job, so it was on to measuring out M&Ms and printing and assembling programs. It was an eight-hour work day in the wedding sweatshop.
Monday was a work day, so no wedding work got done. Instead, we went to Lucille's for my uncle's birthday! It made me really miss having family close by for celebrations. It was an early night, which was a good thing, as it gave us a chance to pick up some supplies for the rehearsal dinner afterward.
Tuesday was the last work day before the wedding, and also my last day of work in that particular position. We had dinner with Andy's parents, and made a strategy for finishing up the last of the details. I still hadn't bothered to get a garter, despite having a garter toss in the schedule! We finalized the reception timeline with our DJ, and spent the rest of the night pulling together our gifts for the rehearsal dinner.
Originally, I thought all of the menus, programs, and favors could go together Wednesday. But since we agreed to drop it all off at the florist Thursday, I'm really glad everyone got me going early! My mom and I sat at the kitchen table and tied together all of the favors before Andy's parents arrived with some sealing wax and a blue garter. When I'd originally conjured up adding a monogram to the menus, I didn't think sealing wax could cost that much. But when I went to buy it, it seemed outrageous! 10-15 seals per box, at $6 a box ... is too much money. It ended up I read it wrong, and after my mom and Andy's dad stamped all of the menus, they barely used a whole box!
Since the work was done so early thanks to so many generous helping hands, we opened some wedding gifts, I made a picture for the signing frame, and trekked over to Islands for dinner. Not the best dining experience, but sure nice to have everyone together!
Thursday was the rehearsal, and getting really really close to the big day. First, my family got together to try on and pick up tuxes. We then took everyone's hard work - menus, favors, the guestbook frame - all to the florist. I wasn't really comfortable leaving it all there, even with my detailed instructions, since we left it with someone I didn't recognize. But, I had detailed instructions, and the one lesson we learned from the wedding is that our florist is amazing.
When I woke up that day, I felt a little tired. But, seeing as how we had all been working so hard all week, why would that be unusual? Plus, the weather had turned a little cold. It wasn't, until we got to the chapel. I was exhausted, my throat was raw, and I could hardly talk. I was determined to make it just exhaustion. We were early and they let us watch the rehearsal before us. The rest of our party arrived, and we met with the coordinator before the actual rehearsal. We handed over the marriage license paperwork and at that point, it seemed awfully official! Our coordinator that day was a riot, directing us all where to stand and what to do during the ceremony. So many people were there, though, that to me the whole thing felt real. Even if I could only squawk.
By the time we got to the restaurant I was getting depressed. Everyone was there. Everyone was excited. Everyone was having a good time. I had been waiting for the rehearsal for so long, and now I could only smile and nod at people. The dinner was wonderful, Andy's dad gave a very sweet toast, and I think everyone really liked the gifts we had picked out for them. It would have been so much more fun if I wasn't about to fall out of the chair! We called it a somewhat-early night, Andy and I exchanged wedding gifts, and I took a hot bath to try and feel better.
Friday rolled around and there was very little left in the way of wedding-related tasks, much less last minute emergencies. In fact, I'd planned most of the day to relax! I started out with brunch at Le Creperie with two of my lovely bridesmaids, and dragged them to Rite Aid. In all the preparation, I realized I was out of razors! These are the kinds of things you forget when there's so much going on! We met my mom, grandma, and aunt at a little nail salon. Afterward, we picked up my dress from the store, clean and pressed and ready for the next day. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at Albertson's to order some lunch for the wedding day, and checked me in to the hotel. It didn't really feel like I was getting married the next day, even though there was no more work to do! We checked me in to the room next door to my parents, and carefully hung my dress over the second double bed in the room.
My last single dinner was with my parents at Polly's. No wild partying, no strippers, no alcohol. Just the three of us together. It was lovely, and calm, and even though I was feeling better I didn't want to jinx it. That night I painted my toenails.
The whole reason I bother is just to remember the outpouring of love and excitement the week before the wedding. Not all weddings have contentious familial drama. Not all weddings have last minute emergencies. Not all brides are bridezillas (although regarding the menus, our families might disagree). The wedding day itself truly was the happiest day of my life, but the celebration started an entire week before the "I will."
posted by Emma at
9:19 PM
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