Wedding planning has gone from 0 to a 100 in these last two months leading up to our big day! The countdown has begun on our calendars, checks are being written to our various vendors, crafting parties have been had to get my girl friends to help with all the DIY deco, site visits have been beefed up, RSVP have begun pouring in, wedding bands have been bought, first dress fitting has been had, our pastor who will marry us has been selected, our marriage license obtained and so much more. Here are some anecdotes from the past few weeks, some endearing, some funny:
Free marriage advice with your marriage license: Scott and I headed downtown to the courthouse to obtain our marriage license. It was required that both the bride and the groom go in person. We walked up to the suite and filled up our paperwork and sat down for the long wait. We took a look around and amused ourselves discussing the diverse variety of couples around us. Among them we saw some interested characters dressed in fatigues and a very tough looking woman by herself and we wondered where their partners were...I guess there is a soul mate out there for everyone we joked...only to find out that the suite we were in was for both marriage licenses and weapons carry licenses!! It was quite apparent who was there for what type of license after we learned that. When we joked with the lady handing us our wedding license about the odd pairing, with a dead pan face she exclaimed 'it was better than putting the weapons carry licenses side-by-side with the divorce court two floors below us! That cracked us up! A man there for his weapons carry license proceeded to congratulate us and then shell out marriage advice based on his 30 year marriage track record. Perfect end to the perfect day...for the cost of a marriage license you get marriage advice as a package deal!
Unwelcome guests: So I've been laid up in bed for 4 days now after being visited by the dreaded stomach flu that I would not wish on my worst enemy (not that I have any)...and it so graciously brought some well know friends with it....high fever, horrible cold, body aches, headaches and stomach cramps. They overstayed their visit and left me drained, weak and 3 pounds lighter. I had my first bridal gown fitting and I've lost 3 pounds in 2 days which I'm sure to gain back as soon as I can get off my Gatorade and toast diet. Oh what's a bride to do...the woes of a bride to be!
But my first gown fitting ended up being so much fun, I was weak and sick and had my fabulous friends show up for me. Neha drove me to the fitting which I was so grateful for, I could not trust myself behind the wheel that day. Annette, Amber and baby Josh showed up at the fitting and they all oohed and ahhhed at my gown even though I looked so sick, true friends! Annette brought a whole bag of goodies and made me feel so special with the mimosas, pastries and yummy treats we toasted and made the entire affair a total soiree! Thanks for all the love gals...I'm totally feeling it!
Losing a worker bee to the NFL: Scott has been such a trooper during this planning period, helping out with any task I give him. No task too tough to tackle, he seeks out items for me while he goes picking, he fixes things up, he paints things, hammers items, he gets half the tasks done like the scoping out the DJ, pastor, does site visits with me and has input on all pieces that goes into our wedding. It's not just the brides day after all...this is our wedding. Now as Scott's excitement mounts with the pre-season of the NFL here that signals the inevitable start of the NFL...my heart sinks knowing that I'm soon going to be short one wedding planner, one worker bee. Sigh! oh well...we are on the home stretch and hopefully most of our work is done and we can relax and enjoy the ride from here soon...Scott from the couch with a beer in his hand watching the NFL and me from my DIY workshop in our garage...
My deep knowledge on wedding ceremonies: Scott found a great pastor after talking to a few and narrowing it down to someone he thought I would like. We wanted someone who was young, spirited, personable and took the time to get to know us as a couple. Scott did good and got me on the phone with the pastor he had narrowed it down to. I had a bunch of questions for him and it started off well till my questions turned to and when will you say (in a dramatic voice) "...and Scott will you take Angali to be your lawfully wedded wife" and when will you say "I now pronounce you husband and wife" and I rattled on till I noticed a silence from both Scott and our pastor and so I had to confess "Sorry, everything I know is from the movies, I'm a Hindu" and Scott and our Pastor cracked up! So glad this journey is so entertaining for everyone.....
MIA RSVP card: Our RSVP's started pouring in a week before our deadline, Aug 20...early deadline for an October 13 date? Yes, but that's the planner in me who wants everything buttoned up early so I can kick back with our family and friends closer to our wedding. It was exciting to check the mail everyday and get more RSVP cards that we would rip open with eager anticipation of who's attending our big day.
One Friday night Scott and I were driving to the movies for a late show and as we parked the car I found some mail on the back of the car on the trunk...some junk mail and 1 RSVP card! Scott looked at me in panic exclaiming that he had left it at the back of the car while playing ball with Coley in the yard. He distinctively remembers us receiving 3 RSVP cards in the mail that day. So we had basically lost 2 RSVP cards somewhere between home and the movies!! Scott took one look at me and knew I was panicked and asked if we should ditch the movie and drive back to look for the missing RSVP cards. Now, I've become a bit of a perfectionist and I've been desperately trying not to sweat the small stuff. This was the perfect opportunity not to, so I insisted we not ruin our date night and go ahead and watch our movie. Of course right after our movie was over at midnight I was barking orders at poor Scott, "Drive, high beams on...slow down!" and I've got my head out the window scanning the road for our RSVP cards. We got home and walked our neighborhood with flashlights at midnight still looking for them and telling each other these are the stories we'd tell our grandchildren one day and voila! we find one! That's half the problem solved.....there is still one out there so the mystery of the missing RSVP card continues...so if you...Mr & Mrs. wedding guest have sent it in and still get a call from us asking if you've replied, please forgive us as it may be your RSVP that is lying in the grass off a road somewhere in Roswell!
Bridal craziness: Here are some things you'd only do as a bride:
Free marriage advice with your marriage license: Scott and I headed downtown to the courthouse to obtain our marriage license. It was required that both the bride and the groom go in person. We walked up to the suite and filled up our paperwork and sat down for the long wait. We took a look around and amused ourselves discussing the diverse variety of couples around us. Among them we saw some interested characters dressed in fatigues and a very tough looking woman by herself and we wondered where their partners were...I guess there is a soul mate out there for everyone we joked...only to find out that the suite we were in was for both marriage licenses and weapons carry licenses!! It was quite apparent who was there for what type of license after we learned that. When we joked with the lady handing us our wedding license about the odd pairing, with a dead pan face she exclaimed 'it was better than putting the weapons carry licenses side-by-side with the divorce court two floors below us! That cracked us up! A man there for his weapons carry license proceeded to congratulate us and then shell out marriage advice based on his 30 year marriage track record. Perfect end to the perfect day...for the cost of a marriage license you get marriage advice as a package deal!
Unwelcome guests: So I've been laid up in bed for 4 days now after being visited by the dreaded stomach flu that I would not wish on my worst enemy (not that I have any)...and it so graciously brought some well know friends with it....high fever, horrible cold, body aches, headaches and stomach cramps. They overstayed their visit and left me drained, weak and 3 pounds lighter. I had my first bridal gown fitting and I've lost 3 pounds in 2 days which I'm sure to gain back as soon as I can get off my Gatorade and toast diet. Oh what's a bride to do...the woes of a bride to be!
But my first gown fitting ended up being so much fun, I was weak and sick and had my fabulous friends show up for me. Neha drove me to the fitting which I was so grateful for, I could not trust myself behind the wheel that day. Annette, Amber and baby Josh showed up at the fitting and they all oohed and ahhhed at my gown even though I looked so sick, true friends! Annette brought a whole bag of goodies and made me feel so special with the mimosas, pastries and yummy treats we toasted and made the entire affair a total soiree! Thanks for all the love gals...I'm totally feeling it!
Losing a worker bee to the NFL: Scott has been such a trooper during this planning period, helping out with any task I give him. No task too tough to tackle, he seeks out items for me while he goes picking, he fixes things up, he paints things, hammers items, he gets half the tasks done like the scoping out the DJ, pastor, does site visits with me and has input on all pieces that goes into our wedding. It's not just the brides day after all...this is our wedding. Now as Scott's excitement mounts with the pre-season of the NFL here that signals the inevitable start of the NFL...my heart sinks knowing that I'm soon going to be short one wedding planner, one worker bee. Sigh! oh well...we are on the home stretch and hopefully most of our work is done and we can relax and enjoy the ride from here soon...Scott from the couch with a beer in his hand watching the NFL and me from my DIY workshop in our garage...
My deep knowledge on wedding ceremonies: Scott found a great pastor after talking to a few and narrowing it down to someone he thought I would like. We wanted someone who was young, spirited, personable and took the time to get to know us as a couple. Scott did good and got me on the phone with the pastor he had narrowed it down to. I had a bunch of questions for him and it started off well till my questions turned to and when will you say (in a dramatic voice) "...and Scott will you take Angali to be your lawfully wedded wife" and when will you say "I now pronounce you husband and wife" and I rattled on till I noticed a silence from both Scott and our pastor and so I had to confess "Sorry, everything I know is from the movies, I'm a Hindu" and Scott and our Pastor cracked up! So glad this journey is so entertaining for everyone.....
MIA RSVP card: Our RSVP's started pouring in a week before our deadline, Aug 20...early deadline for an October 13 date? Yes, but that's the planner in me who wants everything buttoned up early so I can kick back with our family and friends closer to our wedding. It was exciting to check the mail everyday and get more RSVP cards that we would rip open with eager anticipation of who's attending our big day.
One Friday night Scott and I were driving to the movies for a late show and as we parked the car I found some mail on the back of the car on the trunk...some junk mail and 1 RSVP card! Scott looked at me in panic exclaiming that he had left it at the back of the car while playing ball with Coley in the yard. He distinctively remembers us receiving 3 RSVP cards in the mail that day. So we had basically lost 2 RSVP cards somewhere between home and the movies!! Scott took one look at me and knew I was panicked and asked if we should ditch the movie and drive back to look for the missing RSVP cards. Now, I've become a bit of a perfectionist and I've been desperately trying not to sweat the small stuff. This was the perfect opportunity not to, so I insisted we not ruin our date night and go ahead and watch our movie. Of course right after our movie was over at midnight I was barking orders at poor Scott, "Drive, high beams on...slow down!" and I've got my head out the window scanning the road for our RSVP cards. We got home and walked our neighborhood with flashlights at midnight still looking for them and telling each other these are the stories we'd tell our grandchildren one day and voila! we find one! That's half the problem solved.....there is still one out there so the mystery of the missing RSVP card continues...so if you...Mr & Mrs. wedding guest have sent it in and still get a call from us asking if you've replied, please forgive us as it may be your RSVP that is lying in the grass off a road somewhere in Roswell!
Bridal craziness: Here are some things you'd only do as a bride:
- Walk around the house in thick socks with your bridal heels to loosen them up...doing it in my undergarments added to the drama, poor Coley thought his mama was finally losing it!
- Figure out the words for a bridal veil lengths, cathedral vs. chapel. I think I mistakenly asked for the 'chandelier' veil to some blank looks around me, I crack myself up!
- Scott's packing for his bachelor party in Tampa FL entailed tees, shorts, sunscreen, cap, glasses...done! Same outfits to be used for deep sea fishing, golfing, beach time and party time on the beach. My bachelorette party packing had all the glitz and glam needed for Vegas, silver heels, gold heels, black heels...I mean come on, I need them all for different outfits. Accessories to go with each outfit, different clutches for each outfit. Bikini for the pool, fedora, sun glasses...the list goes on!
- Buying our wedding rings was so much fun. After we chose ours I got to secretly write my inscription for Scott on his wedding band that he only gets to see on our wedding day. Three little words that sums up the depths and layers of how I feel about our relationship in such a simple clean manner...and it's not 'I love you' which is obvious I do. I can't wait for him to see it :) the day I slip it onto his ring finger and make him my husband!
- My lovely florist/ day-of-planner who I love gave me some advice for the bachelorette party in Vegas: do have the pineapple upside-down cake martini, don't wear an extra short dress that hikes up when you are drunk and you are exposed to the world LOL, only play the slot machines by the entrance as you'll win since the casino wants everyone to see people winning when they walk in, go see a show buying the half-off tickets the day of. She is the cutest sweetest thing ever but never expected to get Vegas advice from her....unexpected and endearing!
