The Preparations: Wedding Tale 2

I knew the week before the wedding was going to be hectic; there was no way around it. But look at me. I don't have a job. My "baby" is in school half the day, and I was quite sure this was the kind of busy I would thrive on.

I was pretty much right.

The wedding madness REALLY started on Wednesday.  I went in for a hair practice, and this is what I decided on:

But the longer I looked at it, the less I liked it. I fussed with it for a couple of HOURS at home, and finally found a vision. I combed it out, got dressed, and picked Chloe up so we could go get my dress in Springfield. They had pressed it and it looked even more beautiful than I remembered (never mind the fact I saw another dress when I went in the store that I loved...they should NOT allow a bride in a bridal store a few days before her wedding!).

I made it home mid-evening, and talked my Mister into taking me to tan. Then I got my running and weights in late that night. I was a crazed monster!

The next day my BFF Jamie would arrive, and we had plenty to do! We prepared food, toured the area, got her checked in to her motel, and ran to Walmart for some last-minute items (read: nail polish, serving trays, and toasting glasses among other things).

We got the centerpieces done, though they didn't exactly go as planned. We anticipated filling little glass fish-bowl thingys with water, then floating a beautifully bloomed silk rose on top. Tie some ribbon around the lip and voila! Perfection.

Except....

Silk flowers don't float.

BUT. Fish-bowl thingys MAGNIFY, and we ended up with a really awesome look!

We went out to dinner, visited with the boys, then headed to bed quite proud of our progress.

Friday, however, was on its way and I had no idea what I was in for!

Early that morning we made a run to my former home town where I'd ordered a groom's cake for a wedding surprise.



I was pretty proud of my secret-keeping, and the fact that we got it back in one piece! While we did that, my groom picked up the wedding cake. We stopped and paid the deposit on the reception hall, then all headed to the church to decorate.

And that's where things got crazy! I'm not going to relive it, I simply can't. 

But I will tell you there was a blood-red curtain to cover.

And *someone* bought a fitted ivory sheet rather than a flat one....

And there were OPINIONS that contradicted the bride.

And whispering.

And boys who wanted nothing more than to escape the craziness.

Finally, though, I completed my vision, curtailed the opinions, and used the boys as place-holders. A job they took a LITTLE too seriously.

It seemed at that point we might just make it through the night, but I still had rehearsal to worry about, and decorating the hall. Suddenly this laid-back care-free "lets-just-elope" simple-minded bride became a groom's maid of honor's mother's mother in law's everyone's worst nightmare.