The Wedding March

11/20/09

Fete Accompli

And so it is done.

The wedding day went off as planned. It was a happy day followed by a sublime honeymoon in Aruba. As predicted by everyone and my mother, the day flew by in the blink of an eye. It’s a good thing we have pictures, even the ones taken by my four-year-old nephew after he hijacked the reception table cameras. The kid has a future as a paparazzo.

Everyone also says brides feel a sense of loss after the wedding and honeymoon are over. I don’t know about that. Will it really ever be over?

The thank you cards have been sent and gifts put away, but now we are faced with a million digital photos to go through for the wedding album and mothers clamoring for prints....

Posted at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

10/12/09

Throw Me in the Volcano

Everything is pretty much in order for the big day, except for one thing. Me. It’s time to focus on me.

I’m not used to spending a lot of time on how I look, particularly since I started working from home. Nowadays, my ritual for getting ready to go out in public involves brushing my hair and changing from sweat pants into jeans. Needless to say, I’ve had to step up my game a little.

It has taken a village to help pull myself together. There was the hairstyle dry run to make sure my hair says “party” and not “porn star.” The makeup makeover so I can be glowing, not garish. More attention to my nails than I’ve given them in years. And to top it all off, I...

Posted at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments: 1

09/16/09

Leading Me Down the Garden Path

It’s not every day that I come home to find 30 people lying in wait for me. But it’s not every day that I have a bridal shower.

A tornado of family and friends rearranged my furniture, commandeered my kitchen, and transformed my dining room into a tea party garden. Type A that I am, my first thought could have been that my house was in no way clean enough to have one friend over, much less everyone I knew. (Dust bunnies and clutter and friends! Oh God!)

But to be honest, I was too delighted to care...

Posted at 02:04 PM | Permalink | Comments: 4

08/13/09

Honing Your Craft

When we left the frazzled bride-to-be, she was looking for a corkscrew and a quiet place to bang her head against the wall. But with all the major bases now covered, the wedding planning has slowed down a bit. Now it’s time to go looking for trouble—I want to get creative and make something. Yes, I have a glue gun and I know how to use it.

I like doing crafts and I would be disappointed if I didn’t create something for my wedding. It’s a way to make the day more personal and special—and get exactly what you want. A do-it-yourself project can also save money. It can be a very satisfying experience all around, actually.

In the past, I was always the nutty bridesmaid who...

Posted at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments: 2

07/20/09

Please Don’t Irk the Bride

So I called Glenn at work to discuss a few wedding arrangements. He told me again how much he appreciated all that I was doing to make the wedding special. Very sweet of him. Also very wise of him.

I have reached the “It’s been lovely but I have to scream now” point in the wedding planning. Irking me at this time would be in no one’s best interest.

Is it too early in the day for a glass of wine to go with my whine? Here are a few of my top converging concerns:

The honeymoon After talking about and researching a Caribbean honeymoon since the dawn of our engagement, Glenn suddenly introduces the word “Poconos” into the discussion. Worst....

Posted at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments: 4

07/01/09

Be Our Guest

Finalizing the social Rubik’s Cube known as our guest list is underway. Glenn and I are shooting for about 85 attendees, a relatively small number. Fortunately, we each have small immediate families. And yet, the negotiating and logistics involved make me feel like I’m planning a presidential inauguration.

If it’s been fairly smooth sailing up until now, brace yourself. Here there be drama. No one really cares about the flowers except you—people care about who’s invited, who they’re sitting with, and who they get to bring.

Having spent months on color swatches, dress lengths and buttercream, I was ready to apply some cold, hard reasoning to the situation. Among other things, I write about litigation. It occurred to me that I...

Posted at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments: 4

06/05/09

And the Nightmares Begin

It’s official: I had my first wedding nightmare the other night. For years, I have had nightmares about being late, getting lost, and searching in vain for my car in a vast parking garage. That’s just what us Plan B-having, Type A kind of gals stress about.

The wedding planning has now invaded my sleep. I just met with a florist, so it makes sense that the nightmare started with the flowers being delivered to the ceremony-reception site. I wasn’t happy with the flowers for some reason. I then spent much of the nightmare frantically trying to remember the name of the florist so I could look up the phone number and call them back.

The only help I had was two surly teenage staff members. Where was everybody, anyway? I finally gave up on the...

Posted at 01:40 PM | Permalink | Comments: 7

05/19/09

Plan Bs Are Not Just for Type As

A wildfire earlier this month threatened a California town that is apparently a West Coast wedding mecca, according to the Associated Press. The headline? “Brides-to-be fret over wildfire in Santa Barbara.”

Fret? I think those women were doing a little more than fretting. The possibility of the reception hall burning to the ground warrants a much stronger verb, in my opinion. How about “freak?”

Let’s hope those poor Santa Barbara brides had a Plan B. All brides should have a Plan B.

No one wants to think about it, but stuff happens. Brides want to believe with all their heart that it won’t rain on their wedding day. “It won’t happen on my day,” we vow, pray, and plead to whoever might be...

Posted at 09:15 AM | Permalink | Comments: 3

05/06/09

Let Us Pray

So far, some of the wedding planning has been fun and some has been a chore. But only one task has made me kind of sad.

I had no idea who was going to conduct the ceremony.

Sure, a justice of the peace would be easy enough to find. But I really wanted a clergy person to perform the ceremony. I felt something important would be missing from the day otherwise. My fiancé felt the same way, though to a lesser extent. We didn’t want to start off our marriage with a regret.

Neither of us currently belongs to a church, although religion was part of both of our upbringings once upon a time. So that’s where the sad part comes in. We didn’t know any clergy. No kindly priest who has known us from...

Posted at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments: 1

04/10/09

Trying Times

So, I just found my wedding dress. After trying on about 60 dresses, I was beginning to worry. I had less trouble finding my fiancé.

For months, I cast aside gown after gown. Too glam, too pouffy, too Disney, too…complicated. I just couldn’t find the one that was me. But the only route to the right dress is to just keep trying them on. Here are a few things I learned along the way that can help reduce dress stress:

Bring the right people. Every bride-to-be needs some combination of family and friends around her to share this special and nerve-wracking time. You need someone who generously spouts adjectives like “stunning,” “gorgeous,” “amazing,” and “skinny.” She will...

Posted at 09:39 AM | Permalink | Comments: 3

	11/20/09 Fete Accompli And so it is done. The wedding day went off as planned. It was a happy day followed by a sublime honeymoon in Aruba. As predicted by everyone and my mother, the day flew by in the blink of an eye. It’s a good thing we have pictures, even the ones taken by my four-year-old nephew after he hijacked the reception table cameras. The kid has a future as a paparazzo. Everyone also says brides feel a sense of loss after the wedding and honeymoon are over. I don’t know about that. Will it really ever be over? The thank you cards have been sent and gifts put away, but now we are faced with a million digital photos to go through for the wedding album and mothers clamoring for prints.... Posted at 12:57 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 0
	10/12/09 Throw Me in the Volcano Everything is pretty much in order for the big day, except for one thing. Me. It’s time to focus on me. I’m not used to spending a lot of time on how I look, particularly since I started working from home. Nowadays, my ritual for getting ready to go out in public involves brushing my hair and changing from sweat pants into jeans. Needless to say, I’ve had to step up my game a little. It has taken a village to help pull myself together. There was the hairstyle dry run to make sure my hair says “party” and not “porn star.” The makeup makeover so I can be glowing, not garish. More attention to my nails than I’ve given them in years. And to top it all off, I... Posted at 10:59 AM \| Permalink \| Comments: 1
	09/16/09 Leading Me Down the Garden Path It’s not every day that I come home to find 30 people lying in wait for me. But it’s not every day that I have a bridal shower. A tornado of family and friends rearranged my furniture, commandeered my kitchen, and transformed my dining room into a tea party garden. Type A that I am, my first thought could have been that my house was in no way clean enough to have one friend over, much less everyone I knew. (Dust bunnies and clutter and friends! Oh God!) But to be honest, I was too delighted to care... Posted at 02:04 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 4
	08/13/09 Honing Your Craft When we left the frazzled bride-to-be, she was looking for a corkscrew and a quiet place to bang her head against the wall. But with all the major bases now covered, the wedding planning has slowed down a bit. Now it’s time to go looking for trouble—I want to get creative and make something. Yes, I have a glue gun and I know how to use it. I like doing crafts and I would be disappointed if I didn’t create something for my wedding. It’s a way to make the day more personal and special—and get exactly what you want. A do-it-yourself project can also save money. It can be a very satisfying experience all around, actually. In the past, I was always the nutty bridesmaid who... Posted at 10:31 AM \| Permalink \| Comments: 2
	07/20/09 Please Don’t Irk the Bride So I called Glenn at work to discuss a few wedding arrangements. He told me again how much he appreciated all that I was doing to make the wedding special. Very sweet of him. Also very wise of him. I have reached the “It’s been lovely but I have to scream now” point in the wedding planning. Irking me at this time would be in no one’s best interest. Is it too early in the day for a glass of wine to go with my whine? Here are a few of my top converging concerns: The honeymoon After talking about and researching a Caribbean honeymoon since the dawn of our engagement, Glenn suddenly introduces the word “Poconos” into the discussion. Worst.... Posted at 10:35 AM \| Permalink \| Comments: 4
	07/01/09 Be Our Guest Finalizing the social Rubik’s Cube known as our guest list is underway. Glenn and I are shooting for about 85 attendees, a relatively small number. Fortunately, we each have small immediate families. And yet, the negotiating and logistics involved make me feel like I’m planning a presidential inauguration. If it’s been fairly smooth sailing up until now, brace yourself. Here there be drama. No one really cares about the flowers except you—people care about who’s invited, who they’re sitting with, and who they get to bring. Having spent months on color swatches, dress lengths and buttercream, I was ready to apply some cold, hard reasoning to the situation. Among other things, I write about litigation. It occurred to me that I... Posted at 12:58 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 4
	06/05/09 And the Nightmares Begin It’s official: I had my first wedding nightmare the other night. For years, I have had nightmares about being late, getting lost, and searching in vain for my car in a vast parking garage. That’s just what us Plan B-having, Type A kind of gals stress about. The wedding planning has now invaded my sleep. I just met with a florist, so it makes sense that the nightmare started with the flowers being delivered to the ceremony-reception site. I wasn’t happy with the flowers for some reason. I then spent much of the nightmare frantically trying to remember the name of the florist so I could look up the phone number and call them back. The only help I had was two surly teenage staff members. Where was everybody, anyway? I finally gave up on the... Posted at 01:40 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 7
	05/19/09 Plan Bs Are Not Just for Type As A wildfire earlier this month threatened a California town that is apparently a West Coast wedding mecca, according to the Associated Press. The headline? “Brides-to-be fret over wildfire in Santa Barbara.” Fret? I think those women were doing a little more than fretting. The possibility of the reception hall burning to the ground warrants a much stronger verb, in my opinion. How about “freak?” Let’s hope those poor Santa Barbara brides had a Plan B. All brides should have a Plan B. No one wants to think about it, but stuff happens. Brides want to believe with all their heart that it won’t rain on their wedding day. “It won’t happen on my day,” we vow, pray, and plead to whoever might be... Posted at 09:15 AM \| Permalink \| Comments: 3
	05/06/09 Let Us Pray So far, some of the wedding planning has been fun and some has been a chore. But only one task has made me kind of sad. I had no idea who was going to conduct the ceremony. Sure, a justice of the peace would be easy enough to find. But I really wanted a clergy person to perform the ceremony. I felt something important would be missing from the day otherwise. My fiancé felt the same way, though to a lesser extent. We didn’t want to start off our marriage with a regret. Neither of us currently belongs to a church, although religion was part of both of our upbringings once upon a time. So that’s where the sad part comes in. We didn’t know any clergy. No kindly priest who has known us from... Posted at 12:58 PM \| Permalink \| Comments: 1
	04/10/09 Trying Times So, I just found my wedding dress. After trying on about 60 dresses, I was beginning to worry. I had less trouble finding my fiancé. For months, I cast aside gown after gown. Too glam, too pouffy, too Disney, too…complicated. I just couldn’t find the one that was me. But the only route to the right dress is to just keep trying them on. Here are a few things I learned along the way that can help reduce dress stress: Bring the right people. Every bride-to-be needs some combination of family and friends around her to share this special and nerve-wracking time. You need someone who generously spouts adjectives like “stunning,” “gorgeous,” “amazing,” and “skinny.” She will... Posted at 09:39 AM \| Permalink \| Comments: 3

Follow the bride-to-be as she plans her upcoming celebration

11/20/09

10/12/09

09/16/09

08/13/09

07/20/09

07/01/09

06/05/09

05/19/09

05/06/09

04/10/09

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