Prepping and Pampering

Tonight, I had another dress fitting. She wanted to check the hem again before she made any permanent changes to the dress (i.e. cutting!) and she also wanted to figure out the bustle. The first time I went, she said the dress really needed to be pressed to see the true length of it. So today, she made a few adjustments for the hem, and then showed me a couple of potential bustles. We're going with a three-point underbustle; I think it'll look nice. I go back on June 7 for my final fitting. Whoa!

Also tonight, Michael and I sat down and went over a little bit of music for the reception. We got a start, I guess, but it feels like we didn't really make any progress. Our DJ has an online planning system, so we were able to electronically go through his music and select songs for "priority," "additional," and "do not play." We also decided that we don't want to play boring jazz or classical music during cocktail hour and dinner, but instead just want to play songs that we like that just might not be ideal for dancing. So we wrote down a few ideas for that, too. We have a meeting with the DJ on Friday and the big things we need to figure out are all of the "special selections"--bridal party intro, our intro, first dance, father/daughter, mother/son, cake cutting, bouquet toss, and garter toss. The only one we have figured out for all of that? The first dance.

We're screwed.

Tomorrow we meet with the priest performing the ceremony to go over the nitty gritty details with him. Fortunately, the ceremony is one thing that I think we actually do have figured out already. Readings and songs have been selected, thank god. Well, there is one thing outstanding... we still need to ask our readers. Whoops. We should probably get on that, given that the wedding is 4.5 weeks away.

The other thing I have accomplished this week is to set up pre-wedding pampering! I made an appointment to have all of my bridesmaids, my mom, Michael's mom, and two out-of-town close friends (one of my mom's, one of Michael's mom's) to meet at a nail salon and all have manicure/pedicures. We found a salon that could accommodate all of us at once, their prices are reasonable ($35 total for both mani and pedi!), and they said they would pretty much shut the place down for us. They're still obligated to take any walk-ins that may come, but they're not going to schedule any other appointments during the time period we'll be there. Since this is all starting at 11:00 a.m. the day before the wedding, and we'll likely be there until around 2:00 p.m., I'm going to have lunch brought in for everybody (my treat). I guess this is sort of my version of "bridesmaids luncheon." It should be really fun, I'm excited for it.

32 days! That's all for now.

Booked solid.

At least it feels like we are.

I've started to realize that all of the things I've procrastinated on? All those things I said could wait until closer to the wedding? Well, I can't use that excuse anymore. We are close to the wedding.

We have so many upcoming appointments. Our schedules are already busy as it is. Monday and Thursday nights, I have aerobics classes. Tuesday nights, Michael has karate. So usually, during the week, the only nights we have available to run errands or meet with wedding vendors are Wednesdays and Fridays. I can do some things on my own on Tuesdays, but other than that...

Tonight, we went and met with another organist. The first one we met with was not affiliated with the church we're getting married at. He's in Michael's karate class and we thought he would cut us a deal since they know each other. Not so much. It turned out he was more expensive than the guy recommended to us by the coordinator at the church. So I called him and booked him instead. I talked to him today and we were looking at schedules and trying to figure out when we could meet to hear some of the music on the organ in the church and finalize our selections. Things weren't looking good for having it done by the end of May--so he said, "What about tonight?" And there went our relaxing, "nothing-going-on" night.

Next Wednesday, we have to meet with the priest at the church to go over the results of our FOCCUS evaluation that we took a few weeks ago. That will be the last hurdle we have to jump over before we can officially be declared OK to get married in the Catholic church. On May 17, I have my hair trial. On May 20, I have a dress fitting. On May 21, we're meeting with our priest--the one who will perform the ceremony--to go over the details of the wedding and finalize everything with him. I'm also trying to see if I can squeeze in a makeup trial on the same day as my hair trial, but we'll see how that works out.

And there are other meetings to schedule for the beginning of June--DJ, photographers, reception venue walk-through, baker, etc. It's seemingly never-ending. But you know what? Being this busy will certainly make the time fly between now and the wedding. I just hope I don't go crazy.

It's a good thing we have wine. Lots and LOTS of wine, in fact.

You see, my boss gave us our wedding gift early. She came into my office last week and asked if it was OK to bring it into the office some day to give to us. She's the kind of person that gets everything done early (she finishes her Christmas shopping in September/October), so it didn't surprise me that she had purchased a gift already. And I guess she just wanted to get it out of her house. We don't mind; we get to reap the benefits of it early.

And what is it? Our wine fridge.

Hell yeah! So now, including our eight bottle wine rack, we could have as many as 14 bottles of wine on hand at all times. Love it.

I brought the wine fridge home last night. Today, during my lunch break, I took a ride to the liquor store and bought six bottles of wine to stock it up. I mean, come on... if you're going to get a wine fridge, you have to fill it! (And of course, Tess is helping... like always.)

Completely unrelated to the rest of this post, but--seriously--how cute is my dog?? This pic is from Saturday night. She was exhausted and I guess she thought the remote control made an excellent pillow. Honestly, I think she was delirious.

No matter how stressed I get, she never fails to make me smile.

The sound of music

Last night, we went and met with a pianist/organist who is a possibility for our ceremony. Our church gave us a list of musicians we can use, so we could always go with one of them. However, the guy we met with is in Michael's martial arts class, so we figured we would meet with him and go from there.

The meeting was pretty uneventful. He played us some of the music choices for the different processionals (mothers, bridesmaids, bride), and recessional, plus some prelude music, unity candle, etc. We didn't make any final choices. Oh, except for the choice for which there was no consideration... "Canon in D." I have always wanted to walk down the aisle to "Canon in D." Overdone? Perhaps. But I don't care. There's something about the song that just makes me feel so... bridal.

I told the pianist and I wanted to use "Canon in D" so of course he began playing it.

A few weeks ago, someone asked me whether I thought I would cry coming down the aisle, or during the vows, or at any time on the wedding day. I said, honestly, that I wasn't sure--it could go either way. I thought perhaps I would be so nervous/excited that I wouldn't cry. Or I could be a complete mess.

Well, if last night's meeting with the musician was any indication--I'll be a complete mess.

We were sitting behind him while he was playing, and as soon as he started with the "Canon in D," I got all teary-eyed. I looked at Michael, who I think was surprised by my sudden emotional reaction, and with a cracking voice, I said, "this makes me cry!"

Oh, those photos are going to be lovely. Can you imagine "the ugly cry"? Picture it in your head.

That's me.

Conversation with our priest

I work at a Catholic college, and Michael and I attend Sunday mass there. We absolutely love the priest. He's very traditional in his some of his views, yet liberal in other ways. In his homilies, he often brings in real-world examples of things and makes it entertaining. For instance, he's taken stories from the Bible and compared them to Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, or experiences he had while working with prisoners at a state penetentiary. Our favorite homily was probably one in which he did an impression of Yoda.

Anyway, we decided early on in our planning process that we wanted Father Joe to officiate our wedding ceremony. However, the chapel at the college is too small, so we went and found a Catholic church that would allow us to bring in our own priest. I talked to Father Joe sometime back in the summer, and he agreed to marry us at the church. I gave him the info, and since then, I've e-mailed back and forth with him a few times to ask questions and make sure he knew all of the details. Father Joe can be sort of scatter-brained, so I recently told Michael that in the next few weeks, I really wanted to check in with him to make sure he still had the wedding on his calendar, and to see when we should meet to discuss the ceremony.

This morning, I was sitting at my desk and I guess Father Joe had a meeting with someone over here. He swung by my door and said, "Hey Heather, are you all ready to get married?"

Me: (relieved that he remembers) "Yes, it's coming up quickly!"

FJ: "Where is it again?"

Me: (laughing inside) "[Name of town]."

FJ: "Oh, yes. St. Bridget's?"

Me: "St. Patrick's."

FJ: "Right. I knew it was one of those."

Me: (still silently laughing)

FJ: "When is it? Sometime in June?"

Me: "June 21."

FJ: "OK, great. I'll make sure I'm here in town."

Me: "That would be good."

Gotta love it. I really hope he shows up on the wedding day. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed.