If the week leading up to the day could be described as a freight train of wedding fury barreling toward August 13th, then I'm writing to you now from the scene of the aftermath that resulted when the train crashed, full-force, into the wedding depot. I'm pleased to report that no one was maimed or hurt and in fact, something remarkable happened. Instead of fluffy white wedding carnage, love floated down around us, kissed our faces, muddied the famed wedding dress, and dared us to laugh. All aboard arrived unharmed (albeit somewhat dazed) and partied like it was the proverbial 1999.
That might be a lavish metaphor but it is the most accurate way for me to describe the experience.The week of the wedding I worked Monday and Tuesday and planned to take Wednesday to get my ducks in a row, Thursday to prepare the food that I was making with my Mom, and Friday to erect tents and arrange all the things at the house so that by the time that Friday night came we could go through a rehearsal, have some dinner, and then head to the fair for some pre-wedding fun. In my mind there was plenty of time for all of this to happen and I felt absolutely ready for it. I thought I had considered so many things that would help things run smoothly. I planned to have done all the groundwork and then hand the reigns to the amazing people that agreed to help me with the day. I wanted this to be fun for them too. I wanted to rock the shit out of planning a wedding and on the Sunday before wedding-week, I thought I totally was...
WEDDING WEEK
MONDAY
I woke up feeling amazing. I felt like Claire Daines in Stardust when her heart is glowing and it radiates out all around her. I got a cup of coffee and headed out the door by 6am for work, completely ready to conquer my last wee
k as Katie Leighton. I beebopped about halfway to work when Lou McNally tells me (courtesy of my radio), "If you're on vacation this week it is going to be great for you to start! Get all your beaching and outdoor fun in early this week and save your mall and movie theater trips for Saturday because that's when the rain is coming." I proceed to burst into tears.
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| Tristan kisses his beloved Star (played by Claire Daines) and makes her heart glow |
I never entertained that it would actually rain. I thought about it and I pulled a Donald Trump... I just assumed the power of positive thinking would prevail and I would get the bright beautiful day I DESERVED DAMNIT! Every time the clock numbers matched (1:11p, 2:22p, 3:33p etc) I would wish that it wouldn't rain on our wedding day... I seriously did that... for a whole year. It is just one of those little superstitious things my mom always did that seeped into my being and just became habit over the years to do it and when we got engaged that is really the one and only wish I wanted to have granted by the clock Gods. I appealed to loved ones in heaven and had fully convinced myself that the "Universe" was going to pull through for me. I mean, my karma is wicked good these days.... or so I thought...
I text Ben, who is amazing, reassuring, and makes me really feel a lot better and really succeeds. He convinces me that they never really know until it is 2 days out and that it is all going to be fine and that no matter what I'm going to be beautiful and the day will be fun and not to let this kill my wedding spirit. He does this all before Noon. Best Husband To Be EVER.
At Noon I get a sandwich and go to "my happy place." Its the most beautiful little park area near work that I go to when I need to just feel good. Where things are just pretty and calm and peaceful. Sometimes I even see dogs. By the end of the hour I'm feeling like I got my shit back under control. I finish my sandwich and text my Dad (David) to say I'm excited to see him later that night to go get wedding groceries... When I look up to put the car in drive and go, my Stepmother (Laurie) is blocking me in with her car! She had randomly gone there too to walk with a friend and it just happened to be at the same time I was on lunch. What a great surprise!
I text Ben, who is amazing, reassuring, and makes me really feel a lot better and really succeeds. He convinces me that they never really know until it is 2 days out and that it is all going to be fine and that no matter what I'm going to be beautiful and the day will be fun and not to let this kill my wedding spirit. He does this all before Noon. Best Husband To Be EVER.
At Noon I get a sandwich and go to "my happy place." Its the most beautiful little park area near work that I go to when I need to just feel good. Where things are just pretty and calm and peaceful. Sometimes I even see dogs. By the end of the hour I'm feeling like I got my shit back under control. I finish my sandwich and text my Dad (David) to say I'm excited to see him later that night to go get wedding groceries... When I look up to put the car in drive and go, my Stepmother (Laurie) is blocking me in with her car! She had randomly gone there too to walk with a friend and it just happened to be at the same time I was on lunch. What a great surprise!
...The first thing she says to me is "Have you seen the weather report?!" I chirp some overly optimistic bullshit, come off like a snotty bridezilla and sink back into something blue...
...Ben starts... from scratch... making me feel better ...
... I promise not to watch or listen to any more weather reports...
TUESDAY & WEDNESDAY
By the EOD on Wednesday I've Pinterested the Bejesus out of "cool rainy wedding photos" and I'm feeling less blue but I have to admit, despite Ben's very best efforts, my hopes for the wedding day I dreamed about were dashed. Meteorologists began haunting my dreams and any report I do catch, inadvertently, feels like a personal assault. I said some truly awful things to Todd Simcox, Ariel Hooley, Lou McNally, and any other meteorologist that dared to give me a check on the weather. It's a good thing TV screens aren't like the internet because I would have had some "sorry I trolled you and called you a c!@#$%^ and a f@#$%^ @#$%^ you M*&^%$#@#" letters to write...
There were more logistical things I wanted to be done by the end of Wednesday but, I assured myself there would be plenty of time on Friday to catch up on the few things I didn't get to. I slept easy Wednesday night... I can say in hindsight that I did enjoy and I'm glad I did because that was the last time that would happen to me as an unmarried woman.
THURSDAY
Thursday was when things started to go all "Harold and Kumar" on me... (Harold and Kumar Effect: No matter how hard you try, ridiculous things you never imagined come up and turn a simple excursion into an epic adventure...)
I coped with the weather all week by latching on to certain details I could still pull off without the sun. This lead to some poor decision making...
Thursday was when things started to go all "Harold and Kumar" on me... (Harold and Kumar Effect: No matter how hard you try, ridiculous things you never imagined come up and turn a simple excursion into an epic adventure...)
I coped with the weather all week by latching on to certain details I could still pull off without the sun. This lead to some poor decision making...
Oh Katie, #1: You Should Have Just Let It Go | The Napkin Holders | I created inserts that were to be placed on the tables in these cool napkin holders my Uncle provided for us. I was so proud of this element because I loved how they looked and it was something I'd never seen at a wedding before and as you may know, I LOVE to be different... There were "fun facts" on one side and a song on the opposite side indicating when each table would be called to the buffet line.
I came up with this thinking that people would be spread throughout the property and it might be easier to listen for a song to know when to go from wherever you were playing lawn Yahtzee, horse shoes etc. I loved this element because music was an important element of our wedding. While they had been created for weeks, I never printed them because I coordinated the playlists to go with the inserts and I wanted to wait until I was sure I'd only have to make one trip to Walmart. Flash forward to Thursday morning and I'm trying to have them printed before leaving for Greenville to make food with my Mom. Sigh.
I knew better and I let it happen anyway. Once they were finally printed, I brought them to the Hill only to discover half of them didn't fit because they were too big so they had to be trimmed to fit. "Why didn't you just print one to try in them before you printed them all?" you must be asking. You'd be right and that is typically how I roll but you should withhold too much judgement because - have you ever had to conjure cartoon birds around your head for days on end?!
Point is, I'm a ditz and I just let it stew until Thursday. Really, they only had a logical purpose if the day was sunny and guests would be widespread throughout the property and not congregated mainly at their tables. I should have nixed the whole thing and just printed the fun facts and used that in all the holders. This was the first thing I wished with all my might I could do over.
Oh Katie, #2: You Should Have Just Brought It With You | The Food | By the time I got to Greenville I had jammed out my frustration (see awesome song above) and was ready to get down with my culinary self. On the menu was homemade Salsa, Caesar Salad with homemade croutons and dressing, and tomato and mozzarella bruschetta skewers. I put a lot of thought into this menu. These are my favorite recipes for these things and I figured the workload for each and determined it to be easy enough to do in a day. We also had a couple pasta salads to make but I've seen my Mom whip one of those up in 10 minutes flat when in a jam.
I got right to work when I got there. It really was a great day. My Gram kept me company and I got through the Salsa, dressing, croutons and decided to turn the "skewers" into a "salad" 'cause who the hell cares about a stick?!
While I did that, my Mom cleaned our car and then we went to visit a family friend and met an AWESOME dog named Remi.
When I was ready to leave I decided, at the last minute, to leave the stuff in my Mom's fridge. She has a ton of space for it and I really was feeling quite lazy. I was feeling a bit like a princess and decided to let someone else do it. Put my nose right in the air and went upon my way.
All the way home though, I began to make the list of all the things that I deemed absolutely necessary to be done before the rehearsal. As I checked them off in my head, I began to feel like an elephant (Dumbo I assume seeing how I'm plagued by Disney cartoons... ) was sitting on my chest. I realized that I spent all afternoon is a blissful, relaxed, mode when I should have been freaking out. I decided when I got home (around 10pm) I'd finish the boutonnieres... and by finish I, of course, mean begin and finish the boutonnieres...
I came up with this thinking that people would be spread throughout the property and it might be easier to listen for a song to know when to go from wherever you were playing lawn Yahtzee, horse shoes etc. I loved this element because music was an important element of our wedding. While they had been created for weeks, I never printed them because I coordinated the playlists to go with the inserts and I wanted to wait until I was sure I'd only have to make one trip to Walmart. Flash forward to Thursday morning and I'm trying to have them printed before leaving for Greenville to make food with my Mom. Sigh.
I knew better and I let it happen anyway. Once they were finally printed, I brought them to the Hill only to discover half of them didn't fit because they were too big so they had to be trimmed to fit. "Why didn't you just print one to try in them before you printed them all?" you must be asking. You'd be right and that is typically how I roll but you should withhold too much judgement because - have you ever had to conjure cartoon birds around your head for days on end?!
Point is, I'm a ditz and I just let it stew until Thursday. Really, they only had a logical purpose if the day was sunny and guests would be widespread throughout the property and not congregated mainly at their tables. I should have nixed the whole thing and just printed the fun facts and used that in all the holders. This was the first thing I wished with all my might I could do over.
Oh Katie, #2: You Should Have Just Brought It With You | The Food | By the time I got to Greenville I had jammed out my frustration (see awesome song above) and was ready to get down with my culinary self. On the menu was homemade Salsa, Caesar Salad with homemade croutons and dressing, and tomato and mozzarella bruschetta skewers. I put a lot of thought into this menu. These are my favorite recipes for these things and I figured the workload for each and determined it to be easy enough to do in a day. We also had a couple pasta salads to make but I've seen my Mom whip one of those up in 10 minutes flat when in a jam.
I got right to work when I got there. It really was a great day. My Gram kept me company and I got through the Salsa, dressing, croutons and decided to turn the "skewers" into a "salad" 'cause who the hell cares about a stick?!
While I did that, my Mom cleaned our car and then we went to visit a family friend and met an AWESOME dog named Remi.
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| My Mom and Remi <3 |
All the way home though, I began to make the list of all the things that I deemed absolutely necessary to be done before the rehearsal. As I checked them off in my head, I began to feel like an elephant (Dumbo I assume seeing how I'm plagued by Disney cartoons... ) was sitting on my chest. I realized that I spent all afternoon is a blissful, relaxed, mode when I should have been freaking out. I decided when I got home (around 10pm) I'd finish the boutonnieres... and by finish I, of course, mean begin and finish the boutonnieres...
FRIDAY
Friday and Saturday of this tale are really tall enough to be worthy of posts all their own. I will continue this story in the next segment to conclude all the juicy cliffhangers: Will there be Jell-o Shots? Does Brutus jump on the dress and leave muddy footprints? Does Katie pull a Janet Jackson at the Superbowl?! Does Ben show?!?!
Answers to these burning questions and MORE! Next time on Katie Overshares Too Much on the Internet!
... and cute dogs in bowties... I swear...
<3 Mrs. Luce
... and cute dogs in bowties... I swear...
<3 Mrs. Luce
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