August 13, 2016

The Fiasco Begins

I slept soundly the Friday night before my wedding... as soundly as one who is so excited she could burst... I woke up at one point and was lulled back to sleep by the rain. Up on the hill my father-in-law to be was also awake listening to the rain... and the wind... and the tents we had erected blowing over... The breaking glass of bistro style light bulbs and poles hitting various obstacles as they flew free from the solid structure that once was didn't lull him back to sleep...

When I do wake, I shower and head off to the hill to set my head table, arrange the welcome table, lay out my centerpieces, print off a few last minute guides for my "helpers" and put out the games and "Smore oven station" for the kids.  This part of the wedding was one of the best parts I looked forward too. I couldn't wait to go into the clean, set up space, and just go through and spread out the final touches. I saved this piece for last on purpose. I was psyched to do this and then go off to my hair appointment with Amy for a little relaxation before the hype got rolling.

Upon cresting the driveway I noticed two things simultaneously. 1. Everyone staying there was outside.2. There were two less tent peaks than when I left on Friday night... The wind and rain overnight had blown over 3 of our 5 tents. Lights broke. Poles broke. Shit began hitting the fan. Amy ran toward me waving her arms and saying "Nothing to see here! Everything is fine! Happy Wedding Day!" God Bless my new sister. I called both my Dads and my brother relating the bad news and asked if they could drop what they were doing and come help put everything back together.

I slipped inside the house feeling dazed and numb. I sat down at the computer to print off my "guides" and as I waited for it to boot up I realized that I wasn't freaking out. This was the moment I realized that I really had let go of all my expectations and was just going to do as the day demanded. I finished my printing, took a deep breath, and told myself to keep as calm as I wasn't that moment and Amy would be right. The only thing that could ruin my day is my attitude toward everything going down.  I was determined to be lighthearted about whatever was thrown my way. 

Before I knew it, I had to leave for my hair appointment. My head table wasn't even there anymore, let alone decorated and all the other things on my list were equally unachievable as planned. Time was up. Control was a dream. This bride was on fire. 

About then, my photography team showed up lead by the amazing Andrew Foster. I had wanted to have him or his second shooter, Jake, follow me to the hair appointment. Instead they put down their gear and jumped in to help put the tents back up. I will never be able to thank him, his wife Kelly, or Jake enough for what they did for us that day. They worked their butts off doing way more than we asked them to. I'm so grateful they were there. I fled for my hair appointment and completely forgot to ask someone with a camera to come along. This feels especially like an epic fail because I'm a photographer. I have cameras coming out of my pores, but it completely escaped me.

The Pampering

Amy and I must have looked like shell shocked vets fresh off the boat. By the time we got to Xana-du it was raining pretty steadily and things were off to a tumultuous start. As soon as I sat in the chair I felt myself relax. We told the ladies at the salon all about the morning's fiasco and they were awesome in making me feel better. About 20 minutes later, a lady come in for a hair appointment and said to her dresser "I'm SO happy its raining today..." The owner of the salon and my dresser quickly spoke up. "HEY! We have a bride here that needs all the help she can get to have this crap stop before she walks down the aisle!" The lady audibly gasped and apologized profusely. I giggled like a moron and realized that I was kind of having a blast. By all accounts I should have been a puddle of pissed off bridezilla but I just couldn't muster it.

After the hair appointment I had approximately 15 minutes to myself. I looked at myself in the mirror and thought "where the hell is my mimosa?!" It was 11am.  A Henry's hard soda was a quicker fix and I downed one of those puppies like there would never be another. I went to work putting on my makeup and waiting for my Flower Maidens and Matron of Awesome to arrive.

Between 11am and 12p, my aunt Lynne called asking for my cake topper, 3 different women tried to get my undergarments laced up, I forgot to put on my vail, braided two gorgeous little girls hair, and finally got a mimosa into me. This is a good opportunity to thank Kelly Foster for being one of the most amazing women I have ever met. Before my wedding day, Kelly and I had met one exactly time during our engagement shoot. While we both lived on the Husson campus for a stint, I was never lucky enough to know her then. I asked Kelly to come be Brutus's handler for the day. She excitedly agreed and then ended up going above and beyond her call of duty in every single way. I heard later that Kelly decorated our head table, gathered my dress and garments and brought them from the hill to my house. A key detail that had completely escaped me in all of the chaos until I was ready to step into the dress. She was there at every turn when I thought things were on the verge of blowing apart. She did so many little things that I can't even list them all here but needless to say, so much of my day was awesome because of her. Just before I was to make my way up the path I realized that my dress was caught on my undergarment thanks to all the car sitting I had just done. I was trying to (tastefully) hike my dress up and fix it while Kelly looked on. In the midst of this I tried to convey how absolutely grateful I was to have her there, she said, "No worries. You'd do the same for me. Now would you like me to get up in there and fix that for you?"  I love that girl. She was a gift that day and I am so glad that she is in my life. 

First Look

By Noon I was so ready to see my Groom. We had planned to meet at the house for our first look and then spend the rest of the day together. I got to sneak up on him and some how Andrew caught the whole thing in such a way that you would never have known how wet and rainy it was. After the first look and pictures with our families, we hit the road for a little quality time with our photography team.

By 2:10 we headed up to the hill until I realized I forgot the marriage license at the house. We went back to retrieve it and the forgotten veggie burgers when it also dawned on me that our Kel-Mat Gourmet sandwiches were supposed to be picked up no later than 2p. I called and got no answer. This wasn't the only food that never made it. Homemade salsa,  homemade Caesar Salad Dressing, bruschetta salad, and more was left in the fridge... in Greenville.... In all fairness I asked them to stop what they were doing and come help with tents. I assume they were packing food when my call came in....

The Wedding

The plan was to walk from the garden at the base of the hill up to the lawn where I would meet my Dads and they would give me away. To coordinate this I had printed off the lyrics to the song I was walking in to and gave it to Daria, my brother's girlfriend of 5 years. Her unhappy task was to tell the wedding party when they were supposed to make their way from the lawn to the ceremony spot. I worked it out so the marks were flexible and I could make up any difference with my pace so that I could enter at a particular crescendo in the song. I had thought of everything... except that it would probably be a good idea to play Daria the song... not just print off lyrics to it. It was an obscure song that not many people know and wouldn't immediately recognize as it started playing. As a result it started and she had no idea. By the time I got to the top of the hill I anticipated the rest of the wedding party would be in their spots. When I reached the archway though, everyone was still standing there on the lawn... I could see a flustered Daria shuffling through the papers of the lyrics trying so hard to get things on track. I called from the lawn "JUST GO. Everyone JUST GO" and go they did.  I only missed my mark by a few seconds and while I don't think the moment translated the way I dreamed it no longer mattered. I felt so badly I biffed it and as a result made Daria feel like she had let me down. She absolutely hadn't. She tried to do exactly what I asked her to and in the chaos I set her up to fail. One tremendous benefit to being the bride, though, is that everyone forgives you for being a flake not matter how hard your hurricane blows them over. 

Once we were standing in front of Norma in front of all of our family and friends that came to celebrate with us I felt like all that had gone wrong melted away. This was the one part of the wedding that I didn't feel needed any planning once the vows were written. We knew early on that we would both be overwhelmed so we wanted to make sure we didn't have to memorize or read anything. We wanted to write our own sentiments that Aunt Norma could just walk us through by having us repeat after her. I'm glad we did this because it allowed us both to focus on each other.

Our vows were part an homage to a few of our favorite songs and the sentiments we want to hold throughout our marriage. These were the things we thought would remind us of the relationship we aspire to. We both know that relationships and marriage is something you work at. You won't always get it right and it won't always be romance and glitter but if we vow to be partners in the world then we can take on anything that is thrown at us. We wrote the vows months in advance and never altered them. In the moment we spoke our vows I realized that the day was always meant to turn out just the way it did.  We had included a line from Led Zeppelin's "Thank You" that says "...to love even if the sun refused to shine."  In so many ways this tiny sign from the universe reminded me that I was in the right place at the right time.

I remember stepping onto the dance floor and taking Ben's hand and seeing all the kids and Brutus to our right and Amy and Cody to our left. It was the most perfect moment of the day thus far because I had never imagined it quite that way. All the plans for where the ceremony was going to take place had been thwarted by the rain and as a result I hadn't envisioned it in its final form. It was nice little surprise.

Looking at Ben melted my every nerve. Love was written all over his face. If I ever had any doubts about how he felt about me, they were erased by the look in his eyes.

When the ceremony was over I felt a huge sense of release. I wanted just a few minutes alone with Ben and after we went through the receiving line to greet everyone that had come from far and wide to celebrate with us, we retreated into the house for a few minutes to regroup. This part is really kind of a blur. I felt pulled in 100 directions to visit with people I loved and had come from so far but somehow I didn't get a chance. Every conversation felt like I was rushing away and not devoting enough attention to the people I was so excited to have there. This feeling stuck with me for weeks after the wedding but everyone was so gracious and awesome in making us feel loved even when we couldn't show them the attention they deserved.

Amber, one of my oldest friends from high school, and her boyfriend Jeff were the lucky catchers of the garter and bouquet. Jeff and our little cousin Kinsley were both going after the garter and sort of caught it at the same time... She got a whole bouquet of Nancy's beautiful gladiolas so she was happy in the end.

Aunt Sherry serenaded us with "Love Song" by Miranda Lambert. She is so talented and we were so honored to have her sing to us. She was awesome.

The Aftermath

This is where the pictures ended. The rest of the night was spent dancing to the band who ROCKED THE HOUSE! The Dime Store Heros were incredible and played in the tiny space they were dealt with and made the rest of the night lively and fun. At one point I remember seeing my Mom, my Dad, my Stepdad, Grandmother, brother and Aunt on the dance floor just rockin' out and my heart swelled to a size that would rival a hot air balloon.

Just as the band was about to end for the night, I saw my Aunt Laurie sitting quietly at a table. For anyone who knows her would agree that "quiet" wouldn't be the first word to jump to mind to describe her. Our wedding was a hard day for her though. August 12th is her wedding anniversary and August 13th is her husband's birthday. In June of this year he passed away. This was the first anniversary and birthday in almost 30 years that she didn't have him by her side. When we set our date I asked him if he minded if we had it on his birthday. He excitedly agreed and I promised there would be a birthday cake there with his name on it. When our wedding day came around one thing I hadn't forgotten to do was to get that cake. Our awesome neighbor Sherry works at the bakery and wrote a personal message on it for us. When I went up Saturday morning I slipped it into the fridge where it stayed safely tucked away through so much chaos.  When my aunt caught my eye I went over to try to convince her to dance with us and, understandably, she just wasn't in the mood for dancing. I asked her "has anyone brought you the cake yet?" She told me she had a piece of our delicious wedding cake and began praising how awesome of a job my other Aunt, Lynne, did in making it. I said "no no no, not that cake... " and ran off to fetch it.

When I came back with it, I sat it in front of her and we both started to cry. I know we were both thinking that my uncle and my cousin (who lives in Alaska and was 7 months pregnant with her first child) should be there and it just wasn't the same without them. In the mean time, Nancy, unbeknownst to me or my Aunt, went and got a bunch of forks as well as my parents, brother, Ben, and his family and brought them over to us. We all laughed as we started to just dig into the cake whole. It was the most amazing moment of the day. It was the moment when I remembered that my family is the best ever and that we all come together when it matters most. It also made me realize how special, observant, and thoughtful my mother-in-law is. This was my favorite moment and I wish we had gotten a picture for me to include here.

When we were all stuffed and freshly sugared we all headed back onto the dance floor for the band's last two songs.. my Aunt included. We finished the night off in style and by the time we climbed into the back seat and my stepdad drove us home I snuggled into Ben's arms and breathed him in. By all accounts it could have been a horrendous day. It could have been a day that proved I suck at wedding planning. Instead it was a day that proved that I made the right choice in picking Ben to be my husband.

The End

Have you ever felt like an Olympian? Maybe you have and don't know it. Its that feeling at Christmas when you spend so much time decorating, planning, and preparing and then it is over in a flash. Its when you spend years training that culminates in a 30 second glory or fail moment. Depression after the olympic games is somewhat common among athletes. I suspect if anyone polled brides, similar tales of woe and regret would be prevalent. I think this is human nature. When you put so much into something, you feel its loss when its over. 

We didn't leave for our honeymoon for about a month, and for the first few weeks, post nuptials, I had a hard case of the "wedding is over blues." I couldn't shake a feeling that I had poor planned the biggest event in our lives thus far. I strode in on the process like I was a wedding planning boss and when it was over I felt like a defeated boss at the end of a video game I should have won. Ben had a completely different perspective. He pointed out that so many people came together to help us pull it off and he had only good memories of the day. For him it wasn't complicated. We got to see that everyone around us loves us enough to endure all that happened and still come out laughing and creating a wedding experience that we both will remember as long as we live. 

This wedding was about the people. It was about our parents. It was about Nancy and I coming together to design and plan a dress that she executed so beautifully and professionally. It was about calling her in a panic as I'm putting on my dress and asking her to come help me because, despite their best efforts, no one else could manage to lace me up. It was about my Dads coming together and giving me away. It was about having a jello shot with grandmothers and reminding a favorite aunt how she isn't alone in her grief and loss. It was about having everyone we love all in one place celebrating the joining of our families. 

Thank you for following this journey with me. From concept to completion this project exceeded my expectations and surprised me so many times along the way. I am a happily married woman now. I have love in my heart and a good man by my side. A perfectly executed plan wouldn't have changed that a single bit. 

<3 Mrs. Luce

Bonus Post: Friday

On Friday August 12th, I woke up feeling overwhelmed and frazzled. Friday was the day we were to erect the tents, put out tables and chairs and lay out all the things people would need on Saturday as I handed over the reigns to the fantastic crew of people that were willing to help us out. 

The day began by traveling to the hill. I was tired and running on adrenaline and was bound and determined to enjoy the day. I walked balloons to the end of the drive way in hopes of giving the port-a-potty delivery men a marker for where we were. The sun was shining and I just kept thinking "please just give me this for 48 hours." I daydreamed about walking up the path from the garden with the gorgeous glads lining the lawn. 

This is the way I imagined the hill would look on my wedding day. I kept my hope that all the forecasts were going to be wrong and that during the most important hours of the day the clouds would break and all would be fine. 

 We all were slated to meet on the hill by 8am. The delivery truck with the toilets as well as the truck with the tables, chairs, dance floor and sound system were estimated to arrive sometime Friday- "probably in the afternoon" the lady had told me. After positioning the balloons I planned to run some errands back in town. I headed out and passed both trucks before I even got off the hill. I immediately turned back because they were hours ahead of when I was ready for them and a decisive bride on site makes for a happy family and set up crew. Errands were officially crossed off the list. Never got to them and honestly don't remember what they were. Couldn't have been that important... right?!

My Father, Stepfather, Brother, arrived on the hill just about the same time as the over eager delivery trucks, as well as Amy, Ben's parents, and my Brother-in-Law to be, Matt. My mother would be coming later with my Gram so we got to work laying out where the tents should be. All the people that showed up on Friday to help us really love us. This we know because they showed up to help us and then didn't leave us. Everyone kept a fantastic attitude and, even now that they know it would be safe to tell me, they say they really had fun. I know they love me because this has to be a lie. These guys could make gourmet lemonade slushies out of life's crushed and rotting lemons. 

With the rain moving and the whole crew on site, things got right down to business. We had to make some last minute adjustments to the tent plan. I spent a lot of time.... even making diagrams of the tents and property.. to scale.. so I could rearrange tents and be decisive and in charge on tent day. We decided to move the ceremony from in front of the trees where it was open and beautiful, to on the dance floor, under the big tent. This wasn't something I had ever considered so it through out any planning I tried to do in advance. I reworked it, Ben let me run with whatever made me feel happiest and not freak out, and we came to a good plan that ensured everyone could see while being under the tent and still keep dry. I remembered again why I loved him so much, the guys went to work on the plan and I went on to coordinate some of the food with my team of awesome culinary helpers that were coming by to hammer out some logistical details. 

The next thing I remember is standing inside the house, mid-sentence, when from the corner of my eye I see brother-in-law Matt go by the window completely and utterly soaked... to the bone. The poor guy had rain streaming down his whole body and dripping off his glasses. Upon further investigation, all of the guys looked like they had just crossed an ocean to come put up these tents. I hadn't even noticed the sun had retreated and then all of a sudden everything, including people, were covered in rain. 

It was that moment when I truly began to regret keeping my head in the clouds for 14 months. I began to realize that my plans had no room for rain and that I ignored any real possibility that the sun wouldn't shine on my wedding day. I began to crumble inside knowing that the best of my intentions just as waterlogged as everything else. It was about Noon by this point and my Mom and Gram were at my house waiting for an escort to the hill. When I went down to meet them I was not the happy bubbly bride they expected. I was stressed, felt like an idiot, and irritably just kept trying to trudge along. 

My Mom, as probably most Mom's do on wedding weekends, got the brunt of my bad mood and she didn't deserve it. She works hard on everything she does and all she wanted was for me to have fun and enjoy it and I felt like a brat. She even greeted me with a present... a gorgeous white orchid plant with bright purple spots that look like they had been painted on with watercolor. She gave me a card filled with all the things you want to hear when you're a stressed DIY bride that feels like she isn't pulling it off. My mood was having none of this touchy-feely crap but my heart was finding it hard to resist. I realized I was doing it wrong. She didn't write the motto of the wedding in the card but all her words reminded me of it none the less. I wasn't having fun and that meant I was doing something wrong. I decided that come hell.. or most likely high water.. I was going to enjoy this. Whatever the day turned out to be ultimately didn't matter. Stephen Kellogg taught me that "Not every day is so easy and they're tough to plan. When the good day comes, you've got to do as the good day demands." This good day was demanding I cheer the hell up. 

Flower Maiden Willow and Me at the rehearsal dinner

We headed back up to the hill and finally got tents together, tables and chairs set, lights hung, and everything was looking great. My heart kept growing every hour and by the time it was ready for a rehearsal I realized I didn't really coordinate one. I briefly walked through the plan with everyone who was involved and moved on. My rehearsal was the sacrificial lamb of the weekend and I hoped that would be enough to appease the wedding gods. They are fickle f#$%ers though and apparently one sacrifice was never going to be enough. 

The rehearsal dinner was fantastic and everyone enjoyed the little gifts we had gotten them, especially our flower girls. They each got a digital camera to document the day and anything else they wanted to shoot. Both of our girls love to play with my camera when we are together and I wanted them to have one of their own. Who knows, maybe I'm helping to build the next generation of photography lovers. They had a blast and the food was great. Kel-Mat Cafe in Skowhegan had opened that night just for us. The ladies there are awesome. They made us all feel welcome and at home. They executed the meal with very little wait time and before I knew it, it was over. 

We returned to the hill to do some last minute decorating. The place looked fantastic when we were done. I had some more things to do in the morning but overall I thought we were in good shape. I was again having fun and feeling much better about how it was going to go. We even had a little friend show up to test out the dance floor. Brutus wanted to eat him but couldn't bring himself to do it. 

When I left that night all my faith had been restored and I felt like we just might pull this off after all. I promised myself that I would just take things as they came and that tomorrow I wouldn't worry about what was going wrong if it did. I would focus on Ben. I would focus on enjoying the day and trying not to let it go by to fast and making it feel like a blur. 

This was a lofty challenge... 

<3 Mrs. Luce

Fall in Love

I believe one of the best love stories of our generation has come from my small town.  A little boy and little girl meet in preschool. For the next 13 years of their lives they reach every milestone together in the way that classes of children in small towns do... They shared every first day of school, sang in their first school concert together, rode countless buses to countless sports events, sat through Key Club meetings, algebra, and AP classes together. 

When they were in middle school they played their first game of "spin the bottle" together at Susan Mlodzianoski's Halloween party. When the two were High School Seniors they were elected Prom King and Queen. They weren't boyfriend and girlfriend, but it had to be them. They were good people. They were both smart, athletic, and good natured. They were our Zack and Kelly... without all the romantic stuff. Their peers saw them both as ideal examples of how a high school experience could be awesome. 

Photo courtesy DoubleH Photo

In 2004 they walked the same aisle in the Greenville High School Auditorium to collect their diplomas and then went on to see what life had in store for them.  The two were never a couple back then. They weren't who they were going to be yet. Upon leaving for college to begin separate lives, I would guarantee they were not thinking of each other... In 2013 they reconnected at the wedding of a good mutual friend.  My bet is they couldn't stop thinking about each other... In 2014 they both returned to their small town to celebrate Thanksgiving with their families. They were both newly single and the little boy, now a handsome grown man with more experience, wisdom, and guts, called her up to ask her to go for a ride on the town where all the streets were memory lanes.  That little girl, now a gorgeous, successful, grown woman in her own right agreed.

Photo courtesy DoubleH Photo

As they snaked around the streets where they grew up they discovered something new in the people they had become. They fell in love and two years later they returned home again, but this time they arrived together and walked another aisle to reach another milestone together... They become Mr. and Mrs. Lavigne with Moosehead Lake serving proudly as the backdrop, just as it had done for their childhood and adolescence.

I shared many of these milestones with this couple and feel so grateful to know their love story. We all grew up together and I have so many fond memories of them both. I think it is so awesome that they found each other. I think this was how it was always meant to play out. The world is a big place and it is easy to get lost in it. It's easy to make your place somewhere else. Its easy to go out into the world and drift far away from where you began. It is a lot harder to come back to find what has been meant for you all along.  I hope that if they decide to have a family that their kids will feel how special Moosehead Lake is even if they don't live there.  I hope her Dad will bounce those babies on his knee and tell them basketball stories and fill their hearts with Laker pride. I hope they find happiness and love in every day. As the proverbial "they" say, all love stories are great but theirs is one of my favorites.

Their amazing day was captured by Hannah Holmbolm of DoubleH Photo, also of Greenville. She is an incredible photographer and I had almost as much fun looking through the photos of their day as I did my own! Her and her team tell a story through pictures in the very best way someone can. She has worked so hard to hone her craft and is really great at what she does, but she is also a savvy business woman. At a young age she went after what she wanted and established a wedding photography service that delights brides and grooms, feels personal, and produces images that magazine editors drool over. You know those Pinterest fantasies every bride hopes for on her day? Hannah gives that kind of experience. I hope you'll check out her work if you want me to prove it.

Hannah was on top of the list when we were considering photographers. She was really the only wedding photographer that we considered. Andrew Foster was the only other one we discussed, in fact. We knew Andrew didn't do weddings on a regular basis and weren't sure if he would even be willing to do them. We asked him, agreeing that if he wasn't up for it, we would call Hannah. Andrew went out on a limb for us and it was absolutely meant to be but I've been enjoying the crap out of seeing the Moosehead weddings she has captured this summer. 

It was seeing Hannah's work that made me finally feel ready to finish this blog. Her albums this summer took me through many weddings I didn't attend and gave me a glimpse of what other brides days were like. Looking at her stuff is very much like perusing the wedding boards of Pinterest, only I knew all the people in the magazine-esk spreads. It made me realize that most brides let the images of the day speak for themselves. It made me realize that I talk way. too. much. 

When I started this blog I was aiming to create this detailed record of what it was like to make my wedding dress and plan my wedding. I wanted to look back on these entries and relive the experience anytime I wanted. In that effort, I didn't want to leave out a single detail. In that effort I got carried away and squandered any opportunity I had to have the images of my day speak for itself. I made the whole thing public and let my excitement draw all kinds of attention to the process. When the day was over I found it really hard to finish giving the details because I feel obligated to tell you what is behind my gorgeous images. Now that I've told you all the dirty little secrets you know the day wasn't the flawless day that Andrew Foster made it look it was. Like Hannah does for all her brides and grooms, Andrew gave us the most tangible evidence of how much fun we had that day. It was a Pinterest fail in the best way, but it was made for a lifetime and I think you'll agree that the ending is a plague of warm and fuzzies.

Signing off to go live life and be MARRIED <3
~ Mrs. Ben Luce

Bonus Post: Wedding Week

If you read the previous bonus post, you've read all about the love-dovey pukefest that I dreamed would be our wedding day. With Sun shining, details perfected, and love in the air, what could go wrong?

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

Tristan kisses his beloved Star (played by Claire Daines)
and makes her heart glow

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.

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!

...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...

My catfight with the weather aside, by Wednesday night I had reminded myself of the motto of our wedding: "If you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong." I didn't want to drown in hype around this wedding when I started out and that is what the motto was for. It became my mantra. When I mixed in The Avett Brothers "Ain't No Man" I began to remember what this thing was all about. Little fluttering cartoon birds began circling my head again like the Disney Motherf@#$% Princess I am... Just Kidding. Those suckers were killed Monday morning, Duck Hunting Style, by Lou McNally... He didn't have to step on the cute, plump, little mouse too... just to make a point... but hey... I'm over it...
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... 

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.

My Mom and Remi <3

                    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... 

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