As of November 6, we are officially married! I can honestly say that even up to the week before the wedding - I wasn't sure it was going to happen! We had so many things go wrong that I started to wonder if they were signs trying to tell us we shouldn't be getting married. But TOGETHER we worked through it all. While it was EVERYTHING I wanted it to be - it was still a very special day for both of us. But ladies and gents, I'm here to tell you that if I made it through everything that went wrong leading up to our special day - you can too!
Here's just a few of the bigger things we had to contend with:
- My mom got sick and ended up in a physical rehabilitation facility and was unable to be there
- Husbands mom and grandma both were ill leading up to the wedding. Mom was able to attend; grandma was not
- My brother ended up sick and unable to attend.
- My (MOH) best friend of 35+ years was exposed to COVID and was running a fever with all the other COVID symptoms and had to call and tell me on Friday morning that she could not stand with me.
- Had to come up with a plan B for our rehearsal dinner the week before (my parents were originally doing the food until mom got sick.)
- Had a cousin ask a few days before the wedding if he could bring a guest
- Found out several people never received their invitations.
- Had at least 2-3 fights/arguments with (now) hubby
- Was making my own veil and as I was trying to finish it up (at the last minute) it was unravelling faster than I could get it pressed. Had to stop at the local David's bridal and buy a veil on my way to the church.
- Cake vendor called me at 7:30 p.m. the night before the wedding to tell me she could not (or should I say would not) do the cake the way we wanted it (and had already paid for).
- I got my table assignments finished but didn't have time to get them printed - so we ended up with a pick your own table seating arrangement.
Pretty sure I cried every single day leading up to our wedding day - including that morning (because of the veil issue). That morning once I got past crying over my veil - things just started to come together. I had to stop and pick up a bud vase for our ceremony (one of my many last minute tasks). I walked into a local grocery store to find one that was perfect for our needs and after being asked I told the lady a brief version of everything that was going on - she handed me the vase and said "Happy Wedding Day!" It's those little moments that carried me through my morning.
The day just progressed beautifully after that - despite all of the other challenges. My daughter (who had now been promoted to Maid of Honor) and I created a song list for the DJ as I was getting my make-up done. When my florist brought in the flowers and boutonnieres - they brought tears to my eyes - they were the first thing that had gone right amidst all the things that had gone wrong. She knocked it out of the park.
I had been told so many times leading up to that day that it would never turn out as perfect as I wanted. Naively, I thought otherwise. But at the end of the day, our guests had no clue to some (probably most) of the imperfections. So here is my advise to those of you who are still in the planning process: limit the number of DIY projects; ask for help when you need it; when you're down to the wire trying to get last minute things done - be selective on your MUST HAVES and be willing to change things up and simplify if needed. As my mom continuously told me - no one will know but you. And she (as mom's usually are) was 100% right. No one had a clue that I left the silk flowers out of the wreaths used around the lanterns in our centerpieces - they still looked gorgeous on the tables and we received so many compliments - my venue even bought them from us!
Don't stress the small stuff - allow yourself to take in every moment and enjoy the day!
