Wedding on the Brain

Well, so far neither Jack nor Ellie have succumbed to death by glass shards, today is our monthly work cocktail which means I'll get free drinks and appetizers this afternoon, and the sun is actually shining right now.  So who knows, maybe this week will actually end on a high note!  To help facilitate matters to that end, let's talk about weddings, because when are weddings NOT fun to talk about?  Just... humor me.

We're leaving for Baton Rouge in less than a month and getting married 5 weeks from tomorrow, and as the wedding draws nearer more and more people are beginning to ask if I'm getting stressed yet.  I've actually been incredibly unstressed throughout this entire process.  The way I see it, I just need to do the things on my checklist when the checklist says I need to do them, and come 6:59 pm on November 24 everything should be ready for me to begin my walk down the aisle.  There have been a couple of stressful moments, but honestly everything important has really gone off without a hitch.

I still wouldn't say that I'm stressed, however, the wedding has been on my brain pretty much 24/7 and the rehearsal dinner is causing some mild heartburn--hence the tears on Wednesday night.  The problem with planning this wedding long distance is that I can get everything set up and primed to go for November 17, when we fly in, but there's so much that I just physically cannot do until I am in Baton Rouge.  Because of this, my checklists are starting to look a little less checked than I would really like them to be.

1. Programs.  The programs have been designed for weeks now.  We've picked out the paper, we went to Office Depot and did a test run, and this weekend we're going to go in and set up an order for our programs which will then be printed out and picked up in Baton Rouge by my mom.  When I get there we'll set up an assembly line for cutting, punching holes, and putting together, but until then, no checkmark.
2. Dress fitting.  I had my first dress fitting at the beginning of March.  I didn't want to have to deal with transporting my dress to Washington and then back to Louisiana, so I'll be doing my final fitting the Monday before the wedding.  I have complete faith in my tailor, but I just can't help but worry a little bit that something won't fit right when I go to pick it up and there won't be time to fix it.
3. Marriage License.  This one is kind of a biggie and is also on the schedule for Monday in Baton Rouge since we have to have it in our possession 72 hours before the wedding.  At least one of us has to be present, in person, to pick up a license and we both have to present our birth certificates.  Does Colby know where his birth certificate is?  I'll let you guess the answer.  He wanted to know if he could use his passport instead, I asked him if he really wanted to screw around with the Clerk of Courts 120 hours before our wedding day.  Because we can be married in the eyes of God all we want, but if it ain't legal, we ain't getting no more money from the Air Force.  And that's really what this is all about.
4. Wedding Party Gifts.  I've already finished buying gifts for my girls and our female readers, Colby is in the early stages of getting his gifts for his groomsmen and the ushers finished but I'm just a smidge concerned that they won't be finished in time for us to leave.  And since all the gifts for the girls are at my mom's house, I won't be able to wrap them until I get there.  It's a small thing, but it's still getting ready to turn into a big red exclamation point on The Knot checklist.
5. Rehearsal Dinner.  I have no idea what's going on with it.  There have been tears.  Moving on.
6. RSVPs.  Seriously, what is so hard about putting a card in the mail with a little number next to your name?  We're not doing escort cards, so really we don't even *need* your name, the return address will suffice!  We're 12 days out from our RSVP date and still haven't heard from about half of our invited guests.  Again, not a huge deal, because I'm still hopeful that cards will come flooding in when the due date arrives, but I still dread making those phone calls to the people that don't respond.  Not to mention we can't give final head counts to our venue or the baker until we get all of the RSVPs.
7. Saber Arch.  Having a saber arch has been pretty important to Colby from the get go, and we thought it would be nice to use the Color Guard from LSU since we were both members of it back in our own years at LSU.  Over the summer Colby contacted the commander of the organization and was told to shoot him a reminder email in the fall when school started.  So, that's just what Colby did, except the kid had apparently enlisted in the military and was no longer in the organization.  He found the new commander who told him that the event was on their calendar and that they'd be able to support, but check with the Color Guard commander just in case.  Making this very long story short(er) the LSU Color Guard is no longer sure they'll be able to support, Keesler is the closest Air Force Base and they say they can't guarantee us that they'll be there because if a military funeral comes up, that's their first priority.  So, it's possible that we can try to borrow sabers from LSU and just have our military groomsmen and ushers do the saber arch, but it's not ideal.  And it's the not knowing that's stressful.
8. Guestbook.  So I had this great idea way back months ago that rather than buying a generic guestbook, I would make a gorgeous scrapbook of the wedding planning process and all the great parties and events we've had along the way, and set that out for people to sign.  I still love the idea.  What I don't love is that I still haven't gotten started on it.  When I wasn't working I was under some kind of misguided impression that the wedding was still ages away and I had plenty of time.  And now that I am working, I'm exhausted when I get home and the weekends lately have been filling up.  I'm making a promise to myself here and now that this weekend I'm taking over the kitchen table and I will at the very least get everything sorted into piles and organized to begin scrapbooking next week.
9. Wedding Picture Frames.  We're decorating the guestbook table with the wedding pictures of all of our grandparents and both of our parents.  I have all of the pictures from Colby's side and will get copies of the pictures from my side when I get home, but I'm also going to need frames for them.  This sounds easy enough, but when I looked online to see if I could just buy some and have them shipped to Baton Rouge I realized that it's incredibly hard to tell what the quality of a frame is over the internet.  And I don't want to spend a frajillion dollars on actual high quality expensive frames because I do not have a frajillion dollars.  I want high quality cheap frames.  So I'm at a stand still.  Do I risk it and buy frames online or just wait till I go home and hope that there are some sales going on that week and buy them there?

So really I think that's all of the big stuff.  There are other little things that need to be done--confirmations with vendors and final payments of course being the biggest ones--but those aren't really worrying me much.  I trust my vendors and I trust that my parents haven't gone secretly bankrupt (yet--maybe I'll check again on November 25).  But like I already said, last week we got our rings purchased, we booked 3 nights in a beautiful old New Orleans hotel in the French Quarter for our mini-honeymoon, and I made my list of to-do's for the wedding day, shot list for the formal pictures that we'll give to the photographer, and am putting the finishing touches on the detailed wedding day timeline.  All in all, it's coming together well, and while I'm not worried that I won't have things done in time, I just can't help but get stressed when I fall behind on my checklist.

I am so going to suffer from wedding planning withdrawal when this is all over...

Comments

[Dawn]

Yeah, you are. At first you'll be all excited and "WOOHOO, I have my life back! Wheeeee!", but I'm thinking after that you'll spend a couple of weeks with a nagging feeling that you have something that needs to be done RIGHT NOW, even though you don't. At least, that's what I would do, I think.

[wordnerd]

Do you realize that when you go to the Clerk's office for your marriage license, I'll be five floors up from you? Is that so cool? If there is any running around, questions, anything you need from them beforehand -- let me know. I simply have to get on the elevator and I'm there.

Frames? Hobby Lobby or Michael's, right here in B.R.. Great prices, great frames, and there's usually a 50% off coupon in the paper for them. I'll watch for them for you.

Anything else? Let me know. Seriously!

[wordnerd]

P.S. E-mail me. I know where you can get a copy of the birth certificate once you get into town. And they let you wait on it.

[Bre]

It's really stressful, I know - but the good news is that when it comes down to it on your wedding day - it's all about you and Colby. The rest won't matter at all.

[Jass]

Wooohooo it's almost here!

Good for you, but not for me. I'll be a year older. *ugh*

hehe :-)

[L]

Girrrrllll--I feel you. I just checked the license requirements for our state, and I don't even know if I have everything, let alone D, my naturalized fiance. Nightmare!

[Becky]

I think the fact that you even have this list means you have yourself together than most people. I know it doesn't seem like it will, but I'm sure it will come together by the 24th. WIth the RSVPs, you'll probably get most of the week after your deadline, unfortunately.

[Kate]

Eek, it all sounds so complicated! It must be so hard planning your wedding half way across the country, but if anyone can do it, you can! Hey, the AF even paid you to plan parties, you're a pro! I can't wait to see the pictures!
BTW, I LOVE Hobby Lobby, the nearest one up here is over an hour away. That is the only thing I miss about AR.

[M]

Hey, the hardest part about the arch is getting the swords. Honestly, it's not that hard to execute. Takes only about an hour to learn to do perfectly, guys love to put on their dress uniforms (usually change for the reception) and it's more fun when you know who's smacking you on the butt. (Welcome back to the Air Force! HAHAHAHAH!)

I have some friends who had to borrow swords from the local NROTC unit because we were all in Va Beach and they were getting married in Michigan. As a backup, I had some friends stationed in the area who were willing to loan me their swords as a favor. (My sword has been in more weddings than I have. Long story.) In other words, are any of your friends USAFA types stationed nearby? They might be able to scrounge up some sabers for you.

[Michelle]

first of all you are so on top of it because you have a list in the first place! frames should be an easy thing to pick up last minute. i wouldn't even worry about it. and people always rsvp at the last minute for everything. so annoying.

[sophie]

Just remember that no matter what happens--it will be beautiful and fun. And you will be married. Did you sign someone up to be your bitch for the day? (and I mean that in the nicest possible sense of the word. You need someone whose only job is to make your life easier.)

[Girl, Dislocated]

I'm so excited for you! And I have to agree with what L said about your list!

[Jenn]

I think that having wedding photos of your parents and grandparents is a fantastic idea! I don't know what is so hard about sending in the little card, either. I didn't have that problem (we eloped!) but my parents were frantically calling people the week before the wedding to find out who was coming. And then to add to the fun, my sister's MIL told people they could just add extra people to their RSVP and write that "Mary said it was OK." It was NOT ok.

You're really on top of things so I'm sure everything will be fine. At the end of the day, you'll be married and that's the most important thing.

[E]

I agree with Sophie. You need someone to run interference for the day and freak out at people on your behalf, so you can stay composed, and beautiful. :)

[La]

Ooh, um? When you're going through planning withdrawal? You can totally come plan my wedding, because even thinking about it makes me want to hyperventilate. May 17. Plenty of time, right?

[RisibleGirl]

This, my dear little friend, is why I had BJ plan the wedding. Of course, being the second marriage for both of us- it wasn't nearly the event of yours. That would have dern-near killed me.

Oh- and the envelope is in the mail. Hint taken. ;)

[TasterSpoon]

That RSVP thing is really bugging me, too. I hope you can delegate that checkup phone call job - maybe that'd be less embarrassing for everybody. I hope you take everybody up on their offers of help!

Wow, I would have no idea how or where to get my birth certificate. I wonder if the hospital keeps copies.

[Erica Gibson]

Geaux Tigers! I got married in Baton Rouge and when I went to get my marriage license they gave me a little bag of goodies like you used to get in the LSU bookstore at the beginning of the semester. Things like deodorant and laundry detergent - you know so you smell fresh and clean on your wedding day.