20. MORE. DAYS! Yikes!!!

Tomorrow marks exactly 20 days until “the biggest day of our lives,” and I have clearly been overly consumed with tying up the odds and ends of preparation. I have become a horrible blogger, and the worst part about it is, I told myself that a month prior to the wedding I would start blogging more than ever. Unfortunately, time has just not permitted me to do that; however, I have so much to share with everyone, and in the next 20 days, I hope to become a more avid, dedicated blogger!

A very excited face... this is how I feel about getting married in 20 days!

I have discovered in the last two weeks that as a bride, the last month is the most stressful, crucial part of the planning process. No matter how early you plan and how much you get knocked out in the first several months of a year-long planned wedding, you will still have more to do in the last month than you ever thought possible. I used to question the sanity of my friends who decided to get married three to six months after an engagement. I always thought, ‘what’s the rush?’ Well, the rush is simply getting it over with!!! Tres and I have enjoyed every second of our 13-month engagement, but there have been more times than one when we have looked at each other and said, ‘I wish we would have done this months ago.’ ‘I wish we were married now.’

For an engaged couple, time flies so quickly, and when you have over a year to plan, you don’t think about the morning you will wake up and it’s 20 days until your wedding – because you never actually thought the day would come. For brides who only have 90 days to plan, they are, for three months, thinking about everything they must get done, and their ideas don’t just sit inside their brains with zero action taken – these brides get busy!!! Not to mention, when you have a year to plan, you have plenty of time to make decisions, change your mind, book vendors. At three months, there are no weighing 100 different options, once a decision is made, there’s no time to change it, and frankly, a lot of vendors are probably already booked up, so you have to just take what’s available. A year ago, being a “speedy bride” sounded like torture to me, but I currently think otherwise – although, I am almost 100% sure my perfectionism would have not permitted me to be a speedy bride!

Family: Grandmother, Mom, and Sister-In-Law

Speaking of perfect, last weekend, I attended the PERFECT shower thrown my six of my wonderful bridesmaids. My best college girlfriends: Ginger, Sara, Tracy, Amy Claire and my best high school friends: Stephanie and Erin, collaborate to throw me the most beautiful, perfect shower. All I did was come up with the theme: HATS, and the girls got to work! Here’s what I liked most about this fantastic shower:

1) The décor- Ginger thought up the color scheme and it turn out beautifully. I was overly impressed with the ambiance, the flowers, and the complete girlish theme! And Stephanie printed out several of our engagement pictures, framing them all in brown frames around the tables – it was the perfect touch!
2) The location- We had the shower in downtown Memphis at a restaurant that is actually in the same building I live in. Not only is did the restaurant set the theme to the shower flawlessly; it was convenient to be able to take the elevator straight upstairs to my condo to drop off all my great gifts!
3) The food – This restaurant’s food is superb, and Ginger and Stephanie did a great job picking out the menu. We were served a fruit plate, mouth watering chicken sandwiches, spinach dip, smoked salmon, and of course wine galore!
4) The cake – One look at the picture, and you might just melt! Not only did the cake taste fantastic, but it was the perfect piece of décor to the hats theme!

5) The outfits – EVERYONE WORE HATS… just as I hoped! It’s not every day in this era a gal can just get dolled up in a pretty dress and floppy hat and not get odd looks. I have to say, hats shower or not, we still got looked at peculiarly, but it was so much fun !
6) The gifts – Tres and I were given SO MUCH STUFF at this shower! I was truly shocked at how much we received from the friends and family there and how much was sent by those who could not make it! I have been crossing my fingers to get our china and am excited to say, we now have nearly half of it!
7) THE COMPANY – I am so grateful for everyone who came to the shower. My wonderful family was there, of course, as they are always so supportive! I had the majority of my bridesmaids there – some which traveled long distances to make it to the party! And I had friends there from college and high school who I had not seen in ages - not to mention two of my best co-worker friends! It was wonderful visiting with everyone!
8) THE HOSTS – My girls have been so considerate and supportive throughout my year engagement, and throwing this shower for me was just the icing on that beautiful little hat cake! The six girls who threw this shower for me have always been there for me, and I can honestly say, they will all be on my and Tres’ 50th Anniversary Party list when that day comes!
Everything is passing so quickly before my eyes… I’ve had my bachelorette party, I had my final shower last weekend, and the wedding is just weeks away. As a woman, you throw showers for your best friends, you go to their bachelorette parties, and you’re a bridesmaid in their weddings. For me, I never imagined any of that actually happening for myself. But several years later, someone has thrown showers for me; I’ve opened a number of gifts I will hopefully use for the rest of my life; I have dressed silly, danced a lot, and drank too much at my own bachelorette party in Chicago; and 20 days from now, I will put on a white dress and walk with 9 beautiful bridesmaids – some of which I have seen all of these same things happen to. These things have happened to me, and it’s all been a blur. I’m sure the wedding will be just the same, but the only matter is the commitment I will make on October 17! Here’s to brides and grooms around the world – may everyone who chooses to make that promise keep it forever!