Transforming the Space

The other day, I told Ian that I missed planning a wedding.

He said, "no you don't".

OK. So let me rephrase that. I miss when it was acceptable to browse wedding blogs for hours for "inspiration".

I miss trips to antique shops with my dad to look for old tins, glass bottles, and vintage sheet music.

I miss sitting on the floor of my apartment, watching Veronica Mars DVDs, making table numbers and candy bags with my girlfriends.

I think.

Then I realized the most exciting part of the wedding planning was the excitement and anticipation that last stretch before the big day. That period of time when I knew change was coming real fast and while I wanted it to get there faster, I was soaking up the last days in PA with friends and family close by, graciously willing to help out with whatever mundane tasks that were needed.

The week of the wedding consisted of running around town like a chicken with my head cut off (with my sister so kindly chauffeuring) and trying to make sense of the piles and piles of wedding paraphernalia piling up at my house. Up until that week, we didn't know for sure whether or not we would be able to decorate the hall the day before, so I was frantically setting up all the displays on my parents dining room table, taking photos of it, and writing very detailed instructions in case other people were going to have to set it up the morning of the wedding. I'm kind of a control freak like that.

Luckily, Friday rolled around and there were no events scheduled at the club, so we piled all the bottles, candy, table numbers, and other odds and ends into the car and sent a mass email to the bridal party enlisting their help.

At 2:00 sharp, almost our entire AMAZING bridal party showed up, all twenty of 'em
along with their significant others, as well as other family and friends. And everyone went to work.

Less than two hours later, the entire room was done. Our banquet manager was amazed at the help we had.

 When we were done, I looked around at the space, our friends still busily putting the finishing touches on things, and got a wave of emotion that all the planning, inspirations, and hard work were finally coming down to this; the wedding I had been dreaming of.

But we couldn't hang around for too long, because the rehearsal was next! Time to get cleaned up and practice goin' to the chapel. 

Stay tuned.