Down to the Wire

In just 5 days....
I cannot believe that by this Friday night, I will be a married woman. So strange and surreal. There were definite moments in my life when I thought I would never see this day. And now, here it is...just 5 days away from being a reality.

I am happy to say that my shoulders feel lighter with every decision that is finally made and every task I get to cross off my list. Finally, the list is actually getting smaller, instead of a new task taking the place of the one I just crossed off.

So now, finally, I am starting to get excited about my wedding. I've been excited about my marriage, but it just seemed like so much work to get to it! But the wedding...as each detail comes together, I can finally see a picture of it. And I am so excited.

This week was big. Because my rehearsal was this Saturday, I had to get a lot together. I had to have my programs done (searching high and low for affordable paper! I mean, most people are just going to throw it out). But I couldn't do the programs until I decided on the music. I finally picked the paper - a great find from Office Max. The picture is below, and the programs are turned counter clockwise and folded. Only $6.99 for 100 sheet. Sold!
And by Thursday, I finally (I mean, finally) decided on the music for the ceremony. I went back and forth over the bridal processional - almost using this song. I first fell in love with this song when I did a solo trip to Shelter Island. I remember sitting on the hood of my car at the beach, just listening to this over and over and thinking that I'd love to walk down the aisle to this someday.

Well, it was close; it almost happened. I had mixed reviews from the family, but in the end, I wasn't confident with it. The bagpipes just sounded too harsh and squealy.

In the end, I decided to go with "Anne's Theme" performed by Bronn Journey (he is a harpist). It is from 'Anne of Green Gables' - which was my FAVORITE growing up! This version is very beautiful and doesn't sound movie-soundtrack-y at all. When we had our rehearsal on Saturday (I will get to that in a minute), I knew it was the right choice. It was perfect for the church we were having the ceremony in. It all fit.

For the family processional, I came across this piece, "Wedding on the Mountain," which again, worked great in the church. I also used quite a few other pieces from Robin Spielberg for the prelude music. I threw in a few classical songs, but overall, that just felt too formal for me. The soft piano felt much better.

So yes, the rehearsal! We had it this Saturday, the week before the wedding. My sister (MOH) lives upstate, and she was coming down already this weekend for my other sister's baby christening.

The best part about it was when I was practicing walking down the aisle with my dad. I looked at James, just to sort of test it out, to see what it would be like. Would we be nervous? Anxious? Relaxed? It was good to see that we both looked and felt just happy and relaxed. We were looking at each other and not all around - and I love that we were smiling and we connected. And I was fine to take that as a pleasant foreshadowing of what is to come.

We were going to have a informal breakfast after the rehearsal, but a lot of the guys couldn't make it for various and sundry reasons (and James will NEVER argue about passing up a social gathering if he can watch the college basketball tournaments instead), so it ended up just being a girls breakfast. My bridal party was having my bachelorette Saturday anyway, so we just made a day of it.

It was fun and simple...mani's and pedi's, a stop in between for some cheese and crackers and a glass of wine, and then tapas at a fun place called Toast, where fondues are their specialties.

And so, here we are....Sunday night. Still lots to do. Fine tuning the seating charts, a little more printing of inserts to go with the favors. The centerpieces still are not made (although my manzanita branches did finally come in). I still have to finish moving out of my apartment and moving into our house - that probably is causing me the most stress, 2nd only to the stress I feel about trying to get all my stuff done at work before I'm out for the wedding (I am missing 6 days of school, right on top of a week and a half spring break. Sweet!).

But I feel relief that it is just one more week of the craziness - I can run it out for one more week...and then the big day will be here...and then the honeymoon begins...

:)