Less Than Three Weeks

The reality of what we're getting into is starting to weigh on me and Kate. We do still very much want to get married, but it's jarring to realize how much our life is about to change in just a couple of weeks.

I think I'm holding up pretty well...just a spot of anxiety that crops up now and again. Kate's keeping things together fairly well too. She mentioned to me that the hardest part of this time period is having to listen to everyone (family and friends) telling her, "Oh, you HAVE to do it this way!" or "You CAN'T do it that way!" or so forth. I want to tell her to just yell at everybody to shut up and let her enjoy HER wedding....but that's not an attitude either of us really want to have set in so for now we just keep muddling through.

If anyone pushes her too far though...I swear I'll lose it. Gotta defend the sanity and happiness of my girl, y'know. :-)

On to happier subjects!!!!

The bridal shower that Betsy organized for Kate last Sunday went off without a hitch. It sounds like Kate actually enjoyed being the center of attention this time, which was nice. We also realized that we have quite a few seriously generous friends! Our sincere thanks to everyone who contributed to the fiesta!

In case you're interseted, you can click here for some pictures that my mother took at the shindig. (Please forgive Kate; she has a tendency to blink when a camera is pointed at her.) ;-)

As far as other preparation details are concerned, we're actually in good shape. I've had more than a few folks ask me if we're feeling overwhelmed by all the details. To which I cheerfully respond, "No, most things are just falling into place." And get this: Most people don't actually believe me!

Let's see...we're meeting with Father Larry on Friday to discuss the final details of the ceremony. We FINALLY got around to picked out the readings that we liked so we're ready for that. Once we hammer out the procession of the ceremony, we can e-mail our sister (Aileen and Dianna) and give them the readings that they'll be doing for us. We may need to track down a couple more volunteers for additional readings but we'll see about that on Friday.

We picked up the wedding favors that we're going to put together. Now all we need to do is bake up a big batch of fudge! That's planned for this Saturday.

Kate made amazing progress on the centerpiece candles and finished them all! We still need to stop at Michael's and pick up mirrors and rose petals and we should be in good shape there.

I talked to the manager at Walrus Ice Cream and it sounds like a large order of ice cream cakes shouldn't be a problem. Kate and I need to figure out what flavors we want and put the order in at the end of the week. I'm leaning toward cake batter flavor plus some kind of berry...but Kate would prefer some chocolate thrown in somewhere. Also, my folks gave us a cake server and cutter for the wedding that we can use. Yay! No need to borrow anything from the church or the caterer!

Kate and Tammy are making good progress on Kate's veil. Monday night they finished the trim (whatever that implies), which was apparently a time-consuming job. Kate also recently picked up the ballet slippers that she wanted to wear for the ceremony so shoes are done. She also just dropped off her wedding gown for a professional cleaning.

Kate got the musicians for the ceremony handled. She went with the string group that was organized by Carla, her former landlord. Since I was fairly indifferent as to the musical pieces playing during the ceremony, Kate went ahead and picked out the three major pieces that she liked. She played a CD for me tonight so I could hear them and I do like them. We won't need the musicians for the reception since I'm putting together some CDs for the incidental music there (which I really ought to get going on).

Bill and I went into Mister Neats Formalwear last Saturday to get our final fittings for our tuxedos. With any luck, we should be a couple of stylin' fellas. :-)

Here's what we still need to get done:

1. Bake fudge (lots of fudge).
2. Order ice cream cakes.
3. Make appointment for rehearsal dinner at Beaujo's Pizza.
4. Burn music CDs for reception.
5. Design programs for ceremony and reception.
6. Finish wedding favors.
7. Buy gifts for wedding party and parents.
8. Pick up marriage license.
9. Design guestbook.
10. Place final order for flowers from Palmer House.
11. Write toasts for rehearsal dinner and reception.
12. Organize seating chart for reception.
13. Get final guest count to Lopiano's.
14. Confirm wedding day appointments (photographer, hairstylist, etc).
15. Confirm travel details (train, hotels, etc).
16. Confirm sandwich catering for Saturday get-together.
17. Pick up unity candle from St Walburga Abbey.

There may be other details that I've forgotten but these are the major events. Most of the running-around-town details we're going to try to do this Friday before our work shifts. The stay-at-home stuff we're going to do on Saturday and Sunday. I guess there goes our weekend. :-)

So, we're doing pretty well, all things considered. I think we're just really, really ready to take that three-week vacation to the East Coast! :-)