It’s been just over two weeks since the wedding, so my memories are already getting a bit fuzzy. I loved it, I’ll always remember at least that much. Things were by no means perfect, but all the important stuff went just fine.
The whole weekend felt celebratory. I had friends coming from Oregon and Seattle that I hadn’t seen in quite a while. Several people were staying with me so the house was full. My bridesmaids threw me a bachelorette brunch on Friday morning. It was a relaxed time of good food (meadow tea, delicious sandwiches with curry mayo, and a chocolate fountain), a short skit, and embarrassing gifts. The girls went around the table and told about a significant memory of me/how we met. They all said alot of wonderful things about me. There’s nothing quite like a group of woman you love, respect and admire talking about what they admire in you. Then Abby, Jess, Becca and Abby G. and I all went and indulged in manicures and pedicures. What fun!
The first complication also came up in the morning. Becca made my display cake, and she had put together the smallest of the cakes that morning. Unfortunately it completely slide apart. We decided to go ahead and try and remake it, and I enlisted my sister Karis to make another set of 6 inch cakes, and Abby G. to run to Michael’s for more fondant. I figured if the other cakes slide apart as well, we just wouldn’t have a cake on display, and there would definitely be enough sheet cakes to go around. Maybe the caterers could bring out one of the sheet cakes for Mike and I to cut. I think I would have been a bit sad about that, but no biggy. Fortunately, it didn’t come to that. The cakes turned out lovely, and with a bit of ribbon at the bottom, and loads of beautiful flowers scattered around it was all I could have asked for. Mike and I took the 10 inch (chocolate, raspberry and ganache, yum!) with us on our honeymoon and shared big chunks of it 🙂
The rehearsal took the full two hours I had alloted. It got a bit stressful, but mostly because I was nervous that people would get frustrated. Of course that worry was unfounded, but I’m a worrier. Mary L Y, our pastor, really helped things move along. Dustin, Mike’s cousin filmed the rehearsal in prep for filming the next day, and I can’t wait to watch his footage from that night. The rehearsal dinner at the college cabin went well, although I dropped a whole gallon of meadow tea concentrate on the ground as we were arriving. It was a good exercise in letting go of perfection. It would have been nice to have, and I felt badly that Abby’s mom went to all the trouble to make it only for it to go to waste, but we had plenty of other good things to drink. I didn’t even have to clean it up. My brother Andre’ and someone else (probably Jennifer) volunteered to pick up all the glass and I had dropped it in the parking lot, so the tea just soaked into the ground. It’s kind of nice how everyone’s willing to help you with stuff when you’re a bride about to get married. The evening was capped off with games. There were several groups playing TiChu, and a group of us played a really long round of Bang.
Speaking of Jennifer. Jenn is one of my best friends. We’ve known each other since volleyball camp before our freshman year of high school. Sophmore-Senior year I lived with her family on the weekends. We have remained close dispite distance and growing differences in lifestyle and morals. She came to Indiana a week and a half before the wedding, and was immensly helpful to me in getting things done and maintaining my sanity.
I had every intention of going to bed by 12 Friday night, but of course that didn’t happen. around 12:30 I was painting signs to direct people to the reception site and to additional parking at the church. I think I finally went to bed around 1:30.
Alrighty, more later on the actual wedding day.
Lady In Green 
I think it’s good your writing about things now. As you said, some of those memories will fade, so getting it down now is important. Even though I was very much in all of this, it was also nice to hear about stuff I hadn’t been aware of.