Wedding Blog

And now, back to your regularly scheduled guest-photo recap. Pardon me if I pack a LOT of action into this post— the best way to replicate how I felt the day before our wedding is to completely overwhelm you with details.

Last you saw us, we were stuck bickering in a 2-man tent. Now, it was time to REALLY get ready to get hitched… and THIS is the location for which we were headed:

(Our ceremony site in Polebridge)

Thursday before the wedding was a whirlwind: driving back from Many Glacier to West Glacier, welcoming guests, having dinner with twenty of Mr. CP’s extended family, frantically trying to press my dress, and making sure everyone was prepared for tomorrow’s rehearsal. It all went by in a panicked blur. And despite the welcome packets we’d put together that the hotel staff was gleefully handing out to our guests, no one seemed to know what was going on! RAAGH!

But there was no time to worry; there was only time to ride the wave. So that’s what I did, existing in a state of mock-serenity that carried me through Thursday evening and into Friday morning. I woke up drained, exhausted and feeling completely unprepared to get married in just over 24 hours.

Despite that we’d come to Glacier early as a vacation, we still had plenty of business to take care of. First, Mr. CP, my Maid of Honor, and I drove 30 minutes to Columbia Falls to drop off the best of our antique mason jars with the florist to use for centerpieces. Then, the three of us drove another 20 minutes to the Kalispell Clerk of Court.

Yeah, you read right. We got our marriage license the day before our wedding. It wasn’t a hassle and it only took half an hour, but I dread to think what would have happened if anything had gone wrong. It’s not like we wanted to wait until the last minute, but with the clerk’s limited hours, holiday closures (Labor Day), and our backpacking trip, Friday was the only time we could get into the office.

We got our license and my Maid of Honor snapped a few photos…

Yaaaay! Unfortunately, by then, we were late for the bride & bridesmaids’ nail appointments at Sage Salon in Whitefish. We rushed another 20 minutes in the opposite direction and arrived to find my mom and sisters already in mid-manicure.

Mr. CP returned to the Lake McDonald Lodge, planning to pick up my dad and meet us at Polebridge to rehearse later in the evening. (Hint: That’s foreshadowing there.)

It felt like I had only seconds to relax while I got my nails done, and then it was time for my second hair trial. I wrote earlier about how my first hair trial in May was less-than-perfect. Well, now, the wedding was tomorrow and I only had one more chance to get it right! For my second trial, I wanted to achieve a new look. We’ll call it, “the LION”

As you can see here, it’s was very lifelike…

RAAAAAAHHH!! Just kidding. This is my hair in the early stages of a pretty spot-on trial for what I’d wear at the wedding.

Oh, God. I look so exhausted in that photo. Guess what? I was.

In no time, we were off on another hour’s drive to Polebridge for the rehearsal. We arrived early but, so it seemed, so did everyone else. In the middle of running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get everything and everyone organized, I found myself having to greet three-dozen people I hadn’t seen in months, if not years.

I was NOT feeling very together. Everything was happening too fast!

And to top it all off… I was missing a groom!

Mr. CP was supposed to meet my dad at the lake and drive to Polebridge with the Best Man. But time was ticking, and he was nowhere to be seen. Then, who should show up but my dad and uncle, in a rental car, with nary a groom or Best Man in sight. Oh… KAY.

When dad had come back late from a kayak trip and hadn’t seen Mr. CP, he had decided to leave for Polebridge, without leaving a note. But Mr. CP and the Best Man were also running late – and didn’t have time to wait around for my dad (who had already left) to show up.

Fortunately, Mr. CP has a decent sense of prioritization and, uh, he knows my dad pretty well, so they decided to take off when they realized how late they were running.

Meanwhile, the Polebridge crew was setting up and sound-testing the stage. BY PLAYING PUNK ROCK AT A MILLION DECIBLES.

So I was running around, trying to have conversations, making small talk, taking care of major details, and looking for my future husband, all while getting a splitting headache. Did I mention I don’t like punk rock?

After asking several times if they could change the music or turn it down, they finally put on something more tolerable in a stressful situation, but the damage had been done—my nerves were frayed almost beyond repair.

I could see that I was unnerving Katalin, our planner/coordinator. Here she was, trying to de-stress me, and I was working myself into a tizzy anyway. What can I say? I just have to be in control sometimes. I was willing to let go on the wedding day, but I had a few more hours to make sure all of my needs were going to be met and damned if I wasn’t going to use that time to GET PEOPLE ORGANIZED.

I was trying really hard to be patient and polite, but despite deep breathing and constant offers of help from friends, I still felt like I was being a complete bridezilla.

When it came time to pack the favors (we waited ’til the last minute to make sure the cookies were freshest) it turned out I hadn’t ordered nearly enough. A problem easily remedied due to the next-door proximity of the bakery and their plentiful supply, but it gave me an ulcer just thinking about what else could go wrong. It was cold, it was rainy and oh, god, I STILL wasn’t prepared.

But then, my friends stepped in, took over, sat me down and gave me a beer and some pizza. It was the first thing I’d eaten since breakfast. That’s when things started looking better and just kept improving.

By the time I went to bed, I felt calm, accomplished, and ready. I guess I’d just needed one more day to work my butt off on all the kinks.

Next time: Before the ceremony, waiting to exhale