Weddingbee Blog

When we arrived at the venue, the first thing I saw upon walking into the bride’s room were my beautiful flowers, delivered and set up by our florist. I had to take a peek in the main room to see how everything was coming together—SO WELL!—but was quickly ushered back into the bride’s room, hiding away to avoid an encounter with Mr. Ladyfingers. We were not doing a first look, so I’d have to wait until the ceremony to actually see him.

The venue was so quiet and peaceful; the only people there being the bridal party, some family, and our vendors.

Dude, this bride’s room was hot. I mean, there were many degrees of heat and plenty of humidity in the air. The day was beautiful, but I felt so stuffy trying to get into my dress! It didn’t help that, upon arriving, all the windows were open and the air was off. Thank goodness I brought along my portable fan, which was pretty much a huge lifesaver as my girls trussed me up. We’d made sure to leave about 30 minutes for this part, just because if you put my dress on slightly crooked or had it even a little askew when you started lacing up the corset, then you’d have to undo and start all over again.

As guests started arriving, I peeked out of the window…

…which ceremony coordinator Christy quickly put a stop to by closing the blinds and admonishing me. I wasn’t supposed to peek! Boo.

BM Prego kept me entertained and feeling more than a little awkward – my natural state.

The DJ had queued up the music already, and when BM Ginger ran out to grab something, the strains of the Plain White T’s “Hey There, Delilah” came wafting through the doorway. I pretty much immediately started to tear up. Christy told me to stop or else I’d ruin my makeup—thank goodness for her!

This song always reminded me of Mr. Ladyfingers, and him of me. For no good reason, really—I mean, we lived about an hour apart for the first year of our relationship, but it was by no means an LDR, and certainly not a situation of unrequited love. But I’d learned that he had a little crush on me before we actually started seeing each other, and would think of me when he heard this song. He put it on the first mix CD ever made for me, and… well… it was a natural for the prelude section of the ceremony.

What else did we play during the prelude? This was one of the most fun parts of the whole affair—choosing the songs people would hear before sitting down. I won’t do a terrible lot of embedding here, but our list was:

• Bruce Springsteen, “Happy” Mr. Ladyfingers had originally lobbied to make this our first dance song. He’s the No. 1 Bruce Springsteen fan, I tell you. But I had to back out of my originally promise, because I just really hate The Boss. I didn’t feel right dancing to something that only one of us liked – and thankfully, he wasn’t too broken up about it (though he did bring it up what seemed like every other day).
• Big Star, “Thirteen” OMG I love love love this song. The lyrics and melody are so simple and evoke what it’s like to be in love at 13—which is probably one of the most fun ages to be in love, before reality actually sets into your life! It’s also hard to believe this song is from 1972. Timeless.
• The Beach Boys, “God Only Knows“ I shouldn’t have to tell you why this song is so amazing. I love it even more for its association with “Big Love,” which I kinda fell in love with last year.
• Simon & Garfunkel “Bridge Over Troubled Water“ Our DJ told us this was a weird song for a wedding… I don’t get it. Just listen to the lyrics. “When you’re weary, feeling small, When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all; I’m on your side. when times get rough…” Come on. You get it.
• Sufjan Stevens “To Be Alone With You“ Kiiind of a new one! I think it’s gorgeous. The lyrics maybe aren’t the lovie-est-dovie-est, but I’m sort of smitten with Sufjan’s voice, so whatever.

As the music continued to faintly play, the whole “clamming up when I’m nervous” thing came into play big time here.

And just like that, there was some final straightening, a few words of encouragement, and my girls were gone, lined up outside. There was just me, my bouquet, and a whole lot of emotions.

Yep, it was about that time.

All photos by Shorts Shots Photography

• We made final preparations, visited with family members, rehearsed, and ate a miniature Mr. Ladyfingers
• The girls and I got gussied up and headed out to the venue