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No matter how much advanced planning you do, there are things that you can’t plan for. While I was trying to nail down some of my last minute details things changed.
1) Ceremony Readings:
We asked my mother to read “My True Love” by Sir Phillip Sydney during the ceremony (see my post Wedding Planning Part II to read it). It’s a lovely poem and very “us” but she wasn’t comfortable with it. She decided she wanted to read “Tin Wedding Whistle“ by Ogden Nash. This is a charming poem, and as it turns out, couplets from it were included on my parents wedding invitation. Nice connection.
2) GM attire:
When I first started planning, I intended for the groomsmen to wear brown suits to match my bridesmaids’ Ann Taylor Brown Dresses. There was much searching for a brown rental suit — high and lo in New York City, and nothing, so I decided to compromise and they rented black suits. But I had to do something about the ties so it felt more festive and complemented the bridesmaids dresses. So Mr. Onion and I went to Saks Fifth Avenue and found these lovely ties that were a Saks brand. These will act as our groomsmen gifts as they were not inexpensive.
I almost can’t believe it and I really don’t think I feel it yet, but I am 2 days from becoming Mrs. Z. I’m really excited at this point. One of our GM’s just came over to try on his tux and he looks quite handsome. There’s really nothing left for me to do but pack for Sunday night, as I am sleeping over at my parents’ house. On Sunday, we are rounding up our wedding party at our place to run through Monday’s wedding schedule. I have written down contact information of the vendors for my wedding party in case anything should happen. I’ve also listed the wedding party’s cell phone numbers so that they can reach each other. I’m doing this because, as controlling as I normally am, I do not plan on doing anything on Monday except to smile and have fun! I really mean it.
I’ve also been wearing my heels around a bit more and feel much more comfortable in it now. I have one more hair & makeup trial session with my girls and that’s it. Oh most importantly, yesterday I went to the city and enjoyed a spa package which included a shiatsu/hot stone massage, body scrub & a pedicure! A must do for all brides to be - it’s totally worth it!
Because I am getting married today. Up late with the jitters, I decided to write one last post as a single woman. I feel that I this point, I have planned as much as I could. I’m ready to enjoy the day and have fun!I promise when I come back, I will share all my DIY projects and pictures! A bientot!
It’s final crunch time — I’m getting married in 10 days, but we are leaving for Vermont in 8 days so I basically have a week left to nail down all the details. Here’s what’s on tap for me:
1) Finalizing our flower plan (just dropped Dana from Fresh Floral Design Studio an email). Because we are having 20+ less people than we’d invited/planned on, we had some money left over for pew decorations like these:
From Martha Stewart Weddings
Featured on Weddingbee
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
“Make an elegant invitation statement without the fuss. Stylish invitation sets with matching envelopes, reception and response cards included.”
Mama Corn is here this weekend helping me with the last of the things that need to get done. Yesterday morning was my final dress fitting. My Boston bridesmaid came along to record exactly how to string up the back and do the bustle so that there is more than one person who knows how to do it. The dress is now pressed and hanging from the ceiling on our third floor. Turns out I am so tall, the dress doesn’t fit in the bag without bunching up at the bottom 
so it is out of the bag and we have sealed off the room. Mr. Corn is on strict orders to stay away from the third floor.
Yesterday afternoon my mom made all 60 votives for the reception tables while I finished making the centerpieces. (We wrapped the sea grass in paper so that it wouldn’t spread out and get tangled en-route to Newport).
This morning I had an appointment with my longtime friend and stylist, Raul, here in Orlando. Although he won’t be able to come to the wedding to do my hair, it was so great to see him and get to catch up and to get a final trim before the big day. You can read more of the story here if you are interested…it is rather lengthy which is why I refrained from posting it on the Bee.
Next up, flying back to Boston tomorrow and meeting up with my mom to tie ribbons on the rest of the programs, finishing making all of the centerpieces and votives, and a my final dress fitting on Saturday.
Create the honeymoon of your dreams.
As you know, I am in Orlando until Thursday for work. Basically, I am sitting at a desk in a freezing lobby of a hotel by Sea World in case one of the 666 FT Audit Campus hires that my firm just hired has an HR question. Thankfully, we haven’t had that many fires to put out.
This has provided me with LOTS of time to sit and contemplate how my wedding is only 18 days away!!
18 DAYS!! YAYYYYYYYY!!!
Some people thought I was nuts to go to Orlando with only two weeks left before the big day, but actually it really pushed me into high gear to make sure everything was all set before I left.
Yes, there are things that need to wait until the last minute…seating arrangements, getting our license, having our final vendor meetings and my final dress fitting. But other than that, we could get married tomorrow if we needed to.
The time is quickly approaching… Our countdown is now in the teens and I’m starting to get butterflies in my stomach! It seems like just yesterday when we were still at 6 months… I am so excited and anxious for that weekend to come, not just for the wedding, but also for the flurry of other events that will take place! Here is the 411 on the Emeralds’ Wedding Weekend Extravaganza!
Thursday: Big casual BBQ/welcome dinner at my parents’ place for about 25-30 people (mostly relatives)
Friday: Rehearsal + Rehearsal dinner for 50 people
Saturday: THE BIG DAY!
Sunday: Big casual breakfast, again at my parents’ house for about 25-30 people
Sunday Afternoon: Traditional Chinese tea ceremony at Mr. E’s parents’ house
Sunday Night: Huge Chinese wedding banquet for 300+ people
Monday: Hawaii, here we come, hallelujah!
Insane! What other wedding-related events are you having?!
…I have been super busy of late (go figure).
Summer is the busiest time of year for my team at work since that is when the most new hires come in. Not only are there the regular-’ole off-the-street new hires, but there are also around 1,500 interns and 1,400 full time campus hires that start between mid-June and the second week of September (which just happens to be when I am getting married). So not only do I have all of the wedding preparations keeping busy, but I am dealing with the enormity of preparing to leave my job for three weeks during the end of our busiest time of year.
Coming up on the schedule:
Friday 8/17 - my second bachelorette function (going out to drinks with some friends)
Saturday 8/18 - I leave super early in the morning for a trip to Florida for work
Inspired by Miss Eggplant’s post, I thought I would also post a list of our recent ups and downs.
Yay! All of my bridesmaids have purchased and tailored their gowns.
Boo! Our cake baker just moved to Maryland, though she swears that she’ll still get our cake done. I’m worried because we won’t be there for the trial run of the design.
Yay! We had enough guests decline so that we will be under budget and fit in our venue comfortably (although no surprises with so many guests overseas).
Boo! We will really miss seeing most of the guests who won’t be there.
Yay! Our koi nobori finally arrived! They will be used to decorate the aquarium and the church and they mark our last big wedding purchase.
Ok so we are now 11 days away from our wedding day! Woot! Woot! I would like to paint a picture of what the last few weeks have been in the Jelly Bean household.
Hold on to something, you are in for a bumpy ride.
My dad, very ambitious but lacks “bridal organizational skills” decided to dig up a perfectly good backyard, sideyard and front entryway 1.5 months before the wedding. Fast forward to today. I blindfold myself every time I enter and exit the house.
My dad, and my 3 younger brothers purchase a full size drum set which is now located in the middle of the family room amidst my wedding piles. *enter tranquilizer dart*
I just received an email this morning from our decorator, that the company who was going to drape our tent had an incident involving fire and our draping fabric. So that means no draping for the Jelly Beans wedding. Surprisingly, I was calm when I called our wedding planner. There was no throwing, screaming or crying of any kind. Yet.
The boys have planned their bachelor party. I don’t have any details, except that they have rented an 8 passenger van to pick up Best Man #1 at the airport at 6am (he’s flying in from San Diego) and head straight to Montreal. The roadtrip is estimated to be 7 hours going and coming. That’s 14 hours of driving time in 2 days. Upon arrival, Best Man #2 has plans in the works, which are a secret to both Mr. Violet & myself. I’m not worried about what they’ll do when they’re in Montreal, I’m just worried about them getting back in time in a fairly presentable state (not haggard & drunk or even sick from the drive), as our wedding is the following day!
Coincidentally, they are getting their tuxes two days before they leave. Unfortunately, Best Man #1 will not be able to try it on for changes because he’s not coming until the day they leave for the trip. And if the other boys need to alter anything on their tuxes, they’ll have to make sure they get back in time the day before the wedding to pick it up.
The countdown that is!
19 more days until our wedding. Wow! Time flew by so fast as soon as we hit the 1 month mark.
So what have I been up to?
Well I have been a missing bean in action due to the following events:
1. Mr. Jelly Bean and I purchased a car! Yeay! But along with the yeay comes exhausting amounts of paperwork.
2. Following up on the missing RSVPS. Dont even get me started. Oh but since I have already started, we had an usher (not the R&B sensation, that wouldn’t fit in the budget), ringbearer and flowergirl back out less than a month before the wedding.
3. Work in Progress- Ceremony programs and Placecards. I spent a ridiculous amount of hours printing out the programs. Brought it to Staples to have them cut only to realize that all the cuts were uneven big time. Bummer! So now back to square one.
The Radishes just returned this week from a busy, busy week in Upstate New York. We got a TON of stuff accomplished. Such as…
All in all it was a very productive trip and I dare say that we even had a little bit of fun. Unfortunately, I did get a speeding ticket in Ohio on the way there (damn air radar) and the 15-hour drive home was brutal… I think I’m still recovering from it. Nothing some hardcore napping and shouldn’t fix, though. I should be just like new in no time.
“I am sick. I am sick, sick, sick of your shit. And when I’m not sick, I’m tired. I am sick and tired!” - Wanda Sykes, “Monster in Law”
This is approximately how I feel about the wedding planning process right now. I am just so over it. I’m ready to be married. I have had a stomachache for the last 24 hours or so due to stress and anxiety. Similarly, my left eye has been twitching for about the last 24 hours, also due to stress.
Why does wedding planning usually look like so much fun on TV and movies? The fun moments have been there, for sure, but it’s been predominately stressful. I just need to be done with all this. I’m tired of looking at ribbon and paper and card stock. I’m sick of designing menus and looking at veils and discussing flowers. I just want to spend forever with my soulmate.
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