It's a Penguin Life

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Down to days: 0

I didn't want to be the bride that was up all night working hard to finish a project. I wanted to be the calm and collected bride that was nothing but happy and relaxed on the day of. Psh, I was smoking some good crack that's for sure.

I started off calm, or at least so I thought. But then I got ansy. I couldn't and wouldn't sit still. I tried for a little bit and then would fidget. I remember people telling me to just sit down and relax. I remember telling them "you don't understand, I have been going nonstop for what seem like forever."

I did one last "project" on my wedding day. I wouldn't call it a full project, I just added a finishing touch to Project Ring Car. I needed to add something to secure the rings to the car. Baker's twine was looped through the "roof" of the car, like ribbon would be used on a regular ring pillow. I don't remember if the videographer got this, but I know our photographer got a picture of me tying the rings on just before the ceremony started.

Bottomline, I am a complete nut job to have done all this.

Countdown:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4 and 5
Day 6 and 7
1 week
2 weeks
3 weeks
1 month
2 months
3 months
4 months

Monday, August 29, 2011

Down to days: 1

Woke up early to place all the escort cards in their respective envelopes. Thankfully I had the smarts to put them in alphabetical order long ago.

Packed up most things and got them ready for transport to the hotel. I recognized that I needed help and asked N to check me in and take a bunch of stuff to the room.

Jake took my family out on a duck boat tour while I went back to the spa for a manicure.

Made little signs for all the different things that would be served for dessert.

Fielded phone calls and text messages left and right. I wanted to throw my phone out a window. I remember yelling "just leave me alone! why won't you people just leave me alone?" Thankfully, I was alone and no one ever saw that ugly side.

Had mini meltdowns throughout the afternoon. I tried hard to choke back tears. There's only so much you can do when you are handed bad news (more on this later). Luckily, my pride was nice and strong and I was able to stifle the sadness and focus on tasks that needed to be done.

Had my family bust out some last minute DIY project. Project baby photos. I really had something different in my mind, and was ready to just call it. I really shouldn't have done it, but after hearing my dad say "you should do it", I couldn't deny the man.

We rehearsed and had a blast at the welcome dinner. I felt bad that people got lost and what not, but what could I have done?

After the welcome dinner was all wrapped up, I headed home to make signage for the photobooth and build-a-cupcake station. Somehow, I completely forgot to make one for the guestbook. *sigh*

"Quickly" packed my bag and headed to the hotel with all the guys's suits/shirts/shoes in tow. Well almost all the guys's. As we found out the next day, we forgot all about Jake's suit. Why did I do that? I had grand plans to stage all their outfits together for photos. Let me tell you, on the day of, I threw most of my ideas in the wind and just let my photographer do whatever.

Countdown:
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4 and 5
Day 6 and 7
1 week
2 weeks
3 weeks
1 month
2 months
3 months
4 months

Down to days: 2

Woke up early to finish gluing all the name/table assignment tags to the escort cards.

Hit the spa visit for a few beauty treatments. Stupid me waited too long to schedule a manicure and pedicure. I actually had to come back later in the day for my pedi and the next day for a mani.

While my siblings folded the last few pieces of paper for the origami balls, I fit all the pieces together to form them.

I was supposed to pick up my Chinese dress after my pedi, but my seamstress cancelled like 30 minutes before I said I would be available to swing by. Good thing for internet phones.

Greeted a friend and her two toddlers at the airport and helped them get situated with the rental car and their hotel. Thank God I met up with them, because traffic on I95/128N was atrocious. And this was at like 9pm! Oh and whole new respect for mom's out there, especially one's that travel cross country with a 4 year old and a 2 year old in tow without her husband! Mad props!

Picked my dad up from the bus stop at 11pm. I should have sent Jake, but I was out and about and still on this "I am Superwoman" kick.

Finished putting together the last of the origami balls and cubes. Me and my stupid ideas. There was more work than there was return on those damned balls. I may have thrown one or two of them out of frustration and exhaustion. There are just some things that you shouldn't work on when you are exhausted and stressed out.

Stamped all the escort cards with a clear stamp to make it look more like a watermark. I don't think anyone even noticed this. I shoulda just went to bed.

Passed out cold.

Countdown:
Day 3
Day 4 and 5
Day 6 and 7
1 week
2 weeks
3 weeks
1 month
2 months
3 months
4 months

Down to days: 3

*I'm doing the play-by-play recap of the days leading up to big party just so that I remember the crazy stress I put on myself. I will also use this to warn future brides and our future children of what not to do.*

After catching about 4 hours of sleep, Jake dropped me off at the rental car counter. I picked up the rental car and then waited for my family to land in Boston. Stupid me didn't bother to check their flight status. Since when does a red eye get delayed? They came in about 30 minutes late. Guess I could have slept in. But who needs sleep?

I took my mom and my brother's girlfriend to view/picked up my wedding gown while Jake dropped my dad off at the bus stop. Say what? You see, my dad, being the social creature that he is, wanted to go to NYC while he was here so that he could see his friends. Friends that he hadn't seen in close to 30 years. Sure, why not, one less person in our apartment would be a good thing.

Almost forgot that our wedding planner was stopping by to pick up all the DIY items and the welcome packages so that she could deliver them to the hotel. I literally ordered lunch and then ran out of the restaurant. My family returned with my food in tow before Paula even left the apartment. Let me tell you, it felt damned good to hand everything over. A HUGE sense of relief.

Printed and cut the names/table assignment tags that would be glued onto the front of the escort cards.

Put Jake to work categorizing them into their appropriate entree choices. Apparently, we screwed up at least two dinners. Woops, sorry. It was Jake's fault ;)

After letting my siblings rest "sufficiently", I put them to work folding sheets and sheets of paper to make origami balls for decor. I think they folded almost 200 sheets of paper of various sizes. I owe them big!

Started gluing the name tags to the escort cards.

I swear I did something else too all before passing out for the night.

Countdown:
Day 4 and 5
Day 6 and 7
1 week
2 weeks
3 weeks
1 month
2 months
3 months
4 months

Friday, August 26, 2011

Down to days: 4 and 5

Monday:

Made my last and final trip to Costco to purchase the last of the snacks that would go into either the welcome packages and the kids packs, or consumed by the wedding party. I swear Costco people knew me by name since I had been in there almost daily up to this point.

We went to our last and final dance lesson. Good thing we had this last lesson. We were able to figure out which way to face and how we needed to be situated for the grand finale.

Printed and cut all the pages for our programs. There was a lot of corner punching done by Jake in two days. I shouldn't have punched the corners on the cover page. That would have saved HOURS of work. I think the corner punch actually bruised his hand. Woops!

Tuesday:

Printed a welcome note that would be placed in the welcome packages.

Met my personal trainer for one last workout. It was really wierd how calm I was. I spent an hour and a half driving to and from the gym, and not once did I freak out about how I could be spending that time crafting. Instead, I enjoyed the quiet time. I remember telling her that all I had left to do was put together the programs, the welcome packages, and the escort cards. Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy. Right.

Made a quick run into Boston to pick up tourist brochures to put in the welcome packages. People probably thought I was some kind of nut job counting out 35 of each and then loading them into my giant purse.

Finished punching the last of the corners on our programs and then proceeded to assembled all of them, by hand, by myself. Not because no one offered, but because I thought it would be an easy job.

Individually packaged lobster lollipops that I had premade for the welcome packages.

I think I spent the entire rest of the day working on putting together the welcome packages. Jake tried to help. But me being me, shoo'd him away when he didn't do things my way.

Countdown:
Day 6 and 7
1 week
2 weeks
3 weeks
1 month
2 months
3 months
4 months

Down to days: 6 and 7

Other things we did the week before:

Finalized song for mother/son dance

Checked in with our cinematographers

Finalized all the music selection, name announcement, and timeline with our DJ

Saturday:

Ran out and purchased washi tape in the correct color. As it turns out, I totally didn't have to do this.

Apply newly purchased washi tape to remaining two escort cards. Again, totally didn't have to do this. *sigh*

Attended our last wedding as an engaged couple. Congrats to S and R!

Sunday:

I remember waking up early to finish projects. I remember it being a full day, but I can't remember for the life of me what I actually did.

I think I scored and folded the escort cards and then cut and glued the photo sharing information to the insides of the escort cards.

Maybe this was also the day that Jake helped glue all the photos to the front cover of our programs.

Countdown:
1 week
2 weeks
3 weeks
1 month
2 months
3 months
4 months

1 week to go

I had started this post the weekend before the wedding. But I just never got around to finishing it. I sit here now, trying to remember what we did, but I am drawing a complete blank. I'll just try to start listing things, maybe they will come to me.

Resigned our lease. They raised our rent by an atrocious amount, but what can you do? We aren't moving right before the wedding.

Researched the best way to collect/store/view/share photos that will be taken by our friends and family.

Ordered last minute items for our welcome packages and bathroom baskets

Finalized the setup for our DIY photobooth (at work of all places!)

Sent in the final headcount and meal choices of our guests

Played email and snailmail tag with an Etsy vendor. First they sent me the wrong item. Then it turns out the item I ordered wasn't really the color I thought it was.

Finally sent a shot list to photographer (it was 13 pages long, but in my defense, it included all the different groups of people we wanted photos of)