Down to the wire...

Yesterday evening, I went to pick up my wedding dress and it felt so surreal to be there picking up my dress for the last time.

But of course I had to have some drama...I opened up my garment bag to make sure that my veil was fixed because somehow at my last fitting I found it ripped. What the hell? When I took it out again, there was still a rip near the bottom and I was pissed. The girl who was working with me immediately went to fix it but its still really fragile. But at least its fixed...but for all the money I paid for that damn veil it should be impeccable.

Let me tell you how obsessed I was with my dress, I could barely lay it down in the car because I was afraid of it getting wrinked. But we got it home safely and its hanging up just waiting for me to wear it. In honor of my dress, I have found a few pictures of some beautiful wedding dresses that were with me during my journey. I absolutely love Jim Hjelm but he was out of my price range at the time of my dress shopping. I loved the first dress because of its subtle mermaid shape and that was the silhouette that I was going for. But my actual dress turned out to be an A-line but you can't help what the heart loves. The dress with the back view was the first dress I ever saw and I wanted that dress so badly. Unfortunately I wasn't as in love with the front of the dress.

On my to do list

• get programs printed
• buy unity candles and candle holder
• buy my blue garter
• buy flower petals for cake table
• buy bows for the church pew
• buy some gold sandals for my African traditional reception outfit
• buy some perfume with my Sephora gift card
• go to Victoria's Secret

I'm not sure if I will be back to post before Saturday but thank you all for sharing this journey to the alter with me and sharing all your encouragement and ideas. It is greatly appreciated. I hope to see you all on the flip side! Have an amazing day.

Stop and smell the roses

People have been telling during this whole rollercoaster ride that I need to enjoy every lit bit of this stress filled journey to the alter. I've listened and made genuine attempts but I have never handled stress well. But today, it really hit home for me.

I was on my way to my hair appointment and I was riding on the trolley. Like I usually do, when the trolley approached my desired stop, I stood up and moved right behind him so I was facing the front windshield. The light turns green and the trolley driver moves forward so that the only other passenger and myself can get off at the designated stop. As if in slow motion, he moves forward but the car in front of him does not and he slams into the back of the car. With the abrupt motion, my body jolts forward but I automatically hold onto the railing. Thank God we are all alright including the driver in front of us, but her car is messed up. As soon as he opens the doors and I see that the other driver is ok, I rush off to my destination because I do not want to be on that trolley for two hours answering questions. I immediately call my fiance and tell him what happened. He is on my way to work and not five minutes after we hang up, he calls back. While on interstate 95, he sees a car on the other side explode out of nowhere. For the beginning part of my hair appointment, my hair stylist and I talk about how short life is and how our hearts ache for that person and their family.

Obviously this wedding is not the culmination of my entire life; I had a life before the wedding and I will continue to live one as long as the Lord allows it. But today's events definitely made me stop and smell the mystical roses people are always referencing. I need to enjoy every single minute especially the crazy ones because they help me to grow and become the woman I am today and the woman I will be tomorrow.

Back to the subject of weddings; I saw pictures of a really beautiful wedding from Essence's Bridal Bliss. Essence covers many beautiful weddings and it is my hidden desire to be featured in one very soon. Lol. Their color scheme was purple and green, as evidenced by the cake. I love shoes and I especially love purples shoes so the next shot was a treat. And I thought the shot of them dancing was achingly romantic. Don't you agree?

5 days

There are five days left til the wedding and today is not a good day. I am trying so hard to not get stressed over every little thing but its a losing battle. I am a very organized person and I have to do things in a certain way. When things are not done in that certain way, I feel as if I am losing control. I don't like change but I can handle it. There are too many damn changes happening to this wedding and its driving me crazy!

We have rehearsal on Friday and many of the essential wedding party members will not be there for various reasons. This was all dumped on me within the last week so...I'm not a happy camper but I can't change people's schedules. Plus I had to deal with the church wedding planner and she informed me of so much more stuff that I was not aware of. We've had a few phone calls but why do I find out everything the week of my wedding?

I'm trying to get as much done so that I don't have to worry about everything on my wedding day. This is when it would be amazing to have a wedding planner...

And I know I can't control the timeline of the day but...its hard not to fuss over every since second when you can get charged by the church, the pastor, and the musicians. We have spent so much money on this wedding and I am not trying to give out a penny more! lol.

I have been on the phone all day and there is no end in sight...Sigh.

So in the middle of my long angst ridden post, I received a phone call from my future sister in law who has graciously extended an offer to oversee everything. I feel like a weight has been lifted because I've had friends offer to help for certain areas but not for everything. Thank God for family!

Ok...back to my phone calls with much higher spirits! Thanks for allowing me to rant.

Tasty cakes

One week left!! Its so freakin close...ahh...

Today the fiance and I did our cake tasting, too bad we were too sick to really enjoy any of the delicious cake. Last night we had Popeyes because we like to indulge ourselves and we woke up today feeling sooo bad...I literally took a small piece of each cake and dipped my fork in each frosting gingerly. I'm a big cake eater so you know that was hard for me. But I was so afraid of eating anything since my stomach was still...not well...lol. But the fiance and I make a great team; we picked our flavors and cake design super fast! Our cake is super simple; it is covered in ivory frosting with purple beading around each layer and purples roses scattered around the layers as well. It is also covered with curlicues on each layer; it is a very traditional looking cake and my fiance picked it out. I was so excited that he had an opinion on our wedding cake. Here are some cakes that I think are nice;

Then we met up with the limo company and booked our limo. Now we just have to work out the logistics of everything since we are only having one limo. Tis the woes of having your ceremony and reception at two different venues...

Tomorrow we meet with the reception manager and finalize all the other details...like discuss how we went over our 200 people reception...sigh...

Monday is shopping today for all the stuff I have been putting off...so we'll see about that.

On another note...

I have always wanted false eyelashes for my wedding day...my make up artist doesn't know how to do it...Any tips or suggestions?

Dreamweaver

Dream #1: I am in hot stuffy room surrounded by people from high school. You know the usuals; the jocks, the popular kids, the loners etc. My wedding is starting but I am still sitting in that hot stuffy room, dying. Then my dad comes to get me because we have to do the seating chart. And I am not dressed at all. I woke up like, what just happened?

Dream #2: I am hanging out with my bridal party and in a back room is a vaguely familiar girl working on floral bouquets made out of wood. We're watching television and munching on snacks when she finishes and hands me the finished bouquets. They're nice but...why is she doing my flowers and why are they in wood? I start to freak out because I realize I may have inadvertently asked this person to do my flowers when I am already under contract with someone else. I start crying because I don't know how to tell her that I can't use her flowers nor do I have the extra money to pay her. I wake up and remember that only one person is doing my flowers and they are not made of wood.

I decided to go the route of silk flowers, as they fell into my lap. But one definite benefit is that I can keep my bouquet long after the wedding. I can't wait to see them and show you the pictures!

Soo, I have been having a lot of wedding related dreams but those are the ones I can remember, lol. I feel like I should be on the show Bridezillas because my wedding timeline has been mirroring theirs. Today I have been put on limo duty. I know this sounds super late but I refuse to take blame. My fiance didn't want a limo but now he realizes that it would be less hectic if we just had one. He's a silly. I am not looking forward to the seating chart but I plan to start that today...

8 days...

In Your Face Fight Style

I was inspired by today's topic because last night my fiance and I had a fight, over the wedding of course. I think a lot of times when people think of wedding planning, they don't think of fights. Obviously neither did I. But my fiance and I had plenty of wedding inspired fights during this wedding planning process. I, for one, have never been a fan of fighting. I have always heard that fighting is healthy for the relationship and it allows the two of you to become less polite and more, er....real. But we should always remember to fight fair because this is the person that you love after all.

I brought this subject up to remind everyone that wedding planning is not a magical time period. Stuff does not magically fall into place and there will be times when you will be in tears. BUT if you remember the reason why you are doing this and know that at the end of the aisle, you are meeting the man/woman you love; ITS ALL GOOD.

9 days left...oh damn, when did we get into the single digits! Lol...

99 Problems...

Just kidding, I am not having 99 problems...lol...the wedding is in 11 days and my to do list keeps getting Longer!! Its almost funny how many things I have left to do...

Saturday we have our cake tasting with the baker...I'm almost embarrassed by how much I have procrastinated on getting the cake...

I still have to buy the aisle runner, a garter...where can one find a garter from? I don't want to buy one online just in case it takes forever to arrive...Any suggestions would be appreciated

I lost my ring bearer like last week...I'm not upset because there way too many things on my mind right now...

We're meeting with a new photographer today because the one we originally hired has poison ivy and lately has not been returning our phone calls. The wedding is just too close for someone to flake out. I'm disappointed because I was really excited about working with her but...no more drama

I have to get the final guest list from my parents today so that I can start the seating chart. I've already gotten requests from people on where THEY would like to sit...Has anyone else experienced this? I thought that was so funny...

Our wedding bands are getting engraved and can I say how much I love my band!!! I can't wait for him to slip it on my finger....WhoHOOO!

On a more serious tip, we had our premarital counseling with our officiant and it was a real eye opener. We were very open and honest about wanting a good solid marriage and being nervous. Marriage is a HUGE step and its okay to be nervous; its not like a lease that you can get out of in a specific time frame. I thought the premarital counseling was very helpful and I recommend all couples to participate; even if you are already married. Sometimes we need a different perspective from someone who is not in the situation.

Busy Bride to Be!!

Hello all,
I feel like my life has been on crazy nonstop rollercoaster for the past month. So many updates to speak of...my wedding is right around the corner, AHHH!...
March 13th was my bridal shower in NY and it was a fabulous time. The weather was dismal, but most of my friends and family were able to come out. Here are a few pics of mostly me ( I don't like to put other people's faces on the internet w/o permission). The theme was Mardi Gras and I got a mask and lots of beads! My sister made the banner, isn't it soo nice? My cousin gave me that book The Five Love Languages By Gary Chapman. I read the singles version in college and I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to form intimate relationships.

April 10th was my bachelorette party thrown by my bestest friend and one of my Maids of Honor. It consisted of my most closest friends and it was amazing! I've imagined my b-party and it exceeded all imagination. There was food, laughter, dancing...it was a crazy night. They forced me to wear a tiara thing and I got approached by all types of people. This is the part of wedding planning that I enjoy! The penis shaped cookies were my favorite because they were delicious!




Yesterday my FH and I picked out our rings and got them engraved. All invitations were sent out, I put in the order for my flowers (I decided to go silk), I had my make-up trial during the week and my hair trial is next week.
I went on my dress fitting and the seamstress told me that I had gained weight BUT my dress still fit, it was just tighter (which I wanted). Of course I can't GAIN anymore weight so I have been back on my exercise regimen. My shoes were purchased, my jewelry picked out, hotel room booked, tuxes ordered...everything is finally coming together. Thank God!
Until next time...