A Southern Sweetheart: Terrible Tuesday & Wonderful Wednesday

While I have literally enjoyed almost every moment of wedding planning up until this point, it pains me to inform you that Tuesday will unfortunately go down in history as "Terrible Tuesday, " for a number of reasons. It all began with the dreaded programs...

As soon as I had roused myself sufficiently & gathered all of my wedding paraphernalia, Pretty Puppy & I headed to my parents' house to finish some last minute details, namely the ceremony programs. Now, over the past several weeks I had worked numerous evenings on the program layout and upon embarking on my drive home, was confident that all we would need to do was print a test version for approval. Ha! Little did I know what chaos was about to begin! After arriving at my parents' home, Mom & I caught up a few minutes before heading to town for printing. We looked over the computer version of the program and made numerous changes before leaving. After arriving at her office, though, I suddenly realized that I had neglected an entire section of the program, which meant that I spent the next two hours re-formatting the entire document in an attempt to fit it in! What was worse yet, though, was that no matter how small I made the margins, or shrunk the text, it simply wasn't going to fit into the layout we had originally envisioned. Mom & I ultimately decided to abandon the original plan in favor of a newer format, which, after several more hours, finally worked! I was unbelievably relieved when we at last began printing!

Oh, but the fun was just beginning..as soon as Mom & I began printing a couple test versions, her printer demolished our gorgeous cardstock--the machine literally ripped the paper, crushing our printing hopes! After numerous failed attempts to print, I was ready to abandon the program project all-together! My patient, loving Mother, as always, came to the rescue, though, and my hope was once again revived when we located another printer that could supposedly handle the weighty cardstock more efficiently. Indeed, we found success, and were able to print 20 perfect programs. We approved each one and decided to run the remaining copies that very moment. Meanwhile, during the printing, Mom & I would fold and cut the completed versions. We were finally finding our rhythm when the printer finished. I jumped up and gleefully grabbed the pile, but before returning to the table with them I decided to quickly double-check the top one. My heart literally fell through the floor--the top program boasted a lovely upside-down inside segment of text. I hurriedly flipped through the rest and realized that halfway through the printing job the machine had switched orientations. This meant that half of our programs were perfect--but the other half were ruined. I hate to admit this, but I was so angry that a tiny tear welled up in my eye. We just couldn't win that day...

Mom took one look at me and knew in an instant that something had gone very, very wrong. After she discovered the problem we both felt defeated and angry, for after all, we didn't have any extra cardstock on which to attempt a reprint. At that moment, we simultaneously began packing all of our things and Mom directed me to return to the city, while she dealt with the programs. I had no clue how we were going to solve this problem but I knew that if they were in Mother's hands, they'd be perfect.

Pretty Puppy & I did indeed return to the city, where I was determined to complete a positive and meaningful task. I chose to finish wrapping gifts & writing thank you notes, and by bed time my mind had temporarily forgotten the programs--at least enough to allow me to rest.

Wednesday morning I turned my attention toward more positive and enjoyable tasks--I was desperately trying to wash the previous day's failures from my mind. I began the morning with a quick stop at Kohl's to look for a party dress. I hadn't found a "going away" dress or a "reception gown," and thus thought it would be the perfect opportunity to peruse their summer dress collection. Within moments I had found a cute sequined mini-dress that screamed "PARTY!" I just had to try it on! Success! The dress fit like a glove and I knew that for it's modest price & fun details it had to be mine! After dress shopping, I moseyed to the other side of town to get my engagement ring cleaned for the last time as a single woman! Post-cleaning it sparkled and glimmered so beautifully--I couldn't help but steal glances at it on the car ride home ;-) It definitely made me feel more and more excited for the big day!

That afternoon I finally packed for the honeymoon--which was just too fun! I loved seeing all the bright colors & tropical patterns that I had collected over the last couple months come together. I began dreaming about the white sands and warm, balmy nights--let's just say ever since then I'm extremely anxious to disappear for 7 days on our island escape!

After packing, I quickly prepared for that's evening's festivities--the Bridesmaids' Tea. I chose a fun coral dress with pearl accessories for a cute, girly look. I then met up with two of my lovely bridesmaids and we thoroughly enjoyed mani/pedis at a local salon before heading to the tea. The Tea itself was absolutely wonderful! My cousins & Aunt Katie had decorated the tables with lovely plum & cream tea pots, goblets, and cloth napkins. Our plates were all elegant Longaberger pottery and our tables were filled with lush fresh hydrangeas and roses. Our dinner was FANTASTIC--we noshed on potato soup, fresh summer salad greens, chicken cordon bleu, green beans & crescent rolls. Then dessert was my favorite--red velvet cupcakes! I think we were all dying of food pleasure after that amazing meal! We ended the evening with gift exchanges and lots of hugs! I have the best family & friends, and it was refreshing to celebrate with them! Below are a few snapshots from the tea!

All Ready!