Trevor got to sleep in today as I had an early morning nail appointment. I had a French manicure done. After I was done, I went and picked up my mom. We were going shopping for flowers for the altar, specifically gladiolas. I had figured this would take a long time, but we lucked out with the first place we went to (VG’s) so it only took about half an hour. I dropped mom off back at the hotel and while I was there, I gave her and my dad the handkerchiefs I had bought them . They came with a little card that had something printed on there, I got them from one of the catalogs. Well, I thought mom would cry but she didn’t, but she really liked it. My dad on the other hand broke down crying. This is a man that doesn’t generally show his emotions like that. It was a really touching moment. I then went to pick Trevor up. We had an errand to run that was going to take about 2 hours. I had bought him a white cowboy hat, but it was too small so we wanted to exchange it for him to have at the reception…I suspected he had a white tux, but I wasn’t positive. So, off in the truck we went (to Oxford), which was nice because it was just the 2 of us and very calming. Oh, and during all of this time, we were still trying to reach our DJ! Ugh

We got to the hat place but couldn’t find a hat Trevor liked & that fit him to replace the one I had bought. So, we just decided he would wear the black one he already had at home. We were about to walk out of the store when my cell phone rang, and it was our DJ. We rushed out to the truck so I could talk to her. Her excuse for not showing up the night before was that she had a gig on a boat the night before, and there were bad storms so the boat couldn’t dock. Ok fine, but she waited until 2 PM the following day to call us and never once apologized! So then she says, “Well, let’s set up another time to meet later today.” Excuse me??? It’s now 2 PM, we are an hour away from home, our rehearsal is at 6:30 PM, we still have to pick up the flowers, go home, eat, change clothes, and we have a dinner immediately following the rehearsal. We had to tell her it was too late, we couldn’t meet with her and would have to do everything over the phone. We weren’t happy with this at all, but at this point we had no choice. So, we lost another half an hour of our day sitting talking to her (I wasn’t about to have Trevor drive for fear we’d lose our signal).

HINT: No matter what it takes, no matter how persistent you have to be, meet with your DJ before the wedding! It’s a long story as to why we never met ours before this point, but it really came back to bite us in the butt. And be very specific in exactly what you want and don’t want, and I don’t care how many times you have to repeat yourself, make sure they understand! More on that later…

So after we finished talking to our DJ, we drove home but stopped off at the hotel first. I needed to get checked in (my sister & I were sharing a room there that night), plus there were some guests that had arrived so we wanted to say hi. Then we had to go pick up the bouts and corsages because we had forgotten about those. In addition to our flowers, they tried to give us flowers for another wedding as well. Ooh, that other bride nearly had a huge problem on her hands. We then went home to get changed, and I must have completely lost my mind because the new sandals and slip I needed to wear for the rehearsal were at the hotel. Ugh, I had brought them there earlier. So, I called my sis and had her drop them off on her way to the Church. I also got a call from my 2 bridesmaids driving in from Chicago saying they were still about 30 minutes away but going as fast as they could (they hit really bad construction). I was very flustered (again) by this point, and Trevor & I were really butting heads. There was way too much stress and tension going on. Here we stressed to everybody else that they needed to be on time for the rehearsal, and we showed up a few minutes late. Oops

We got in and introduced everybody to Fr. Andrew and started the rehearsal. It went pretty well, and the missing bridesmaids showed up not too far into it. We also had an usher (Trevor’s brother Ron) and our photographers (Craig & Lori) who were late because of traffic. But it all worked out in the end. When we were at the altar and Father was telling us what to do, I don’t think any of us comprehended it too well. At the end I just looked at him and said, “You are going to direct us through this tomorrow, right?”

We left the Church and headed back to the hotel for a pizza party given by my parents. Once again, Trevor’s groomsmen came through for us. They really helped my dad out with setting up the pizzas, and they just took it upon themselves to be the “bartenders” and serve the pop to everyone. They were great, especially Kelly & Jason (these are people Trevor went to school with so has known them for many years). We hadn’t seen Jason in a few years, so it was neat to see him and how he just jumped right in to help. Oh, before we started to eat, Trevor had disappeared so everybody was waiting on him. I went to look for him and found him outside with his dad and sister so I just turned around and went back inside to give them privacy.

We had gifts for everybody down in my parents’ room that I needed to bring to the room with the dinner. It was a big box, so I asked Kelly if he’d come help me. This man, the entire weekend any time I asked him for something, he didn’t even bat an eyelash. He was just there to help. But I told him it was top secret because he was going to see my dress and he couldn’t tell Trevor what it looked like. It was so funny because he got this sparkle in his eye and said “Can I tell him I got to see it???” I said sure, and he was so excited because then he could go tease Trevor about it.

We brought the gifts down, Trevor reappeared and everyone seemed to have a good time. The pizza went very quickly. We passed out the gifts and seemed to do ok on those as well. After everybody left, Trevor’s guys once again helped dad clean up the room. Even though I was staying at the hotel that night, I needed to go back home and finish up some last minute stuff. On my way out, a very good family friend (Mary O.) was with me and tried to calm me down, asking if she could do anything for me. I looked at her and said, “Would you mind folding 125 programs?” I had forgotten to do it. So bless her heart, she sat there and did it and was then joined by another good family friend (Mary Lynne) who helped her finish them.

HINT: Anything you can possibly do in advance, do it! The night before, I was putting things in a pile that Trevor had to take to Church the next day, writing thank you notes for some of the vendors and putting their tips into envelopes (which Kelly took care of for us the day of the wedding), packing clothes, etc…just generally pulling my hair out. Kelly was staying with Trevor that night (he’s married but his wife Janet stayed with her aunt), so he just sat back and watched. As crazy as that night was, I was SO thankful I was at home because I got a very special phone call that night. We have very good family friends in New Zealand (Robin & Denise) who wanted desperately to be here for the wedding, but they just couldn’t manage it. Well, that Friday when I was home doing last minute stuff, they called me from New Zealand! They wanted to say Congratulations and wish us all the best, and it was just the most wonderful phone call and wedding present. I was in tears on the phone, and when I finally managed to tell Trevor whom it was, he understood (and then explained it to Kelly). I went to leave, and Kelly and Trevor walked me out. Kelly gave me another hug and said goodnight, and then gave Trevor & me our privacy. It was so hard saying goodnight to him, but we managed. I went back to the hotel, and Trevor & Kelly went to pick up Trevor’s paycheck (hey, everything counts when it comes to a wedding!).

It was probably at least 11:00 PM before I got back to the hotel. I sat in the lobby visiting with some of our guests, but they all tuckered out before too long. I stayed up because there were still a few people who I knew were on the road but hadn’t arrived yet (Rick, Lumi, & DeDe, and Daureen, Stacey, & Monica). I didn’t want to go to bed until I knew they arrived there safely. So, my brother and dad waited up with me. The last of the guests finally arrived about 1:30 AM or so, and knowing all my guests were there safely, I said goodnight and went to my room. Not that I went to sleep! My sister and I stayed up talking and doing last minute grooming things like plucking my eyebrows. At 2:00 AM, I realized I had left my garters at home. Oops! I knew Trevor & Kelly were still up (my sis had been there not long before picking up the corsages I had left there), so I called and asked if they could bring them to the hotel. When they got there, it was Kelly at the door. He wouldn’t let me see Trevor because it was now officially the day of our wedding. After they left, my sis and I went to bed. She fell asleep right away, but I lay there awake until 3:15 AM…and I knew the alarm was going off at 5:30 AM.