I woke up at 5:30 AM freezing cold! My sister and her boys were still sleeping, so I just turned the bathroom light on so I could see a little bit. I turned the heater on full blast, pulled a chair right up to it, and curled up until I started getting warm. I sat there, in mostly dark, trying to stretch out my pantyhose that I had to wear that day! I had problems finding white hose that fit me, so I had this pair that was a bit tight (made with Lycra or something that made them really tight), and I just kept pulling each leg as much as I could until they fit!

Surprisingly, Trevor was up very early this morning. He paged me, and the first thing he said was “Happy wedding day my beautiful bride.” It was so sweet, and I really got choked up.

I finally managed to get the hose on (as well as some other clothes), so I went down to the Lobby and met my brother for breakfast (6:00 AM). Our Uncle Dave was also supposed to be there, but either my brother or my uncle messed up on the time so it was just my brother and me. This was a special time for me because my brother and I had always been close, but I hardly see him any more since I moved away from home. Oh, my brother kept trying to get me to eat, but I didn’t eat anything because my stomach was so upset. I did have some orange juice, though. It was neat because some of our guests started coming down for breakfast, and they seemed surprised to see me there and acting so calm.

After breakfast, I went back to my room and woke up my sister (6:30 AM). At this point, things started moving very quickly and there was no slowing them down. I felt so rushed that morning. I guess that comes with a Noon wedding.

HINT: Anyone getting married early in the day, leave yourself plenty of time! We were so rushed through everything.

We tried to be as quiet as possible so we wouldn’t wake up her 2 little boys. I put in my contacts, she did my make-up and hers, we got dressed to go to the hairdressers, and packed up our stuff (we had to check out before the wedding). Meanwhile, I was going between our room and the lobby getting some food for her to eat while she got ready. Her 2 year old (Anthony) woke up running a fever. Thankfully she had packed some Children’s Tylenol, but we figured we were in for a bad day with him. I felt so sorry for him all day. We found out later he had a double ear infection and a sinus infection!

Well, because Anthony was sick and was going to be at the wedding, we had to change some plans around. As my MOH, Monica was supposed to stand next to me and help me with my train, flowers, etc. But, we knew with Anthony not feeling well, he wasn’t going to sit with anybody but Mommy. So, we said we’d still have Monica walk up as my MOH, but my bridesmaid Wendy stood next to me during the ceremony. (Of course, I hadn’t asked Wendy yet as this decision had to be made the morning of the wedding…more on that later). So anyway, we dropped off Justin, her older son, with my brother. He was taking his son (Kyle) and Monica’s to the photographer’s studio, as they needed to take pictures with Trevor. We dropped the sick little one off with my dad, picked up my mom, and off to the hairdresser’s we went (7:50 AM).

My appointment was supposed to be at 8 and my sister’s right after me (same hairdresser, both of us getting up-do’s). My mom’s was at 9 (different hairdresser). Well, we sat in the parking lot until 8:15 AM waiting for her to get there. My mom and sister were panicking, and my mom was telling me I might want to start thinking about alternatives. I was calm and needed to stay that way, so I got out of the car and just sat outside on a bench. I didn’t want their nerves to start affecting mine. I paged Trevor on our phones and he made me smile and stay calm, and then our lady got there. We were hoping to be out of there by 9:30 at the latest, but because of the late start and then it took a while for my sister’s hair, it was about 9:45 AM before we left.

We got back to the hotel, and I still hadn’t checked out. So mom and my sis went to mom’s room, and I went to the front desk. I was getting hungry by this point, so veil and all, I went into the Lobby to grab something. Of course a bunch of our guests were down there and a bit surprised to see me! Lol I grabbed a piece of bread (the doughnuts were all gone, darn). My friend Monica (there were 3 Monica’s there!) grabbed it and went to toast it and butter it, and I just said “Thanks, but I don’t have time.” And I ran out.

I got to mom and dad’s room and it was a flurry of women getting dressed in there. Luckily my dad was already in his tux (a good family friend, Mary Lynne, helped dress him while we were gone…lol). Oh, he looked so good, I would have cried if I had time. In addition to us getting dressed, my sis had to wake up her sick little one and get him dressed. I had help putting on my necklace, and I somehow managed to put on my earrings, garters, and dress all by myself! Mary Lynne was taking turns helping each of us get ready, and then my Aunt Kathy came in and was doing the same. There was just too much going on and too little time for me to be the focus while getting dressed.

We finally left the hotel at about 10:05 AM, and were supposed to be at the studio at 10:10 AM. Well, that wasn’t gonna happen because it was a 20 minute drive! My Aunt Kathy drove me in her mini-van (my brother had my car and my dad had a car full with my mom, sis, and Anthony). This worked out so well because it gave me some quiet time, and I just had a really nice talk with my Aunt Kathy. During all this time, I was talking to Trevor on our phones, and he just kept me calm the whole time.

Trevor & Kelly were already planning on going to the store after their pictures but before the Church because I had forgotten to get roses for us to give to our parents at the ceremony. Well, on my way to take pictures I paged Trevor in a panic. I told him “We need Kitty Litter and a bucket!” He & Kelly were in hysterics about this, and when he finally regained his composure, he asked what we needed that for. We needed it to set outside the hall for cigarette butts. I also forgot a pen for the guest book. They said not to worry, they’d take care of it. Plus, Trevor had to talk to Fr. Andrew and explain to him why my sister wouldn’t be standing next to me like she was at the rehearsal. Trevor was so sweet, he didn’t want me worrying about anything that day.

We got to the studio about 10:20 AM, and I had to go in with my eyes closed. After taking bridal party shots with Trevor, his guys went to the store and did our last minute shopping for us (they came through again!). While they were gone, Trevor finished up his pics with his family. He couldn’t leave until his guys got back, so he was still at the studio when I got there. They took him out to his dad’s truck and made him duck down while I went into the studio. It was so funny!

We started taking pics, and it was so great because they take them in a back room while everyone sits out in the “waiting” area I guess. So it was just me back there, which was great because it gave me a chance to catch my breath and leave the craziness for a while. I held up pretty well through the pictures until they took one of my mom and I looking at each other. It felt like we held that pose for so long, and I really got choked up. Then they had me do that with my dad, and I looked at him and told him, “You better take this one fast or I’m really gonna lose it.”