I had heard so many people tell me that they barely slept the night before their wedding, which I can understand, as you are simultaneously stressed, anxious, excited, thrilled, emotional, happy, and tired – so tired that you can’t sleep. I don’t sleep even when there is nothing wrong, so I gifted myself some strong sleeping pills that knocked me out for a solid eight hours and had me waking up refreshed and bridal.  Bless medicine, bless it.

But when I woke up, all of the above emotions kicked in and I did what any emoptional 25 year old woman would do: I went and woke up my parents and climbed in bed with them. Yes. I did. It meant that for one last morning, I still got to be their little girl before becoming someone’s wife.

Of course, this sweet bubble was still rather brief because BEAUTIFICATION (yes, it was on the schedules everyone got as that. And yes, everyone got a schedule… emailed out many weeks earlier…. with columns and contact numbers….. and yes, I am that person.) was starting!!!!!

Remember dances when you lived in the dorm, and the bathroom became a communal place and you didn’t even know who’s clothes you were wearing or who’s curling iron you were using? That is how it was. Times a million.  I was surrounded by my best friends, in the home that I love, feasting on food that the parents had got up and made as well as bagels from Great Bagel, giggling, and leisurely getting ready to marry James.

Some notes before you see photos:

• I unashamedly wore a cute getting ready outfit. Usually, I get ready in my grungies, but not when I am being photographed. And I totally charged into Bethany’s room the morning of my weading complaining that I had nothing to wear, hence the cambray shirt.
• Rachael did my makeup. She is Suze’s older sister, a Mary Kay pro, and has been trying to teach me how to do makeup since I was like, 10. Plus, she listened when I explained that I wanted to look “like myself, but better.”
• Barbara, from Zoë Salon and Spa did my hair and she is amazing. She cuts it on a regular basis and when we did some trial hair she kept on calling it Victoria Secret hair, which made me feel like a star. Most importantly, she is not stingy with the hairspray or teasing comb, two things I find essential to good hair. And yes, I briefly looked like a poodle, but everything turned out ok in the end.
• There are lots of black and white ones, because it made me feel like I was in a documentary. Plus, I just really love b/w photos!

And then I saw my daddy, and it was just too much. I sat here for awhile and tried to find a way to write about our relationship, and how emotional this day was for us, but I can’t find any words that aren’t trite. I guess these photos will have to speak for themselves.  

The guys also had some getting ready time, though significantly less than us ladies used. I think James said that he went to Bob Evans with his dad and brothers, then about 1 o’clock they went to the church. I met him at 2, so I guess that means he spent an hour getting ready for the most photographed day of our lives.  

Unsolicited Wedding Advice #2:

• Try out your makeup and hair first. I wasn’t the slightest bit stressed about how it would turn out because we had already done it earlier that week.
• Have someone bring you bagels. Ok, so maybe that is just life advice. I. Love. Bagels.
• Don’t  Over-DIY it. There are some times where it just isn’t worth it to do it yourself, unless you have lots of spare time and are Martha Stewart, which I am not. Yes, our friends helped so much. But having the bouquets just show up in a box as we were getting ready – such a blessing. Sometimes you will spend just as much money and use up precious time doing things yourself.
• GET A GOOD PHOTOGRAPHER. The photos were really important to me, and this was the hardest decision of my wedding. I finally narrowed it down to three, then two, then forced everyone who came through my home to wacth a slideshow I had made from pulling photos off both of their websites and mixing them. Yes, I am a crazy. At one point I was lying on the floor and flipping coins over and over. Finally, James announced we had to decide and we did, and I have no regrets. Our photographer gave me exactly the style of photos I wanted and she captured the most perfect expressions and moments. She also happens to be one of the nicest people ever, which is good, since you are with your photog A LOT of the day. (Shamless plug: She travels! So wherever you are living and reading this, you should probably just book her. I might have, at one point in the planning, written her a gushing email about how relaxed I felt knowing that she would do our photos. It was like a fourth grade love letter. And then I saw her the next weekend and was I totally awkward like if you told a kid you wanted to be their best friend and then saw them and didn’t know what to say. )