Mom of the Bride - Final Count Down

Mom of the Bride – Final Count Down
Amanda Warrington



With less than a month until the wedding, what has been going on and what remains to be done? Plenty, on both counts.

In these past few months life has gone on without regard for my well set out wedding planning schedule. A few unexpected things have popped up, such as: a skylight sprung a leak and had to be repaired. A pipe burst in our house, flooded a bedroom, and required hardwood and carpet replacement. And as long as we had to pull everything out of the bedroom, we figured we may as well paint it. Trust me, that was a project that I did not need! But it is done and the guest room looks great.

Also in the past month, my son was in a play at school and my life stopped altogether so I could attend the Dominion High School (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyzBnJyusq0) production of Music Man. In addition to mom of the bride, I am also mom of the boy.

What has been going on related to the wedding in these final weeks?

There was a shower for Tiffany last week. Our friends Barbara and Pam hosted it. Barbara had a wonderful idea for a theme – “photo and frame”. There are so many possibilities with photo and frame as the subject; and, people came up with the most original ideas such as a scrap book, family photos of great grandparents, books with photos and family biographies. They were all such special and unique gifts. And Pam out-did herself with beautiful decorations and delicious food. The wedding night will pass so quickly, and there will be so many people to meet and visit with that night that the opportunity for ladies on both sides of the family to meet at the shower was priceless. After the shower we had dinner for Tiffany and Mike, their siblings, parents and grandparents – again, a great opportunity to bring together members of both sides of the family. It makes for that many more familiar faces for everyone at the wedding.

We settled on a florist – finally! I must admit that I was starting to get a little nervous – I had visions of us making boutonnieres the morning of the wedding.

I spent a day with my friend, Laura, prepping materials for the wedding programs. They are going to be so pretty!

I got a dress. Okay, so I got about a dozen dresses. But I decided which one to wear and returned the rest. I have never worked with a personal shopper before, but I gave it a try for this purchase. I decided to try a personal shopper for a few reasons – I do not like shopping and I wanted to make the best use of my time. And also, people were making fun of the dress I wanted to wear so I thought professional help was a good idea. As it turns out, I am going to wear one of the gowns that I found with the personal shopper. Overall it was a good experience as Lynne (www.doctorofdress.com) encouraged me to try styles that I would not otherwise have considered.

So what is left to do?

Well, I have a dress but I still need shoes. I found some that I really like, but they are sky-high heels and I am not sure I can walk in them. My niece, Rachel, seems to think I will be fine in them. The optimism (and stamina) of youth!!

I have an appointment with Mikala (www.bristles-shears.com) on Saturday. I told Mikala nearly a year ago that she needed to transition my red hair to blonde before the wedding. And blonde I shall be . . . I love you, Mikala!

Aside from hair and shoes, these are a few of the items remaining on my “to do” list:

· *Finish power point and photo DVD to be played at the aquarium during the reception.
· *Provide the caterer with a final headcount. Only a handful of invitees did not reply, so our count should be pretty close. And no, I am not calling the people that have not replied.
· *Assemble the programs.
· *The seating chart and place cards can be finished the week before the wedding at the beach.

People keep asking me what I will do with myself after the wedding. The truth is that Tiffany has done most of the planning. But trust me, there is plenty on the horizon. My son and I are driving cross country in July. Come June, Wylie and I can focus on planning our route and points of interest for the trip. I am open to suggestions if anyone out there has any! And after that . . . well, hopefully pipes will stop bursting, but life is bound to go on in its usual exciting manner.

I have enjoyed the planning process but will not miss it. I will miss the “built in” excuse to get together with Tiffany so much. But as for the planning, I am ready to move on and have a wedding already!