4 sleeps... crazy

Well I know I was feeling calm yesterday but after a shocking night's sleep and a couple of odd dreams, I woke up edgy, nervy and shaky.

In my first dream I got to hug Michael Buble (I know I know) but in the second dream I was trying to put our suitcases into our room though the upstairs window (which had a pool as a balcony so that didn't help at all).

I was so worried about forgetting all sorts of things and still had a few things to tie up - print the menus, get the wine list from Lure, send out running sheets to our dream team, print copies for us, make the reception music cd, do washing, change the sheets pack our toiletries and Trav still hadn't sorted out his shirt. 

It was lunchtime. All I did was lean over to grab a tea towel and BAM! A piercing pain went through my back and from then on I was walking like an 80 year old. For no apparent reason my old lower back pain returned – just as Trav’s neck improved. He gave it to my back from his neck he said…

After lunch I was feeling a bit more relaxed about our to-do list, but maybe that’s because my attention had moved to my back instead. We managed to get away by 3:30, and after a short stop at highpoint for some last minute essentials we were finally on our way to Sunbury.

We started shuffling our suitcases with Mum’s stuff, whatever way we looked at it we were about 4 kilos over our limit. Time to have dinner with the McIntosh’s before we reassess. It was such a lovely evening, Mum proposed a toast to how well we all get along (compared to some In-Law stories) and we all agreed that we’d had a great time planning it all. A delicious roast chicken and vegie dinner was the perfect comfort meal for our last Melbourne night!

My back was still holding me back, even after a few sprays of Deep Heat and more Voltaren…please please go away.

Back at Mum’s she and Trav maneuvered our holiday packing again while I took a nice warm shower. We agreed to be up by 4 and out the door by 4:30 and were in bed around 10.

I'm still feeling really panicky - just want to be as relaxed as I was yesterday - I hope it goes away soon...

8 sleeps...handover (letting-go) time

My last afternoon at work was a strange one, my team were all in meetings until 3pm so I tried to keep myself busy and caught up with Belinda and Jess. Belinda reminded me that if I started getting agitated, i should think of how she regrets her attitude on the day and wishes she could have been nicer to everyone. She cant't have that time again and I much prefer to learn from others' mistakes.

Jess was very impressed with our sewing efforts and Callum, Sarah and Leon all dropped in to wish me well too.

After everyone returned to the office it still wasn't until about 4:15 that we popped the champagne (yes - Laurent Perrier!) and enjoyed some Tarago River cheese.

Joanne was just like a proud mum when she said the words 'Christie, you're a very special person' and  presented me with a beautiful card and gift, which happens to be Matthew Evans' The Real Food Companion cook book! Now that she saw how excited I was she promised they would all sign it when I returned. I was so touched - and then Kyle ducked out and returned with a big beautiful bunch of orienal lilies, gerberas and other beauties! He confessed that they'd been surviving on mugs of water, hiding in his car since yesterday as we'd postponed the handover. Their words in the card were so touching and we had a lively chat about mothers taking too many photos, whether we were sleeping apart the night before and how my hair trial went. I explained my philosophy of being quite flexible during these last few days, so that there would be less things likely to upset me by the time the 18th rolls around. All I hear is how fast the time goes and I just want to be sure Im soaking up every minute.

I handed everyone their printed, highlighted copy of my handover notes and funnily enough no one had any questions - once again I put this organisation down to taking plenty of time to plan and prepare. Of course I still desperately hope that i haven't forgotten anything but that seems to just be human nature.

Travis arrived soon after and got to meet Kyle, before we headed off to see Kate in Kensington...

8 sleeps ... getting giddy

...heart's beating fast...

Diary of a Bride

So what does a Bride do with 10 days left until her big day? Surely she relaxes, takes it easy with lots of baths and early nights? I wish! Considering we had nothing booked except for dancing and a haircut at the start of the week, here's what we've got on now...

Monday: Last minute alterations at Brides of Melbourne, and last dance lessons at Arthur Murray

Tuesday: Mum is coming over to help me finish some little projects, drop into PassionFoods at lunchtime

Wednesday: We've been invited out for dinner with Trav's parents and their close friends

Thursday: Christie work drinks, and visiting Kathryn at her gorgeous house-sit in Kensington

That's right - beautification starts way before the day! I was so excited to book in our massages for Saturday (and the 20% discount makes it that little bit sweeter!) Notice the 10pm appointments? I've set that for all week, let's see how many I can achieve!

Crisis averted (hopefully!)

Soon enough the working day ended and I met Kathryn and Louise on the steps of the GPO.

As we walked into Brides of Melbourne Allison greeted us immediately and showed me to a fitting room. She was cool, she was calm and no-fuss. (I bet she knows how to handle bridezillas!)

In the fitting room I stayed calm and said I just couldn't believe none of us had noticed this difference - Allison said it was a common occurrence - usually the top half of the dress gets all the fussing. She just made me feel comfortable immediately and even helped me into my shoes.

I stared into the mirror as Allison spread out the skirt, pinning and measuring. She wasn't phased with raising the hem - it would only be a problem if I wanted it lower! With Louise and Kathryn looking on we agreed on the length of the front left side and as Allison measured the length of the skirt from the left and right bodice seams, we noticed more than a couple of inches difference - the left side of the skirt was at least 8 inches longer! That's not a circle! Allison promised to measure the whole gown to ensure it was even and she is even removing the lace on the front and resewing it after the hem is raised - I seriously thought she'd just trim the bottom!

I mentioned that I hadn't spoken to Wendy yet and she said she'd give her a call.

Leaving my dress in the fitting room, I approached the counter where we locked in 10:30 am Friday for final fitting and pick up - and it will be freshly pressed too.

Phew! I walked out of there confident but relieved that I'd brought along reinforcements.

I quietly sipped my tea at Grossi while waiting to meet Trav at our last dance lesson.

The practice class was great - we worked on basic foxtrot and rumba steps, underarm turns (with proper arms) and my favourite - swivels!

We enjoyed pizza at Tono's and service was lightning fast this time, it was fitting that we'd started here 9 weeks ago and were ending here - with a much better experience!

Our private class had it's ups and downs, we concentrated hard on the ending and it's now looking lovely - we still had the odd slip up or two during the routine but as long as Trav doesn't get that 'I just stepped in dog-poo' look on his face no one will be any wiser.

We practiced again and again and worked on the timing at the start, our arms and smoothing the whole routine. We then performed it for Sim, Francesca, Andrew and a couple of the other students and it instantly felt different - my mouth was so dry! The feeling of people watching was so unnerving, Trav said the whole time he was thinking that Sim was disappointed, then he'd miss a step - tell himself off and miss another one - the poor thing really got worked up. We'll take it easy with the practice I think, we both know we know the steps and if we drill it over and over it will just look robotic. We'll be just fine!

Sim has worked so hard with us to make such a fantastic routine! I love the music just as much as when we started and the dance is just so much fun! It's sad to think we won't be spending Monday night 'date nights' with her from now on, but I hope we hold onto all that we've learned.

As we left the studio the same song was playing as the first time we'd walked in - 'I got rhythm' and we thought it would be a fitting song for our Parent's Dance...

House of cards

It's very easy for a Bride to become an expert at balancing a house of cards precariously on the side of a cliff.

Every card she adds is another card that can fall, bringing the whole house tumbling down with it.

A wedding is about two people, a celebrant, witnesses and wedding bands do come in handy but that's really all it's about. The rest of the day has been created from traditions, from hungry wedding industry that continues to grow with every newly engaged woman.

The more cards (flowers, cake, tablecloths, cars, weather, family expectations, outfits etc) she adds to that house of cards, the more unstable it will become. If she loosens her grip a bit, that flexibility will allow everything a better chance of working out well. The tighter the 'window of perfection', the more chance things won't fit into that window.

It's not too late to take a step back and say 'I don't care if the flowers aren't what I wanted' 'Too bad if the wine isn't available' 'So what if we miss a step or two during our first dance' as long as we're married at the end of the day everything will be perfect.

This is the week to slow down, relax, go to bed early, don't stress, eat well, don't rush, savour everything...

Safety in numbers

Well I've learned by now not to assume anything so I called for reinforcements. I put the call out to Louise, Tamra and Kathryn to see if anyone could come along for the ride tonight.

Instantly Louise was in. Not long after - Kathryn was joining us. Tamra's working late but 2 out of 3's not bad! I sent them both the background info and here are they're responses!

Louise

Now what did I say about things going wrong – just breathe… It will be fine girl they can’t charge you for something you have already paid for, its not like you have grown six inches taller or shrunken by the same amount.
I had the same problem with the bustle – my was I couldn’t locate it!
Anyway it will all be okay.

Kathryn 

Right! Got it!
I’m working next Tuesday – so if it takes them longer to fix it I can pick it up on the Tuesday next week.
All good? Still breathing fine? Don’t worry – we’ll get it sorted!

What more could a girl ask for??

 Anyway I only need Trav, Deborah, Me and our witnesses to get married.
All the rest of it is bonus fluff.

11 sleeps, one fingernail gone

weather

I worked my last shift at Passionfoods  on Saturday, I received lots of lovely wishes and hugs - and my boss Steven had this to say;

"Just enjoy every moment. Be in the moment. I know you've got all these last little things going around your head, but just enjoy it all."

Great advice at this stage in the game,  and I'm reminding myself of it all the time.
It definitely is my mantra for today and I'll tell you why...

On Saturday night I tried on my dress again and practiced dancing in it. I still couldn't work out why I was standing on it all the time. And then we confirmed what Louise had noticed last time, the left side is longer. And not just by a centimetre - more like a couple of inches. It lays on the floor whereas the right side just skims the floor.
We checked it on the hard floor - thinking Mum's nice thick soft carpet was making things worse, only a slight improvement. We unbustled and rebustled higher. And higher. And twisted the skirt the other way. And laid the skirt out flat. And put higher shoes on.

We looked at how it might be fixed, shorten the hem on one side gradually? most of it was behind the lace panel so it wouldn't be so noticeable - but the lace would have to be trimmed as well. Pull it up at the hips? This left the fabric at the front curling instead of draping beautifully.

Worried I was going to put my heel through the dress on the day, and for the sheer principle of the fact this very expensive dress was crooked, we agreed I'd call Brides of Melbourne first thing Sunday and try to get down there as soon as possible.

I began wondering what they'd say. "It's not that noticeable" Can't you change your dance?"

And with a week to go until we fly out I knew there wasn't time to send it to Wendy in QLD for alterations, to receive it in Melbourne before we left. That meant they'd need to alter it onsite. I started having flashbacks of my friend Louise's experience with alterations at the store. Or would they send it to Wendy and have her send it directly to Port Douglas next week? They all sounded like risks I didn't feel like taking.

I woke up on Sunday with that feeling of 'there's something I don't really want to do today'. Brides of Melbourne doesn't open until 11 on Sundays so after enjoying breakfast with David and Andrea I picked up the phone and called them. No Louisa isn't in today. I spoke to Helen and briefly explained the problem - no alterations staff are in today but come in tomorrow after work. She remembered me and remembered that Wendy had done all fittings and alterations for the gown. Helen was very calm and helpful - I'm sure she gets last minute dress issues often.

I'm glad I tried it on again. And I hadn't started dance lessons until after we picked up the dress so I hadn't even contemplated any problems then. Why do we get these 11th hour issues? I kept myself busy for the rest of the day and I was fine, but on the way into work this morning I started to pick at my thumbnail, by 10 am it's all gone and looking kinda out of place among the others that I've been so carefully growing. I'm feeling a bit uneasy and foggy and I think it's going to be a long day. I know everything will be wonderful on the day, and I have no doubt at all that I'll be wearing my beautiful dress, it's just thewondering and worrying that's getting to me. But we all know that there's no point in worrying until there's something to worry about. Right?


I suppose this is the 'hint of drama' I asked for - better now than on the day I'm sure. Fingers are crossed for a straightforward solution.

18 SLEEPS!

It's getting even more real every day now! We're starting to see people for the last time until we meet again in Port Douglas - or until we come back married! When I was chatting with Deborah about all the little things that are stressing me out that I still have to do she assured me that I'm so organised and it will be very difficult to forget anything! Everyone we speak to is so excited - they can't wait!

I've updated our calendar of activities and to do lists and we really got packing last night. It's our second last dance lesson tonight but our practice has started to pay off and we're more comfortable with the entrance now - I actually know when to start moving which is going to help a lot!

We've finished all our ordering now and I'm waiting impatiently every afternoon to find out if any parcels have arrived. It sounds like Trav has the honeymoon all organised, that was the best idea letting him plot and plan and keep it as a complete surprise, what a lead up to my 30th birthday!

Pep Talk

OK. I think I'm starting to lose it slightly. I was hesitant about offering the bus transfers since the charter company told us we'd have to collect payment ourselves and that meant a lot of extra time and effort (that we just don't have right now) to make it work. Nevertheless, we'd offered this to our guests so the information went out last night. I felt better once this was done - we were clear about what information we needed and by when. If we don't get enough solid info by next Wednesday at least we'll be able to say we tried but it's not going to happen.

Some replies have started coming in that don't make any sense; they're missing the exact info we requested, so they haven't read our email properly - help us help you people! And that was just the first 4 responses. At least 3 more people replied saying that they had organised their own transport - BONUS!

I vented to Belinda today about this, and how we really need to work on our dance and how stressed I'm getting now, hoping that if I get everything under control now, I can relax later.

'Guess what' she said. 'Stuff will still happen even on the day'. She reminded me to remember which things really aren't that serious because it really doesn't matter. She said looking back at some of her photos on the day she can see how angry she was and how grumpy she was with her new husband.

But really, let's step back. We've put an offer out to try and help our guests save a few dollars - if it doesn't work then too bad but at least we've tried to make things a bit easier for them.

We're going up to get married in Port Douglas, our most favourite place in the whole world and we've convinced 65 friends and family to join us. Everyone is already in party mode and they all just want to have a good time. They won't care less about all these little things and neither should I - as Catherine has reminded me more than once - 'as long as I've got my dress, and probably Travis everything will be fine'

The Bridal Dance

Last night we went to a special Bridal Couples evening at Arthur Murray. Francesca taught us a couple of ways to walk on to the floor (much less complicated than our own entrance) and how not to count while dancing. what to do when we stuff up, and how to walk off the dance floor. There were about 9 couples there and it was a really fun night. We got to see a couple who have had 15 lessons (and their wedding isn't until August!) perform their very sensual Rumba routine and another couple who have added a bit of hip hop to their routine (and they're not getting married until November!) We did a bit of social dancing at the end and when everyone left Trav and I practiced our dance a couple of times, I'm getting the hang of the entrance and we've sorted out the swivel bit and the last turns. I'm starting to freak out that we only have 2 lessons left - and we wouldn't even have time to book another one in unless we did it on the Saturday before we go!

Reality Check!

Whoah!

I got my first 'Chillax!' today - uh-oh, does the 1 month mark automatically tip brides into an deep, unavoidable frenzy? (hmm I looked up frenzy for want of a better word and got delirium, lunacy, hysteria, craze and fury - take your pick).

I'm usually the sort of person who doesn't like to think things are too easy - don't want to jinx anything so I tend to err on the side of caution and double and triple checking.

But so that I don't lose my nut over the last crucial weeks, let's have a look at the worst case scenarios (no point worrying about something that hasn't happened yet anyway.

We forget to bring something

Depending on how disastrous this is, we have some options

If the missing item is at our place we'll ask Matt & Kat or Marian & Egan to pick it up(they both have keys)

If it's at mum's we'll ask Marian & Egan to drop in

If no one can pick it up and it's not that disastrous, we'll get over it

If it's quite disastrous, we'll buy, beg, borrow or steal it

Moving right along ...

The weather might be cold

However cold the weather is, it won't feel cold to us hardened Melbournians

Toughen up ...

It rains on the day

We'll get wet

We'll get a lift to the chapel instead of walking

Rain can make wedding photos look really beautiful

Maybe this one will help me to decide on parasols - rice paper ones might not be the right way to go so it could be fabric ones afterall - not that they'd do much in a tropical downpour!

And anyway - don't they say it's good luck for your marriage?

The show will go on and we'll still be married ...

I forget my dress

I won't forget my dress

See? Nothing to worry about! Whatever happens, I'm pretty sure you won't be able to wipe that grin off my face all week long!