Ode to Joe

It’s funny how planning a wedding can make a person with a usually sunny, glass half full sort of disposition, (namely me), suddenly become slightly neurotic, irrational and emotional as the smallest things mushroom into major crises. I will confess that I have had my share of irrationality in the last few weeks…I hate admitting that but I can almost guarantee there will be other moments before this wedding is over. All I can say is thank God for Joe, he is my rock and literally has averted so much disaster and death (to others) it’s just been amazing.

For starters, Lori, Kimmy and I spent hours putting together our invitations one evening. They were sooo pretty and I was sooo excited to send them out…only to learn that when people received them they were all smudged. Crisis! I mean I bawled my eyes out because well you only send your invitations out once and here is the thing I figured people would be so horrified. Well my darling Joe spent a few hours convincing me that people were not going to hate me for a smudged invite and that we should put an announcement on FB and offer to send replacements. Well I just kept thinking what a bad impression it made but surprisingly people were quite ok and more people were excited about coming to our wedding than they were on dwelling on the unfortunate ink story. Go figure!

The List! Of course I have a little more than 2 months to go and it’s like I have 2 million things that need to be done and I don’t seem to be getting anywhere so I decided to do a list. Which in essence should have made me feel better since it was so thorough and I had a clear grasp on what I had to do. Instead the list struck a panic chord in me and turned me into a cranky no fun person until Joe reminded me that he was there to help. Whatever I needed him to do he would do it. Assign him jobs. We had a lot of people who were willing to help and I didn’t have to be superwoman. He also reminded me of the very important factor that God was the One that brought us together and He would provide for this wedding. All these things I knew but somehow I can’t remember them in the midst of wedding mania so I’m glad he helped jog my memory.

Then there was of course the shoe crisis. Let me say when you find the perfect dress and veil and tiara, naturally the perfect shoes are the next step… (Haha get it?) Anyways, so I’ve been searching for weeks to no avail until I ended up in Pittsburgh this past weekend at JC Penney and found the perfect pair. They were silver, cute, part glass, real Cinderella stuff here. I was reveling in finally finding shoes when I came to discover they were the exact same ones that my sister got to wear in the wedding. Talk about devastating. I mean the bride can’t and I repeat can’t wear the same shoes as her Matron of Honor. Just not right. So I sat at Olive Garden crying my eyes out because of course this was akin to the end of the world while my Joe got online, found a bunch of adorable wedding shoes and started showing me a few and before long I picked one I liked and he had it ordered, all before his phone died. Crisis averted. Once again, there was my amazing fiancé saving the day.

So, the fact that Joe is my future husband was obviously no coincidence. He can ease my fears and calm my nerves like no one else and is always placing God at the forefront. God’s plan! What more can any woman want? :)

Adventures in Wedding Planning - The Dress!

Since my proposal (which was pretty incredible by the way,)  I have found myself immersed in the wedding planning frenzy that every bride lives and breathes in the months preceding the big day. Planning a wedding is an experience. It is an adventure in the land of halls, lace, flowers, pictures, stationary, dresses, parties, gifts, themes, decisions, favors, music, video, shopping, menus, in-laws, cakes, desserts, sparkling drinks and money. I tell you what, you learn a lot about people really fast during such times as these. Lol! I am happy to report that my groom-to-be has been quite agreeable (and rational) through this process which has been great for me during a few hair pulling moments. Haha! I praise God for him every day.

However there are so many experiences that accompany all these decisions, some pleasant, some…not so much. Take gown shopping for instance, it should be a thrilling and exhilarating experience right? Well this was not the case when I visited David’s Bridal a couple weeks or so ago. I walked in as a new Bride-to-Be thinking “This is awesome, my second bridal appointment. How fun!” That was until I was greeted (I use this term very cautiously) by Atilla the Hun at the front counter who immediately escorted me over to her desk to sign some paperwork where we were joined by an ill dressed woman who apparently was supposed to be my consultant and her greeting was one of slight exasperation over the amount of ‘favorites’ I had. What happened to “Congratulations!”? Or some other semi-human greeting. After that ‘Miss Pleasant’ escorted me to the closet section or ‘dressing rooms’ as they called it.

So now the topic up for discussion is how many inappropriate questions and/or comments can take place during a single bridal appointment? I am glad you asked because apparently more than any new bride bargains for -:

- Well, there are a lot of dresses on your list, I’ll see if I can find some of these
- Do you want me to help you or one of the people you brought?
- Well maybe if you used a push up bra…it would work better
- Well it’s big, so…
- You really want to try this?
- That’s how it’s made I don’t think it could be adjusted
- You aren’t really tall enough for that dress
- I’m running out of options I don’t really know what to pull for you
- You should probably go look on the racks yourself
- No we don’t have that dress
- I’m not sure they have it at our other location either
- If you need something I’ll be around

(Then poof! She vanished!)

I need a push up bra? Really? Let me say she literally pulled the dresses onto me, zipped it up and opened the door and out I went to the world of harsh lights and no pedestal. And she just stood off to the side. No assistance, no suggestions or anything, just tapping her ugly shoes on the rug till I was done. That was quite possibly the worst 2 hours of my retail life.

Disillusioned we left to go eat and what do you know? Out of nowhere across from our restaurant was the bridal boutique of this designer I love. 2 hours later I had ordered the dress of my dreams, veil and tiara and had one of the most amazing experiences ever complete with tears and my own video recorded ‘say yes to the dress’ moment. So much so I almost forgot the nightmare that was my earlier appointment. It’s funny how God can turn a situation around and work it out for good. Wait, not just good…better than you can imagine! 

Change is Good!

As most of you know by now, I am engaged to be married to the love of my life Joseph Turner. How surreal it’s been after dreaming about being in this place for so long. God in His amazing grace has blessed me beyond what I deserve. However, I’ve had rollercoaster emotions to go along with it and a thousand questions. The other day I was having a minor meltdown as the prospect of all the upcoming changes loomed in front of me. I mean I’ve lived at home for…well let’s just say a lot of years, been responsible for other people. Now, here I am on the verge of getting married and taking on the responsibility of my own home and a husband.

A husband! No longer do I have to report to anyone except him. Naturally I wonder about so many things; am I going to be a good wife? Am I going to disappoint him? What’s it going to be like to share a home with him? What if he doesn’t like my decorating ideas? What if I don’t like his? What about my cooking? Are we going to travel? When will we move? How will we handle issues that arise? Then even before that there is the actual wedding to be concerned about. How’s the engagement party going to go? Or the bridal shower? Are people going to show up? Is it going to be a beautiful day for our wedding? Is it going to be memorable? Is everyone going to be blessed? Questions! Questions! Questions! It’s a good thing I have my amazing fiancé to reassure me that it’s natural to be nervous but these changes are all for the better. Whew! Or else I may have lost a lot more hair from pulling them out.

Let’s face it change is scary. It’s the fear of the unknown, that taking a leap of faith and trusting to land on solid ground. So far God’s hand seems to be on this upcoming marriage, from meeting each other, through our courtship, the proposal and still now as we plan to spend the rest of our lives together. It’s been a magnificent whirlwind to be caught up in. We both recognize that we are just recipients of God’s goodness and His unconditional love and it is our prayer that we don’t waste a second of His gift. 