The day is finally here and the ladies started it early! Each of us needing to get all dolled up for the impending nuptials, preparation hours were determined to be more essential than sleeping. Promptly at 6am, the first round of ladies leisurely gathered in the kitchen, rewarded for their punctuality with the view of the gorgeous sunrise over the lake and steaming cups of coffee soon to be in hand. Nothing can be that simple with me though, so something was bound to go awry! Karen, my hours-away from becoming my mother-in-law, popped in her k-cup pod and placed her mug under the drip tray of the Kurig, anxiously awaiting her daily dose of caffeinated deliciousness. However, with a simple press of a button, we came to the realization that we would have to work for our liquid energy this morning as the Kuring would not work.

We tried everything! Unplugged and replugged it, replaced the water, rinsed it out, Googled the issue, yet nothing was working. Thankfully though, there was another single serve coffee maker in a cabinet that we could use. Unfortunately for some of the girls, we also quickly noted that there was no sugar in the house…So stops at Dunkin were now penciled into the schedule for them on the way to EnChanning!

My bridesmaid, Lizzie, had generously agreed to do all the women’s hairstyles and my Matron of Honor, Nicole, had graciously offered to do my makeup. Karen was first in line for her hair, so with a freshly brewed cup of coffee in her hands, she made her way to the chair and began discussing her style. I started to gather the S’mores packs we had all put together the night before, which had been quite an event in and of itself! We had all sat around the table, splitting up the tasks between us in a strangely organized assembly line of sorts; I was on graham cracker duty, Mom on chocolate, Heather on marshmallows, and Nicole on closing the packs. It was up to Heather to keep us on track, admittedly, as we were all just chatting and goofing off throughout the process and constantly getting distracted. Eventually an issue arose; the stickers that came with the baggies kept coming off, thus leaving the packs open. We located the double sided tape and added Jen to the assembly line to help. In the end we managed, and they turned out super cute!

With the S’more packed safely and stored by the door, I sat down at the dining room table to hand write my vows. They had been written long before on a GoogleDoc, but I figured it would be a bit more appropriate to have them on a piece of paper than it would be to whip my cell out of my bouquet while standing at the altar! Not to mention that, knowing me, the phone would fall out of its hiding place on the way down the aisle. And trust me, there was no bending over to pick it up in that corset style topped dress! Though this would certainly work for some, it would not work for me…I really should have done it earlier though because distractions were in ample supply this morning!

Once Karen’s hair was done to her liking, she set her focus on rescuing me. I had put together all of the bridesmaids’ bouquets and the guys’ boutonnieres; all except for Garrett’s. Perhaps doing his first would have been a better idea than saving it for last, but I never do things the easy way. When it came to him, all I knew was that I wanted to use the Persona 5 mask keychain I bought as a surprise and a little blue bird that matched the ones in my bouquet, but without it looking too tacky. Honestly, I don’t think Karen is capable of making any of her flower arrangements look tacky, so I knew this boutonniere was in much better hands with her! As I handed her the sad attempt I had initiated days before, my mind flashed back to Garrett standing in the living room while I tried desperately to come up with a design. No matter what I showed him, he said it looked good so he certainly was no help (though he was super sweet!).

I had begun this process with the idea in my head that the groomsmen would match the bridesmaids’ bouquets, but the matron of honor and best man had to have arrangements that were just a touch more extra than the rest. Then I had to come up with a design that was different from the groomsmen, but still matched the girls’ flowers for my bridesman, Michael. Finally, I had to come up with another design for my dad’s, so it’s safe to say I was creatively tapped out. At one point, I just grabbed a Hydrangea corymb and thrust it at Garrett stating “Here! This is your boutonniere and you’re gonna like it!” Needless to say, I was desperate for help at that point and Garrett told his mom I needed her. Not to worry though, Karen absolutely saved the day with her skill! All I have to say is thank goodness for both of my mothers because I would have been a wreck between the dress issues my mom had to fix and the flower issues Karen had to fix.

With the boutonniere disaster resolved, Nicole set to work on my makeup. Months ago she had shown me several pictures of various styles she had created for fun in the past, each following a different theme. We’d even played around with some fun looks on me, which turned out awesome, so I was very excited when she asked if she could do my wedding makeup! Over the course of multiple practice visits we had decided on elegant purples, glitter, eye shadow eye liner, and a pretty lipstick that I ended up completely forgetting to put on the day of. There was a lot going on, I couldn’t remember everything, no matter how organized I am! We had a blast doing the makeup, using blue tape to ensure crips lines for my eye makeup and making goofy duck faces at her for the blush. Nicole always finds a way to make anything fun, definitely one of the reasons we’ve been best friends for nearly 25 years now!

Once Nicole had finished working her magic on my face, it was Lizzie’s turn to wave her magic curling wand over my hair. Having pre-curled my extensions the night before during our S’mores shenanigans, she began clipping them in with ease. Due to timing, we had to make sure to get my hair mostly complete, leaving only finishing touches to be done at the venue for photos. It’s a lot of fun to watch someone so in their element! Lizzie flitted around me, sticking in bobby pins here and there, leaving one spiral curl hanging from the updo and other strands around my face. The hairstyle wasn’t even done and it was already stunning! It didn’t take long until everyone else was ready and it was time to head off to the venue, the excitement building more and more with each passing minute.