Who says it takes more than two weeks to plan a wedding?

So, we decided to do it. And we decided to do it in two weeks. That was last week. Now, the event is less than a week away.

June 21, 2014

The Summer Solstice

Rob & Rachel's Big Day

When we got engaged a couple of months ago, we knew we'd be planning a small wedding, on short notice, given the constraints of Rob's job.  Our first priority was securing a minister to make it official.  Of course, we immediately thought of our best dive buddy and traveling companion, Rob's dad, Jon.  We took him to lunch one afternoon and asked the favor.  We were thrilled when he agreed to get ordained in order to marry us. Having accomplished that important task, neither of us did another thing to move toward the reality of planning a wedding, instead we debated the more esoteric details like,  "will she change her name?" Until last week when we looked at our summer calendar and realized we needed to do this thing in June if we wanted our kids to be around to celebrate with us.

We began to phone our nearest and dearest to see if they'd be able to make the trip.  Sadly, of course, our last minute plans precluded some from making the trip, but we began to make plans for housing out of town guests that agreed to plan a spontaneous road trip for our wedding. 

Last Sunday, after mass and a soccer game, I found a lovely dress for a whopping $47, the very first thing I tried on. It was serendipitous to say the least, walking into the adorable little boutique Urban Farmhouse in Geneseo to visit the owner, a former student of mine. Upon hearing my news, she immediately went to the rack and pulled out: The Dress. And that was checked off my to-do list. That same day, Rob and I wrote our vows and I bought a case of wine on sale at Hyvee.  I felt incredibly productive!


This week, we finalized the ceremony template and met with Jon over lunch again. We applied for our marriage license.

Here we are at the Recorder's office

We found Rob's wedding attire: yes, he's wearing jeans and boots and is one happy man! We decided on a location for our outdoor wedding, a special little spot on the river front that requires no advance reservation. And, we squeezed in a photo shoot last night.

In between those important details, I've been cleaning and cleaning, and, of course, getting excited about the little things, like making a new wreath for our door.

Can you say, sidetracked?

The dogs got bathed, thanks to R. We found an amateur photographer to take some wedding photos on the cheap, thanks to our pal, Kris.  I came across an amazing poem and coerced my good friend Tracey to read it at the ceremony.  The kids all found wedding clothing and my best friend in the world, Krystal, has kept me sane on several occasions as we've debriefed over the phone.

Several different times over the course of the last week I've had minor epiphanies that sound something like this, "oh my god, cake!  I didn't even think about cake!  People will expect cake, right?" And yes, I was told, people will expect cake.  And, it turns out, although Rob LOVES my Bete Noir cake, he is afraid that it too closely resembles a brownie and a brownie, even if it tastes like heaven, is just a bit too casual for a wedding. So, I outsourced my cake.

Rob is off on a trip, and I am child-less this Father's Day weekend. I'm in a fury of creative efficiency mixed in equal parts with mania:  the perfect combination for planning a wedding in two weeks!  I still need to figure out food and music.  I have this picture in my head of a couple of live musicians strolling around at the ceremony and playing the wedding march, but, alas, that doesn't fit into my budget.  And I'm secretly hoping to talk Rob out of "brats on the grill"as the mainstay of our reception food, but am stymied when I consider making anything else myself, and, doing anything that requires a caterer is getting less and less likely as we move closer to the event.

Still, I feel pretty good about my state of calm.  I will not stress about our wedding.  I look forward with eager anticipation to the day when we will join our lives.  I am thrilled by the love I feel from friends and family who want to be a part of our day.  I am a little giddy.  I'm a little nervous. I'm a lot happy.