Something I've learned about myself over the past few years
I get freaked out by weddings, and it seems the less involved in the wedding I am, the more I freak out about it. I didn't freak out about my own wedding. Sure, there were a few tense moments when it looked like the flower arrangements weren't going to work out, but I think in general, things were fairly under control, and I was calm.
I was a little antsy about Jess and Robbie's wedding (I was the maid of honor), but that was largely because I had never been to a wedding in my adult life, much less been in one, and I didn't have a solid handle on my responsibilities. It turned out to be one of the nicest weekends that I can remember, though, and it was when I discovered that I love weddings.
Next was Julie and Tobias' wedding, where I was the only bridesmaid. That might seem like a lot of responsibility, but Julie had enlisted the aid of tremendously talented support staff, Jess (church team leader) and Helen (reception site team leader). In fact, one of my fondest wedding memories of all time was when Jess and I were helping Julie dress for the wedding and Helen called Jess to ask if there was supposed to be a cake at the reception site. Um, yes, there was supposed to be a cake. As I recall, a certain amount of internal freaking out did ensue, but to my knowledge, Julie was never informed until Helen found the cake safely in the refrigerator, just where the baker had left it. So that worked out well, nobody worried too much, the wedding was beautiful and the reception was great. As was the cake, I might add.
Now fast-forward to last July, when Helen and Buebbles got married in Brooklyn. I was a reader, and had very little responsibility. Actually, I was sharing a reading with one of Helen's college friends, so at most I was a hay-reader. But, boy, did I freak out. Matt, Julie, Tobias and I stayed at Matt's parents' house the night before the rehearsal. I absolutely could not sleep, I was so worried that we were going to get lost and mugged, which would cause me to miss the rehearsal and ultimately ruin not only their wedding, but probably their marriage. It turned out that it takes way less time to get from Allentown, PA to Brooklyn, NY than anyone anticipated, and we arrived an hour early for the rehearsal. And then got yelled at by the priest for talking loudly outside the church, where there was a service going on. But the rehearsal went fine, the rehearsal luncheon went fine, everything went fine, but I could not stop FREAKING OUT. The freaking out culminated at the actual wedding when I almost died of a panic attack before my reading. I guess I was more nervous about it than I thought I was, because I felt a lot better after it was over. Oh, and did I mention that it was probably 97 degrees in the church? But it was another beautiful wedding and fun reception, and it was so, so hot and the wine was so, so cold (and Jess says that I broke the artificial flowers in the women's bathroom, but I say I didn't).
And this weekend we're going to Debbie's wedding in Boston. I am not in the wedding, and have no responsibilities whatsoever, except to co-navigate to the rehearsal dinner, wedding, reception and post-wedding brunch. I am delighted to be invited to these events, by the way, and look forward immensely to all of them. But for the past several mornings, I have woken up early, freaking out about how all of this is going to work out. I don't know the area, and our hotel, the church, the reception site and the rehearsal dinner are all in different towns. Plus we're hanging out in Cambridge and might get together with some of Matt's friends on Saturday morning before the wedding. I think my mind just can't stand the uncertainty of not knowing where these places are and how we are going to get between them. So last night I spent considerable time on Mapquest, planning out our possible routes and making an itinerary. And that seems to have put my mind somewhat at ease because I managed to sleep in this morning with no problems. I know it will be a fun trip and I'm excited.
(As a wedding-related aside, I think it's only fair to warn you that if anybody out there wants me to be a bridesmaid in your wedding, I require two escorts. It's a condition that I've grown to accustomed to, and I simply won't do it, otherwise.)
I get freaked out by weddings, and it seems the less involved in the wedding I am, the more I freak out about it. I didn't freak out about my own wedding. Sure, there were a few tense moments when it looked like the flower arrangements weren't going to work out, but I think in general, things were fairly under control, and I was calm.
I was a little antsy about Jess and Robbie's wedding (I was the maid of honor), but that was largely because I had never been to a wedding in my adult life, much less been in one, and I didn't have a solid handle on my responsibilities. It turned out to be one of the nicest weekends that I can remember, though, and it was when I discovered that I love weddings.
Next was Julie and Tobias' wedding, where I was the only bridesmaid. That might seem like a lot of responsibility, but Julie had enlisted the aid of tremendously talented support staff, Jess (church team leader) and Helen (reception site team leader). In fact, one of my fondest wedding memories of all time was when Jess and I were helping Julie dress for the wedding and Helen called Jess to ask if there was supposed to be a cake at the reception site. Um, yes, there was supposed to be a cake. As I recall, a certain amount of internal freaking out did ensue, but to my knowledge, Julie was never informed until Helen found the cake safely in the refrigerator, just where the baker had left it. So that worked out well, nobody worried too much, the wedding was beautiful and the reception was great. As was the cake, I might add.
Now fast-forward to last July, when Helen and Buebbles got married in Brooklyn. I was a reader, and had very little responsibility. Actually, I was sharing a reading with one of Helen's college friends, so at most I was a hay-reader. But, boy, did I freak out. Matt, Julie, Tobias and I stayed at Matt's parents' house the night before the rehearsal. I absolutely could not sleep, I was so worried that we were going to get lost and mugged, which would cause me to miss the rehearsal and ultimately ruin not only their wedding, but probably their marriage. It turned out that it takes way less time to get from Allentown, PA to Brooklyn, NY than anyone anticipated, and we arrived an hour early for the rehearsal. And then got yelled at by the priest for talking loudly outside the church, where there was a service going on. But the rehearsal went fine, the rehearsal luncheon went fine, everything went fine, but I could not stop FREAKING OUT. The freaking out culminated at the actual wedding when I almost died of a panic attack before my reading. I guess I was more nervous about it than I thought I was, because I felt a lot better after it was over. Oh, and did I mention that it was probably 97 degrees in the church? But it was another beautiful wedding and fun reception, and it was so, so hot and the wine was so, so cold (and Jess says that I broke the artificial flowers in the women's bathroom, but I say I didn't).
And this weekend we're going to Debbie's wedding in Boston. I am not in the wedding, and have no responsibilities whatsoever, except to co-navigate to the rehearsal dinner, wedding, reception and post-wedding brunch. I am delighted to be invited to these events, by the way, and look forward immensely to all of them. But for the past several mornings, I have woken up early, freaking out about how all of this is going to work out. I don't know the area, and our hotel, the church, the reception site and the rehearsal dinner are all in different towns. Plus we're hanging out in Cambridge and might get together with some of Matt's friends on Saturday morning before the wedding. I think my mind just can't stand the uncertainty of not knowing where these places are and how we are going to get between them. So last night I spent considerable time on Mapquest, planning out our possible routes and making an itinerary. And that seems to have put my mind somewhat at ease because I managed to sleep in this morning with no problems. I know it will be a fun trip and I'm excited.
(As a wedding-related aside, I think it's only fair to warn you that if anybody out there wants me to be a bridesmaid in your wedding, I require two escorts. It's a condition that I've grown to accustomed to, and I simply won't do it, otherwise.)
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home