Wedding Week

It's official, I'm a married woman!  Before I get into the wedding itself, there were so many other things to talk about.  Due to the fact that about 90% of our guests were from out of town, we ended up not just having a wedding day, but a wedding week!  It was awesome to spend so much time with our friends and family.

Mike, his parents, Bauer, and I hopped in the car early Saturday morning on June 23 and made the 17 hour drive from St. Louis to Lake George.  We all stayed with my parents, and while everyone was happy to see each other, I don't think anyone was happier than Nash, my parents' dog, who hadn't seen his best friend Bauer in two months!

On Sunday I took my last opportunity to relax.  I wasn't going to have a day without something to do until a week and two days from then.  I probably could have gotten some things done that day, and it probably would have made my life a little bit easier that week, but I saw a break and took it!

On Monday Mike's best man and an usher-turned-groomsman got into town.  First thing was first though, we had to get our marriage license.  After we finished that we picked them up at the airport, and spent the day giving them a little tour of Lake George.

Tuesday Mike played some golf with the guys and then we did the last minute running around taking care of final payments for vendors and such.  Then we went out for a nice dinner at one of our favorite spots in Lake George, George's.  It was an early night for us then because we had a really full next few days.

I spent all morning Wednesday baking four Gooey Butter Cakes, because I had decided at some point before the stress had kicked in that it was a good idea to give out homemade Gooey Butter Cake as favors to the guests at the wedding, along with the mini champagne bottles we had ordered.  Then I had to run down to the airport to pick up one of my bridesmaids and then pick up my wedding dress.  Due to my bridesmaids dresses not getting in until the previous Friday, my two out of town bridesmaids couldn't have their dresses shipped to them and get fitted in time.  After picking up my bridesmaid I had to run to the dress shop to get her dress along with the dress of the bridesmaid arriving the next morning.  We headed straight to the seamstress's house for a fitting a mere three days before the wedding.  From there we headed straight to a local park where Mike and I were holding a meet and greet barbecue for all the guests who were in town already.  Fours hours mingling in the park was followed up with some Martha's Ice Cream for those from St. Louis who had never had flavored soft serve before.  We spent the rest of the night hanging out with friends in Lake George.

Thursday was another busy one.  It was bachelor/bachelorette party day and Mike had a mini golf tournament set up for the guys in the morning.  I had to meet my other out of town bridesmaid early that morning so I could get her to a fitting only two days before the wedding for her dress.  I was in serious doubt that the dresses would be done on time, and fit well.  When that was over I had to head back home and make four more Gooey Butter Cakes.  In the afternoon my maid of honor picked me up and all my bridesmaids and I spent the afternoon laying by the lake.  Then it was time for the bachelor/bachelorette parties!  Mike and his group stayed in Lake George while the ladies and I went to Saratoga for the night.  After dinner we ended up at a drag show where I was pulled on stage, but thankfully didn't get too embarrassed.  After the show we continued to bar hop until our ride came.  On the way back I let Mike know we were headed home, and he insisted on all of the girls meeting the guys out.  Not a typical end to the whole separate bachelor/bachelorette parties, but it was a really fun end to the night.

On Friday the girls all came over and helped me slice up, box up, and attach ribbons and seals to the cake favor boxes while Mike went on an hour steamboat ride with his side of the family.  After that was done Mike and I had to pack up bags for the next two nights because we'd been staying with my parents up to this point.  Then we had to get all of the favors, centerpiece parts, seating charts, etc. up to the wedding location.  After checking in to separate rooms at the hotel, Mike and I met up with everyone for rehearsal and then dinner afterwards.  After dinner ended we decided to meet up with everyone in town and hang out the rest of the night with them.  We ended up finishing our night off at an arcade taking over skee-ball.

 After exchanging our won tickets for really ridiculous things we didn't need Mike and I said our goodnights and headed back to the hotel.  It was really strange to have him walking me to my door only to leave to head to his own room.  I mean, we've been living together for 6 years, so this was a new thing for us.  The second the door closed I started to cry.  It finally kind of hit that I was going to be married the next day.  I spent the next few hours struggling to fall asleep, and eventually gave up and watched a late night playing of Super Troopers on Comedy Central.

And that's how I spent my week leading up to the wedding.  It was busy.  It was stressful.  It was fun.  It was probably the best week of my life.  Check back in a day or two for a blog about the wedding, complete with pictures some of the guests took!  Still just dying in anticipation for the pro photos and wedding video.