Stressful *BUT* Successful

I've had one of the most stressful weeks of my wedding planning thus far. It seemed as though if anything could go wrong it did. Sometimes I felt like if I didn't laugh I'd cry...oh who am I kidding, I shed a few tears -lol! It was beyond stressful, but ultimately very successful. I crossed so many things off my wedding to do list and I found myself feel a little better with every check I got to mark on my list. I also learned a few valuable lessons along the way.

So to jumpstart the stress I missed out on an entire weekend of wedding planning last weekend because I was in San Diego, California for the DJO Global National Sales Meeting. So I bet you see California and think good time right?! Well it wasn't all bad. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL, and the weather was perfect!

Not a bad view right?! On the flip side, I was up early every day and had no time to do anything wedding related. One day I didn't even have time to talk to my fiance as we worked right through lunch. Anyhow, I was pretty jetlag from traveling across the country on 3 hours of sleep and pretty much never recovered the entire trip. As you can imagine the lack of sleep traveled into this week and had me in a pretty rotten mood from the start. I've recovered now and am so looking forward to this next week!

Tacking onto the stress...the bridesmaids dresses came in - lol! First, the salon we got them at, Ribbon's Bridal, is about 45 minutes out of the city in Beaver, PA. I was working in that area and picked up three of the dresses, one for Hope, who lives in Vegas, and the others for my sisters. Unfortunately my sister Katie's dress didn't fit. Katie, you are MOH-tastic and I love you! You've been a huge trooper and we will get it all taken care of :-) Like she said, if you don't laugh, you'll cry! Which is pretty right on - lol! Patrick actually taught me the best lesson though...on the verge of freaking out he said "Maggie, don't lose sight of what this day is really about. It's about me and you! We will be there and that is what makes it perfect." So true - Thank goodness I have him in my life to remind me of this!!! He then reminded me that no wedding is perfect and everyone ends up having a story of something that went wrong that ends up being the staple story of the entire wedding. LOL! Again, true! It really is a fact that couples don't really talk about how "perfect" their day was but rather the funny quirks that made it their own. I won't lie, I'm a control-freak, and I want everything to be as perfect as can be in every aspect of my life - but I promised him in that moment that as long as he lets me continue to *try* to make things perfect, I will try to find light and laughter out of the imperfections. It was a good lesson to learn, and I needed it. Patrick, if you're reading, I love you so much, thanks for putting up with me when I'm crazy, and thanks for helping me find my way again :-)

Patrick and I made sure to match up the bridesmaids dresses to the guys tux's...they look sharp together! I can say with great confidence, we are going to have one stylish bridal party!! :-)

The To-Do list is shrinking which makes me breath so much easier :-) One of the biggest things I got 95% accomplished is the Rehearsal Dinner invitations. After the Kinko's shower invitation fiasco (they ruined 3 boxes of invitations!!! 3 boxes!!!) I tried out Staples and I was super happy with their work. They did the printing and I did all the stuffing, tying and addressing...

The other 5% of unfinished business is my fault...blame it on the bad week! I accidentally picked up the Laser tags instead of the Ink Jet...ugh! I would!!! These babies will be out of my hair this week though which will be lovely! Then it will be onto getting the Texas reception invitations completed. Patrick and I came up with a super clever idea for them...I can't wait to share once they are complete :-)

This week we also got Patrick's wedding ring! Funny story...he wanted to order it online because it was cheaper then getting it through our jeweler. I said no, as I was worried about the authenticity. Well, Patrick did what he wanted and just ordered it online. It looks pretty good! I told him he's going to have to wear it for a day on his right hand to make sure it doesn't turn his finger green! LOL!! He told me my ring should be in this week...woohoo!!

I also picked up my veil this week! It turned out beautifully but it is currently being reconstructed to be attached to my headpiece. I took it to the seamstress on Saturday. I also dropped off my dress to have it bustled...get this, it has 19 points so I'm going to have some busy bridesmaids :-) The bustle makes the dress have an entirely different look though which is pretty cool! It still amazes me though that my dress needed not one other alteration! It doesn't need taken in or hemmed...it's like it was made to be my dress! I'm quite happy nothing else needed done...alterations are not cheap!!! But it is so worth it to go to someone who is a little more expensive if you know her work and trust it :-)

Other wedding related news, I have my Bridal Shower dress AND my Rehearsal Dinner dress! I found one while in California and the other here in Pittsburgh. Both are beautiful...I can't wait to wear them! The shower is in 2 weeks and I've been really good at not peaking at the registry - haha! We have gotten a couple of wonderful gifts sent to us in the mail, and it's been so much fun getting to open them together!! A very special thank you goes out to my Godmother, Lois, who informed me that she ordered me a special "sparkly" gift that will be a part of my wedding day garbe! I wanted it SO badly, but would never spend the money on it...sorry to keep you in suspense but I can't bring myself to share the secret yet.

Earlier in this post I mentioned that I was taught a few lessons this week...I want to leave this post with a powerful video from American Idol...it made me think real hard, and it also made me thank God for the blessings in my life. Watch it and let it knock you down to where you need to be and thank God for the blessings in your own life!!!

Have a great week ya'll despite the Steeler's Super Bowl loss...look at it as a way of preserving fingers for our children :-)