Our Wedding Story: Part 2

In December of 2008 I still only had a contract for our reception site, despite knowing each vendor I wanted for everything else.  Thank you universe, God, karma, or whatever else it was that kept me from signing any other contracts.

My father's heart problems started when I was twelve, and so receiving the news that he was finally on a transplant list was really very bittersweet.  Obviously, no one wants someone they love to be so sick that they require an organ swap, but at the same time the thought of a transplant gave hope to my parents and I that SOMETHING could be done to help my dad, SOMETHING could happen that would allow us to enjoy more time with him.

I called his cardiologist later that week, and this is how the conversation went:
Me: Look, Doc.  I'm supposed to get married in July.  Out here.  In New Jersey.  I need my father to walk me down the aisle more than anything else.  What's the deal?
Doc: Well, your dad will probably be very tired come July, and may not be able to travel.  Plus, being on the transplant list means he could get a call at a moment's notice and needs to be ready to go in Chicago to get that transplant.
Me: Thanks, Doc I got what I needed to know.  Looks like I'll be rescheduling my wedding plans.   

And so, we decided to move the wedding...to March...in Chicago.  That gave us exactly three months to replan our entire wedding long-distance with the holidays in between.  So when brides complain of having too many decisions and too little time I pretty much want to tell them to bite me.  You can plan a wedding on short notice, you can make it everything you want it to be, and you can do a lot of it yourself. 

I had already planned to go home for the week of Christmas, and so I began doing some furious internet research, in addition to asking all my friends and family for any help/advice/suggestions they had.

During that ONE WEEK (which included Christmas) I did the following:

Booked our church, chose our ceremony details including music

Booked our reception site

Booked our caterer

Booked our bakery, picked cake flavors

Booked our photographer

Booked our DJ

Booked our florist

Found orchid guy for our centerpieces (more on that later)

This change of events also meant that I got to hang out with my dad for all of that week.  He came with me to visit sites, taste cake, and negotiate contracts.  The decision to continue planning my wedding allowed my family to have a wonderful distraction, something to look forward to, and a terrific reason to get out of bed in the morning during a very stressful time.

In February, Sean and I flew in to finalize our menu, and took some lovely engagement photos.  We killed two birds with one stone and had our photographer join us on our final site walk through.  Multi-tasking is the key, folks.

Sean HATES having his picture taken, and so it was crucial to have engagement shots to get him used to our photographer (Hi, Copper!).  Anyone out there with a camera shy husband hear me: TAKE. ENGAGEMENT. PICS.  Proof:

 Sean and I did some unbelievable wedding planning and a ton of it we made or put together ouselves.  A lot of it was done with help from our parents, and even more was done through some incredible intervention on behalf of the universe.

Part 2.5 will be this afternoon with the details on those amazing interventions!