The Music of My Heart

Well, it's a week from today that we'll be preparing for the rehearsal dinner! I've got the itineraries ready for the bridal side of this bridal party and my plan looks iron-clad on paper. This lead to the pep talk I had with myself that things can't possibly go as smoothly as I've got them planned, so I'm prepared to go with the flow.

That being said, I wanted to blog about our final preparations and some logistical things.

I've been working to get three weeks ahead on work which has been interesting (next week, the following week when we're on our honeymoon, then prep for the week after the honeymoon). Luckily, I've been able to spend a good amount of time working from home to get this accomplished while taking care of other things (I'll be making powerpoints during the car detail today). I will be tutoring through next Tuesday. Last night, I went into teach a test prep class that has 2 students. I walked into a chorus of sneezes, sniffles, and coughs. "You're both sick..." I said to my students. "Yeah," they admitted. "WHY ARE YOU HERE?" I demanded. My frustration came from a place where I've been trying to get enough sleep every night, taking Vitamin C, exercising, eating right - I should have a good immunity right now, but I do NOT need to hang out with infected people right before the wedding.

The one student looked and felt so bad that he ended up leaving less than an hour into class. Then the Assistant Director of the Center was telling me she also has a cold. Fabulous. I'm on the V8 and Green tea for the remainder of this week and next.

Last night, Bryan and I tried to make our final song selections for the DJ. "But Soon-to-be-Mrs. Hoey, didn't you do this months ago," you're wondering? Actually, we made our song list months ago, but couldn't finalize our decision on a.) our First Dance song, b.) a Bridal Party song, c.) the order in which the Bridal Party will get announced. Well, let me correct that - Bryan couldn't decide - which essentially means the decision was held up.

Our First Dance song came down to a Final Three - two songs that I LOVE (and Bryan likes), and one song that Bryan loves (and that I like). The determining factor on whether the decision we made stays final will depend on whether we can dance to it this weekend (which consisted of me calling the Atlanta Ballroom Theater and asking them to make us look "not silly" - our appointment is tomorrow).

The order in which the Bridal Party will get announced was a conversation that took WAY too long. I don't know what Bryan was debating over. I mean I do, but not really. And then on whether to call people by their "formal" names or what we call them all the time. My reasoning? At this point everyone will have had a few drinks - Tony is Tony at that point. Bryan likes Anthony for one Tony and Tony for the other - but they're both Tonys...ok, if that wasn't enough to give you a headache, try this one.

If you know my family, my brother and I were raised with "oldies" music. We grew up with Bill Haley and the Comets, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, Dion, and Bobby Darin playing on the jukebox. Aaron developed a love of Motown as he got older as well - he loves The Temptations and The Jackson 5. Needless to say, we love older music. Bryan HATES older music. And I use the word Hates because it encompasses pretty much all older music (only notable exceptions are Pink Floyd and The Doors): he strongly dislikes The Beatles, Beach Boys, even Journey! So to me, Bryan is ok with anything that's current going back to the late 80s. This means there will be no "Don't Stop Believin'" at the wedding - I'm sorry. Listen to it in the car on the way over - but it will not get played at the wedding. The only song that I hate quite as much as Bryan hates old music is "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang. I have an appointment to finalize plans with our DJ on Monday and that is a song that will make me snap. I just find it incredibly annoying and borderline creepy (all the "Wah-hoo!").

For the Bridal Party song, I wanted to play something fun, upbeat, and classic. Initially, I went right to "Friends in Low Places" - this is the popular choice according to the message boards and it's a cute song! Bryan said, "No country" (This was also a rule for the wedding, but I tortured him in order to allow me to play "Chicken Fried" by Zac Brown Band - one of the ultimate Georgia songs that exists in the world).

This rejection lead me to two older songs. One of them Bryan responded, "That's a nice song - what year was that released?" "Uh...let me look it up...1967," I told him. "No," he said. That's it. End of story. The song can be a great song, but if it's too old, then it doesn't work. After about an hour of this last night, I gave up and went to sleep. This morning, we were back to the same debate. We narrowed it down to this particular great song from 1967, a Beatles song (you can probably figure this one out) and a U2 song. Bryan left for work this morning with the paperwork for the DJ that needs to get faxed over today. Do you know what we picked? Neither do I - he's going to pick one himself. After probably 3+ hours of debate, there was still no choice.

Now think about this - how are we going to name our children???? I need an anti-anxiety pill, hold on....

Ok, so as you can imagine, the big details are taken care of at this point - now it's all about two things: the final touches and making myself beautiful. Today, I'll be getting my car detailed which is something I do once a year to rid the car of all of Maggie's hair. That stuff is almost impossible to get out without an industrial vacuum! Why am I worried about my car, you ask? Wednesday, I'm fully aware that some people are starting to come into town. Yes, I will be running around, but you can call me if you are somewhere (preferably the Dunwoody or Doraville train station) and need a ride. Wednesday morning I'm giving a midterm, but after that, the fun begins. I'll be touring Bryan's Aunt Deb and cousins Jacque and Lauren around GSU. Then I'll be back in Dunwoody to pack up the car with everything that's going to the venue and hotel. By the time I get up to PCH, I'm hoping my family will be rolling into the hotel.

If you get into the airport and you have essentially no plan for getting to the hotel, please call me. If you want to make a plan with me, please call me. If you need my number, e-mail me at tomboybride2010@gmail.com. My plan at this point is: we'll figure it out. I've started to call guests to make sure everyone is confident of what they're doing and where they're going when they get off the plane - I know it can be confusing landing in an unfamiliar airport in an unfamiliar city.

Thursday is gonna get a little crazier as the process of getting beautiful kicks into higher gear. I'll also be further north of the city in Duluth, so it won't be quite as easy for me to head down to the airport. The best thing to do is hop on MARTA (our train system), take it North to Doraville, and call me.

Friday, if you're coming into town and you need me to coordinate anything for you - you MUST get in touch with me ASAP. I will have my phone on me Friday, but it will be virtually impossible for me to get down to the airport as a.) I will be having a few cocktails during the day, and b.) it's my Wedding Day and I'll be trying to relax and get ready! That being said, my car will be at the hotel and I'm completely willing to let a close friend or family member borrow it to pick anyone up that needs a ride.

Once you arrive at the hotel, there will be an itinerary in your welcome bag with the weekend's events, directions, and important numbers. Wednesday night is my future Brother-in-law's 30th birthday party (his birthday is on Thursday) at Pub 71 in Brookhaven. All are welcome. And of course, Thursday night is the rehearsal dinner for all out-of-town guests and bridal party and significant others. Saturday, Bryan and I will still be in town, so if you are still around Saturday and want to hang out, we'll probably be at Jon and Sonia's for most of the day hanging out, recovering, and playing some games - details to come on that.

The weather: Accuweather is all over the place with rain vs. no rain - but either way, it won't be major storms from what it looks like now. As far as the chill, as I mentioned in the last blog, the mornings have been chilly but the days and early evenings have been absolutely perfect. If I were attending our wedding, I would wear a dress (I'm calling the dress code semi-formal), and I would bring a sweater with me (I'm always cold).

As for the last details: I picked up our programs yesterday from La Belle Weddings and they look AWESOME! I just have to essentially fold them and get them ready. The favors are here, but I have yet to tie the escort cards to them. We will be putting the welcome bags together this weekend and framing the last of our table cards. By Sunday, the boxes will be completely packed for the venue. I can not wait to get to this point as it will be when I can truly relax. But for now, the focus is on being healthy and getting pretty. Until next time, have a great rest of the week!!!