Begin at the Beginning

I believe I could type my fingers to the bone before I would be able to describe each and every impression, emotion, and reaction of the last week of my life. I will do my best to catch the most important details here for you, but bear with me if I tend to digress! Starting at the beginning of last week seems to make the most sense; I'll try to be organized!
Monday of last week dawned, and we were all still asleep. Russell had taken the week off, my last day at Trader Joe's was the past Saturday, and we had a week full of appointments, errands, and final preparation to be done. However, we also took advantage of being able to stay up late and sleep in - probably a good thing, seeing as how we were about to have some late nights once the events started!
That afternoon we went down to Southern Pines to see the wonderful Jeff Sheer, who made my wedding ring. It is always good to see him. He's one of the most important father figures in my life, and I always feel good when he's around! The ring is white gold with an oval white sapphire and two triangle aquamarines. It matches the engagement ring and is very similar - paired together it's a lot of bling! I love it.
We spent each evening last week finishing up the many crafting tasks still to be done. Aside from my ensemble (skirt, petticoat, bloomers, bustle belt, and corset) there were also accessories, all the favors for guests (mostly pins and headbands with feathers and steampunky bits & bobs), table centerpieces (feathers & eucalyptus), some of the elements of Russell's costume, Natalie's costume, my bracer cuffs, and jewelry. It was quite a pile of stuff! We had glue guns going all the time. Special thanks to Gail, Natalie, and River, all of whom helped make the favors that everyone wore during the party!
Tuesday was a big day of errand running. We went to the liquor store, Harris Teeter, then Iris and Ray's to work on the leather elements of our costumes. Iris made Russell's hat band and my cuffs. We hung out there for a little while and gave input on the pieces - and luckily got to see Ray on his birthday! From there we went out to Eddie's, where we selected a goblet to use during the Loving Cup portion of the ceremony. It's a beautiful piece of porcelain with green & blue glaze. In the bottom bell 7 porcelain balls are contained, and they tinkle sweetly when the cup is moved. It's a beautiful piece!
That evening we treated ourselves to a much-needed sushi dinner at Oishii. The protein and green tea did us a lot of good! We needed a re-charge after all that work.
Wednesday things really started to heat up. We went to Shakori in the morning to meet the guys setting up the big tent. We did some recon at the site and made decisions about where stuff would go, what we needed, and how to organize it all.
We had our first really good pre-wedding moment at the site that day. We felt the grass in the grove needed a good mowing, so we hiked up to the house on the property to see if we could get someone to mow, or even just use a mower ourselves. Low and behold we found Gary Miller trying to start the mower - he had intended to get out there that day or the next, but the mower was tanking on him. Russell was able to jump it with the Jeep, and all was good! It was a nice karmic moment for us; we looking to get the grass mowed, Garry looking to mow it, and our combined efforts making it possible! Perfect timing, for sure.
On the way back to CH, we stopped into the Habitat Homestore in PBO to see if we could get anything for the photo wall. We picked up wallpaper and an awesome lamp fixture that might work; we'd have to see.
That evening we went to Trader Joe's and did a huge grocery run (3 carts!) of everything we'd need through every event that weekend. We took it all down to Kevin's in PBO and organized it, staged and labeled it all for the next couple of days.
Thursday was just crazy. We had finished (for the most part) packing everything for the wedding site, camp site, party, clothes, baby, etc. the night before, and got up early to load up. Colie helped us out a lot by stuffing the Expedition full of gear and hauling it to Shakori. Russell was up and out early, collecting what we needed for the photo wall. I dropped Orion off at Jo Ann's and headed to Shakori for the day. We worked like dogs in the 97 degree heat; I don't even want to know what the humidity was. Gary and Carly stopped by to help (or chat, whatever you call it).
Colie and Russell built the photo wall, which turned out awesome (despite a few snags). The wallpaper we bought had been water-damaged and was no good. We sacrificed a tapestry to use as the background, which was really beautiful and eye-catching! The frames Russell made weeks before went on, and we deconstructed and then re-glued parts of the lamp fixture and attached it to the wall. We still needed to get other framed steampunk images to complete the wall, but the main part was done!
In the afternoon the boys headed back to town to continue their separate responsibilities; Russell grabbed a few more things from the house and picked up Orion. He also stopped by Staples to pick up the steampunk images I had sent them (via email at 2am) to print. I went to the airport to pick up Adam & Liz, took them grocery shopping, dropped them off at Kevin's (and picked up the food and drinks that needed to be at Shakori), and went back to the festival grounds. I met Russell there, and that's when the fun started!
We met with My, our contact person on site, and gave her the various checks we needed for the rental. We continued to set up our personal camp stuff, and gradually folks gathered to participate! Kevin, Adam & Liz, Tom, Howard, and even my mom & DB, and Aunt Holly made it out to the site! We had a fun evening just chatting, setting up, and relaxing. We really needed it! Tom brought a bunch of tables, but I think the award for Thursday night has to go to Howard, who arrived unexpectedly with a cooler of cold beer and a bag of chips! Two things we really needed, but didn't have!
On Friday morning the fun started early with the arrival of the Crash & John! They drove all night to get to Shakori early. I couldn't have been in a better mood! The rest of the port-o-potties arrived; then we met the fire marshal, who was generously easy to deal with. Set up continued, and more folks came out to help. Lights went up, torches in, the photo wall was finished, tables were set, and chairs lined up. The site was really coming together! As I left that afternoon, Russell was hanging the disco ball on the stage. You could feel the excitement and the love. It was wicked hot out there, and we all worked and rested together, laughing, having a good time, and making decisions about the party set up. It was a load of work and so much fun! I lost a good amount of weight in the last week; so much so that my wedding outfit was a little loose here and there. No complaints on that one!
I felt really great all weekend long. At no point did I get stressed out over anything; I was constantly on the move, but I just rolled through it and kept smiling! I figured that, at that point, I had done all I could to get that party going, and it was out of my hands. The weight was off; I concentrated on getting myself and the ladies situated, and had a good time doing it. Good vibes and great feeling all the way around!
I hurried to Kevin's, showered and dressed for the rehearsal dinner. Here I ran into my first mix-up; I remembered the outfit for the dinner, but had no socks, shoes, or underwear. I ended up going to my pedicure appointment in dirty sneakers, sans socks, and panty-less. Even at the time, I thought it was pretty funny.
The pedicure was a nice, relaxing moment in the midst of wedding prep insanity. I don't really enjoy all the filing and cuticle-pushing and pumice-brushing that they do; I laugh and squirm through most of it. It was really nice to sit down with some of my best ladies and get a little pampering, though - especially in the air-conditioning!
From there I dashed into TJ's to buy flowers (wearing those stupid disposable flip-flops from the nail salon), then to the rehearsal dinner, which was complete madness from start to finish. I didn't know who was there, what was happening, or who I managed to talk to. We managed to perform a sketchy, loose rehearsal of the actual ceremony with the wedding party (mostly) in attendance. The food was excellent and everyone seemed to be having a really good time. For me, the experience was like a whirlwind. Every second was taken up with something - talking, chatting, getting stuff organized, baby care, etc. I'm so glad the caterers were roving with appetizers, and that they asked us to start the buffet or I don't know if I would have eaten. I'm glad I did though, because I've discovered that a Caprese salad is improved by the addition of watermelon slices! It blew me away - so many flavor combinations, ooh, decadent.
The toasts were definitely the high point of the night, and I really appreciated that my brother Adam got up and did one off the cuff. I had dropped the ball on warning my family to come up with something to say. We're just not formal like that! But the house looked beautiful and the weather held out (despite some ominous thunder). I couldn't have asked for a better night!
From the Pedicure Party on was the moment when I really started having fun; Patti and I had a great, goofy time in the car, and that got my energy going. By the end of the rehearsal dinner I was having a ball! Though it was hectic, all at once all of my friends and best ladies were together. Having the girls around just heightens the fun; there's just so many lines of love and support when you're with your besties! I had a box of hippie couture patchwork to pass on to them; it felt good to let some of my old favorites go to my new and old friends! Katrina finally got the Rainbow Brite outfit. She's been lusting after it for years!
I had my entourage with me! All was well.

Next up: The Bubble Kiss Party!