Love Like Crazy: Dressing Up and Waiting, Waiting, Waiting!

My Dad and Granddad (who had been staying away from all the hairspray and lip gloss) were sweet enough to go pick up lunch for us. We had ordered sandwiches and fruit from Kroger, so they picked them up and brought them home. My bridesmaids immediately jumped into action to make sure I ate something, drank water, etc. I think I was the most hydrated and fed bride ever. :)

We were planning on coming back to my parents' house to change and leave the dress and tux after the wedding, but Jeff realized at our rehearsal dinner that he would have no clothes to change into unless he carried them to the wedding with him. So I suggested that he drop some off in the morning before the wedding. So he came to my parents house with a couple of his groomsmen to drop off clothes for later. 

I was banished to my parents wine grotto, with a pair of bridesmaids to guard me from trying to see Jeff. They also covered my ears (because apparently you're not allowed to hear your groom talk either?!?!). My MOHsister received the backpack of clothes, and Kelli Nicole took pictures. :)

"I get to see Jeff and you don't! Hahaha!"

"See you tonight!!"

I was concentrating really hard on eating in a way that wouldn't mess up my lipstick, which resulted in many photos like the one below:

We all successfully ate lunch without ruining the recently-applied makeup, and I crossed "lunch" off my timeline! My dad and granddad left again to drop off some last-minute stuff at the reception venue (mostly quilt guestbook stuff from the rehearsal dinner), and when they got back home they were praised for being such great wedding-errand-runners!

We were way ahead of schedule according to the timeline, so we just kind of sat down and took a break.  Kelli used the spare time to photograph my organizational methods:

The "To the Ceremony" box, complete with checklist. :)

My timeline!!!

BMsister Karoline used the free time to get to the next level in her Nintendo DS game.

We sat around doing nothing for quite some time. It was still too early to put on the dresses, so we just talked and sat around. I wanted time to go faster so, so badly. Finally we decided it would be okay to go ahead and find everyone's shoes. So we did!

Silver shoes for the bridesmaids!

We wasted time by taking photos of our shoes. Haha.

After we had used fifteen minutes or so on shoes, we took them all off again because it was time for dresses! The bridesmaids donned their navy dresses first, and I helped by tying bows and zipping zippers.

And of course, we had to make sure everyone's bra was sufficiently tucked in:

So the bridesmaids were done. But because it didn't take the full 8 minutes we had included in the timeline... we had to sit and wait some more (are you noticing a theme here???). I was singing the Jeopardy song in my head, but trying to savor the moments!

Finally it was time for me to get into my dress! MOHsister Kristen helped me get into it, and my bridesmaids, mom, and grandmom played paparazzi. :)

Yay! Dress!

This was the one part of the day that actually needed its entire timeline slot. My dress had a pretty complicated bustle, and although Kristen had done it three or four times before, it took quite a file to figure it out. BM Nicole (a recent bride herself, and therefore an expert at bustles!) stepped in to help out.

A few minutes later the bustle still wasn't working, and the other bridesmaids jumped in as well. My dad jumped in with his video camera.

Eventually it was hooked in all the right places, and we were done! Time for another few minutes of sitting and waiting!

Next up, the first round of photos!

**All photos by Kelli Nicole Photography.