Five Things I Learned...

On my wedding day.

Mrs. and Mr. A

The wedding went off without a hitch (that I know of) and despite the looming possibility of rain on the radar days before the weather was bright, sunny and hot. Luckily, Andrew and I both have a plethora of innovative tree-climbing relatives, and they tucked fans all over our outdoor ceremony site hidden in bushes on the ground and in trees above. I've got tons of wedding recaps to come, from the decor and pictures to the details and, of course, the honeymoon. But for now I'll leave you with a few things I learned during this most awesome day. It really was awesome, and yesterday during my first meeting back at work someone even commented that I was glowing. I was, in fact, glowing, but it was because I hadn't showered that morning and felt gross all day.

1. Don't be a control freak. The best thing that happened to my wedding was my amazing family and friends. People stepped out of the woodwork to make the day go smoothly, and this was evident all day. I was prepared to have to run the show on my own but family (and adopted family) and friends on both sides directed event rentals, hung paper lanterns, placed flowers, etc. I didn't have to do anything, yet everything was perfect.

2. Trust your caterer (or other awesome vendor). Our caterer, Butch, was quite the wedding planner. Despite his denim overalls and well-fed build, Butch knew the best deals on event rentals, walked us through how the reception would go (since we had our ceremony and reception in the same place, the tables were off to the side and groomsmen had to move them out into the main space and arrange chairs around them immediately following the ceremony) and even took care of ordering some problem tablecloths for us and helping my mom and sister cover tables. Find someone who knows what the hell is going on and trust him or her. Butch recommended our band and while we had never heard them until the rehearsal, we of course loved them because Butch rocks. And he fries damn good catfish.

3. Stop for Lunch. Had their not been a planned bridesmaid/bridal luncheon at 11 a.m. (and a groomsmen lunch at 11:30 a.m.), I'm sure I would have stood outside at the wedding location all day sweating and not really doing anything (because I didn't really have to do anything) and my mom and mother-in-law would have arranged chairs all day long. It was really nice to have an air-conditioned break in the middle of the day (and raspberry sorbet!) and to just relax and enjoy the people who had come from all over to be their for our special day.

4. Never, ever plan an outdoor ceremony in Mississippi in August. This seems obvious, but we were planning around Andrew's thesis defense (TBA) and football season and the heat was far from our minds in February. During pictures, when we were wiping sweat off of us with a roll of paper towels and the guys were sweating through their "summer" suits, this failure in planning became apparent. Bridesmaid and bff Rachel took the liberty of pulling up the weather on her iPhone and confirming what we all knew to be true--it was freaking hot (the index was 117 degrees.) Luckily the heat broke for the 7 p.m. ceremony, but we took pictures from about 3-5 p.m. in various locations. Outdoor on August 14 seemed like a good idea at the time!

5. None of the above matters because you won't really care. I enjoy reading this blog (don't ask me how I stumbled across it) about fellow newlywed/stranger Stacy and one day, shortly before her St. Louis wedding, she posted about how she and her fiance no longer cared about wedding details. Her fiance actually curled up on the floor of a store when his mom asked him which cup he preferred for reception drinks. This is so, so true, or at a least it was for me. After months of planning every tiny detail, I ceased to care about a week out. We hadn't heard the band--so what? Nothing we could do at that point. Honestly, if a homeless person walking by thought the arrangement of the ceremony chairs looked good, I would be happy. Just as long as someone liked it was good enough for me.