Pre wedding nerves

Becky, our eldest daughter is getting married on Saturday as you might already know and I wonder if there are any pre wedding nerves.  For us this is a delightful time in having her home for a few weeks before the big day.  Hannah, her younger sister has also been at home.  However, as Saturday approaches we can detect a few signals.

It is fair to say Becky has had to field so many questions about the practicalities of the wedding.  It is going to be a DIY affair by renting a village hall, a band and buying food from here, there and everywhere.

There is a mini army of helpers from church who will take care of the cake reception immediately after the ceremony and also at the main reception (which is for the 113 invited guests).

We have also needed to manage my mother carefully as she does sometimes have a tendency to ask question after question, going right into the tiniest detail.  And then again.  And again.  And then my aunt needs to know something, so again this is checked and double checked.  A local hotel has been booked since last year and the staff have been consulted, checked and doubly confirmed regarding all the details (parking, checking in times, breakfast details and on and on….).

Becky’s bedroom was meant to be Wedding HQ, except Becky and Hannah have swapped.  So Hannah now has a large bedroom for herself and it looks like the back room of Costco.  There are boxes of decorations, drinks, food and all kinds of other things stacked up around the entire room, leaving just enough room for Hannah to sleep in there.  Hannah has taken this well, all things considered.

Hannah is also wonderful

Hannah has dealt with things in a unique way.  She has been cleaning and this is so lovely, plus we really did need this being done!  She has systematically emptied the kitchen cupboards, cleaned them and put everything back very neatly.  It has been such a joy to see this being done and I think, in all honesty, it is a positive way of dealing with family life inevitably changing.  Hannah has been amazing in the way she has welcomed Cesca, one of Becky’s bridesmaids who has come to stay.

We have also had various production lines running in the house; place names for the meal, little presents for every guest wrapped up, twine tied around the order of service and so on.  This morning Becky and Rachel have gone off to buy flowers with our friend Gail (a professional flower person).

And David

It’s been great having David around for a few days.  David has comically been seen walking around the house in his shorts and brand new new wedding shoes, kind of breaking them in and this makes me smile, together with having his trousers altered with some tailors in town as a last minute task.  David has been fitting in so nicely.

Yesterday our friend Matt came around to have a cuppa and a drive in my car – he’s going to be the chauffeur on the day.  He’s an airline pilot so we figured he could handle a slow, boring Toyota.

Lots of baking has been going on, biscuits which are now being beautifully decorated and more to come.  Talking of food I have swapped the contents of our freezer with Grandma’s freezer.  Unbeknown to her, she has been storing food for the wedding and we need this back for defrosting and even more cooking.

For Becky

Well, it’s now just a couple of days before the biggest day of her life.  I think that after all the anticipation she just wants Saturday to arrive right now.  This summer has been such a whirlwind for her; graduating from university, getting a house, landing a job (teaching in September), saying farewell to university life and now about to make the biggest commitment of her life.

Me? I am hoping to have a stroll with her, my little girl who I remember pushing around our neighbourhood when she was a baby, then as a toddler before going for bike rides.  That will be a time when I have a huge lump in my throat.  Mind you, that lump in my throat will be even bigger when I walk my girl down the aisle.  I’ll feel so proud.

As for pre wedding nerves?  Becky is handling it all so well.  If there are any nerves around, it’s probably for Rachel and myself!