May Day!: The Calm Before the Storm

Let the Goodlaff wedding recaps begin!

After all the stress, after all the decisions, after all the projects, and the all the chaos of the last week before the wedding, I found myself all alone in a lovely, but massively over sized hotel suite.  I wrote my vows, I tidied up, and I got the champagne chilling for use in the morning.  When I crawled into bed, I had a million thoughts in my head, and was convinced that there was no way I'd be sleeping that night.

Miraculously, I was able to squeeze about six hours of sleep out of all that anxiety. At 7AM, I was wide awake and had about an hour and a half to kill before anyone else would be there.  It was a quiet morning, and I was unbelievably calm.  The Enforcer would have setup taken care of, and I had no reason to worry.  I completely let the details go, because, quite frankly, if it wasn't done at that point, it wasn't going to be finished, and if something went wrong, there wasn't much I could do to stop it: Zen and the art of Bride-ing. 

Maybe I was so Zen because of my breakfast that morning--I bought it in a hurry around 10 o'clock the night before...

What? It was tasty! Okay, maybe it wasn't the breakfast of champions. If I'd been thinking clearly, I may have chosen differently. Then again, maybe not...

After breakfast, I took some time for a photo op in my bathrobe and slippers--a "before" for comparison.

Finally the doorbell rang and my hair stylist was there.  It was time for the magic to begin.  Lindsay Mackey of Styles sectioned my hair and made dozens of pin-curls, then left them to set for several hours. I looked like an old lady, and the slippers and bathrobe didn't really help.

Niki Ross Photography

By the time Lindsay was done with my preliminary hair work, my bridesmaids, Mama and Sister Goodlaff, and our photographer, Niki Ross, had arrived, and all hell broke loose!

I was glad that, for an hour or so, I had a little bit of time to myself on my wedding day.  Looking back on it, the rest of the day was so crazy and it went by so fast, that to be alone first thing in the morning was so calming; I had time to get my thoughts together and really focus on enjoying the moment before everything really kicked in. 

I know not everyone is the same--some people prefer a constant flurry of activity--but for me, a little bit of alone time was just what I needed.  That calm before the storm (and boy, what a storm it was), was probably one of the most cherished parts of my day.

Did you have or are you planning to have a moment to yourself before all the hustle and bustle of wedding day begins?