Thursday, May 27, 2010

Wed recap: My biggest fear almost realized!

Ok, so to officially get the wedding recaps underway (I'll still have some honeymoon recaps mixed in sometimes, too), I wanted to start with what happened on the morning of the wedding...or rather, I should start with the night before the wedding at bedtime:

I had wanted to get to bed at a decent hour.  We had to be at the venue by 7:45 am and it was going to be a long day!  I didn't end up getting into bed until like 10 pm or so.  And then I laid there for a while before I finally fell asleep.  My bestie, BM L from Idaho had flown in that day and was sharing the room with me.  I tried not to keep her awake.  I wasn't going to chance taking even half of an Ambien because my reaction the night before left me feeling a little nauseous and icky in the morning and I definitely didn't want that on the wedding day.  Well, no such luck!

I finally fell asleep and then woke up hours later.  When I glanced at the clock, it was only 3:30 am!!! What the heck?!?  Seriously?  Didn't the sleeping gods know that I *needed* to get a good night's rest on this of all nights?!?  Wasn't meant to be.  I laid there for the next several hours and never did fall back asleep.

We finally got out of bed about 5:30 am I think.  I was doing okay and even blogged a little sneak peek of my hanging wedding gown.  After showering, we packed everything into the cars and were getting ready to leave.  And I just was not feeling good...not at all!  (As a reminder, you can read all about why this was freaking me out so badly here when I originally shared my fainting spell tendencies.)

I sat down on the couch and my mom, bestie L and Little Miss (daughter) came over to me and asked how I was doing.  I told them I felt like I was going to pass out or puke.  I wasn't sure which one but I was not good.  I had put my feet up on the table to try to keep blood flowing well so I wouldn't pass out.  I grabbed a gatorade and they asked me if I needed anything else.  I told them I was so mad that I did *NOT* want to feel like this on my wedding day.  BM L tried to calm me down by rubbing my back.  What a sweetie...oh, here she is with me by the way:



So anyway...nothing was working.  I stuck my head between my knees and began praying "Lord, please just let me feel good on this day...please!"

We got into the car and made a quick stop at Starbucks where we got me a muffin and some oatmeal to try to help ease my anxiety and tummy or whatever the hell it was that was ailing me.  Just to be safe, we brought a blow up air mattress and blanket for me to lay on at the venue if I needed it.  We stopped to pick up my BM cousin E on the way and then before I knew it, we were there.

As soon as we arrived, I was in heaven!  I was so excited to be at my venue on the wedding day.  It was a little cloudy but the sun was peeking in and out.  My hair and makeup artist was there and already mostly set up ready to begin so we threw BM E into the chair and had her start straight away.

While that was going on, we unpacked the car...we had brought with us:

*  The steamer that my seamstress let us borrow to steam the dresses as needed.  (Which I blogged about while we steamed dresses)
*  An ice cooler full of drinks (water, gatorade) and snacks, veggies, fruits and sandwiches and such to keep us all (but mostly me) eating throughout the morning and for lunch.
*  My gifts for the BM's (they already received everything but the parasols by this point)
*  My special surprise sign for Mr Fix It that his nephew, one of our Ring Bearers would carry down the aisle
*  All the extras you need on your big day:  The marriage license, rings, makeup, garter, shoes, jewelry, undies/bras, my Victoria's Secret gel inserts to give me some extra cleavage and extra copies of the ceremony script, Grand Entrance script, etc.
*  And of course, all the dresses which we hung as such:


(Notice the cute little black satin padded hangers with the little bows I gifted the girls for their dresses?  You can't see it in this pic but there is a little silver charm with each girl's initial tied onto the bow.  And that white one on the left is my reception dress.)

I had BM L jump in a car with me and drive up to the main entrance where we placed my 'This Way to the Wedding' sign out by the main gate.  Blogged about that, too and glad I did because my photographer did not get a shot of the sign set up. :)  The sun was out a little and pretty at this time.

Then my videographer arrived...yeah, at like 8:15 am when I had not planned on him arriving until noon!  I was so shocked and excited to see him and his wife there.  I told him where to park and he said he was going to start setting up and walking the property to familiarize himself with it. 

BM L and I headed back to the bridal cottage (prep area) where it was almost time for her to get her hair and makeup done.  While that was going on, BM cousin E helped me steam some of the girls' dresses.  All this prep stuff was a good thing...because it was keeping me busy and keeping me from thinking about being anxious or feeling dizzy.  As long as I was moving and had people around me keeping me talking and doing things, I was feeling good for sure!  And that's how the day went...but it didn't last the whole day.  Because unfortunately there were 'down' moments where everyone was running around me but I was left sitting in a chair by my lonesome.  Those moments allowed me to sit alone with my thoughts and start to get anxious and wonder if I'd pass out or not.  And so throughout the day, you'd hear me saying "Someone talk to me or give me something to do.  I'm gonna pass out if you don't keep me busy!"  Seriously...I was over it.

Here you see me sitting in a chair waiting for the guests to be seated so that the ceremony can start...these are some super fun shots of how crappy I looked when I was not feeling good (I have to thank BM cousin A for snapping them):

(Yeah, you can't really put your head between your knees with a wedding gown on!)



Aren't those just so great?  NOT!

More to come on this fun topic...but for now...

Today's tip:  Do what you can to get a good night sleep the night before, but if you want to try sleeping pills, test them first days or weeks before the big day to see how you react to them. 

14 comments:

Patience said...

You poor thing. When I first started taking Ambien they made me nauseous, but now I feel fine when I take them.

Hannah said...

I've never had a sleeping pill in my life but I've learned little tricks like chamomile tea and hanging out in a steamy bathroom. (Odd, but calming!) I actually get extremely sick if I don't eat first thing in the morning and I'm prone to car sickness... I'm already nervous about riding around in the bus for photos!

I'm going to take your advice though - keep myself busy!! (BTW you looked so cute and awesome :) )

Kim said...

Aww, you're still pretty even when you are making that "not-feeling-good" face. I'm so sorry you felt bad, but it seems like the excitement kept you going once the festivities started. I hate being idle, so I know I would be angry too if I had nothing to do but to sit there and wait.

Alicia said...

I'm SO worried about this! I definitely get a "nervous tummy" when I'm really upset.

I did recently get some Xanax from my doc, so that will be my last resort in case I'm completely freaking out the night before or the day of.

Jillreigh said...

Aw, that sucks that you weren't feeling 100% that morning. If you hadn't told us I doubt anyone would have noticed because so far all of your pictures have been nothing but gorgeous.

I'm very worried about not getting enough sleep the night before the wedding. I don't think I'll try sleeping pills though. I always think of the sister in Sixteen Candles that takes muscle relaxers before her wedding and can barely walk. Even though something that extreme would probably never happen, my head always goes to the worst-case scenario.

Chocolate Lover said...

Oh lady! You still look so darned cute in those pics! :)
I worry about both these things. I know I will get a few hours sleep, wake up thinking its time to get going, and realize its some ridiculously early hour. I already get nervous thinking about the big day. And when I'm like that I tend to lose my appetite, which doesn't help any. I, like you, feel so much better when distracted from it all, so will keep all this in mind for my day! Thanks for sharing!

Heather said...

I am so sorry you didn’t feel well at points throughout the day, but I’m so happy you didn’t actually pass out. Thanks for the advice, too. I am notorious for not being able to sleep when I’m excited or anxious, but I’m really hoping that won’t be the case the night before the wedding!

P.S. I’m hoping to post more of my engagement shots, including the awesome slideshow Damien put together, within the next couple days! :) I just need to get the high res video and photos…

honey my heart said...

i think you still looked beautiful in your photos and am glad you didn't pass out! and the dress hangers are so pretty!

JEM - Aqua Bride said...

Awwww, so sorry you felt bad but on the plus side, you looked gorgeous.

Mrs T said...

You poor thing. I had the flu on our wedding day - but managed to survive it. Slept for the next two days though, I was exhausted!

Amberdawn said...

Wow, that IS a legitimate fear! At first when I read this post I thought "oh no, I've been known to pass out too..." but for me it was when I was standing up squeezed in a crowd of other kids at a concert rehearsal that lasted hours. My wedding will be outdoors, and my maid of honor does not need to be so close as to share my oxygen, so I'll be fine, haha.

Gaynor {Our Day by Design} said...

So sorry to hear you were feeling rubbish in the morning.

My stomach was a bit dodgy too and everyone kept trying to make me eat!

I got a not too bad sleep but we were up till after 1am having a drink then attempting to get my flowergirl to sleep but who was super excited!

Kristal said...

Oh you poor thing! I can totally sympathize with you though. I ended up throwing up the morning of my wedding. It was horrible!

Em said...

Ok, this is really weird, but your wedding morning sounds eerily like my wedding morning. I wish I had known about all of that because it definitely would have helped me the morning of my wedding. I'll talk about it when I recap, but let's just say I went to sleep around midnight, woke up around 2:30, stayed awake til about 6 and was up for good at about 6:45. It was...not good. So you're not the only one this happens to.

But again, you looked gorgeous and in everything I've seen so far no one would ever know you had a rough night/morning.

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