As you can see comparing the checklists back to back, A LOT has been accomplished since I last checked in with you guys! This blog post is also getting up way later than I expected. Hence what I said in the beginning, these last couple months have been super stressful. If you’ve watched my Instagram stories you know I had two “oh shit” moments. One completely being my fault, and the other completely out of my control. A little recap in case you missed it: the one that was completely my fault, has been fixed! My hair stylists are coming from out of state and I bought them airline tickets, but I bought them BACKWARDS. So instead of Arizona to California, I bought them California to Arizona. Thank GOODNESS I realized this now instead of the day before the wedding, because that is when the tickets were bought for. American Airlines has been a huge help with their customer service and we got new tickets without any trouble. I was seriously SO lucky, and I honestly can’t believe I made that big of a mistake. The second “oh shit” moment was with my photo booth, that is still TBD. A couple of local brides have told me that this company has cancelled on them the day of the wedding. With only a few hours notice. Obviously, our wedding hasn’t happened yet, so I’m not sure what the outcome is going to be yet. I will say though, that I have finally gotten a response from them and am in contact with them. Every story has two sides, so referring to the wedding cancellations, I’m glad I got their side of the story. We are both on the same page for June 8th and are planning for it to be perfect! So fingers crossed it stays that way.
Now that I gave you a recap and an update, do you see this checklist?! Get ready for a huge bragging moment for a second. This whole wedding planning thing was A LOT harder than I thought. Towards the beginning I felt really on top of things, really organized, and really relaxed. The first part of our engagement was a dream come true. Mostly, all the fun things happened during that time. Our engagement party, our engagement photos, wedding dress shopping, the holidays, it was a blast. Not to mention my bridal showers and my bachelorette coming up this weekend, If I could relive these over and over again I would. But as most of you know, 2019 was a really, really, bumpy start.
My Dad’s health took a turn for the worse as soon as 2019 started, and he passed away early February. This put wedding planning on hold for a little, and I (as expected) haven’t been myself much lately. As we creep slowly towards the big day, I’m getting more emotional over swallowing the fact that he won’t be there. I know he will be there in spirit, and that the entire day will be perfect thanks to him watching over us… but it just won’t be the same. It’s really hard to explain, but all the stress from the wedding I have definitely worn as a shield. A shield to block the fact of how heart broken I am that my sweet daddy won’t be here to walk me down the aisle, or do my first dance. Before he passed away, his wish was that his brother walk me down the aisle and give me away. If you asked him, he would say his brother was his best friend. I know having him next to me at the ceremony will give me so much comfort, since I see so much of my Dad in him.
At the end of the day though, after it’s all said and done, this is the way it was meant to be. I trust in His plan, even through the dark times. Whenever I get into these moments of “no light at the end of the tunnel” when it comes to all of this, I try and sit back and reflect. I replay Tim proposing in my head, the feeling I had walking into my engagement party, the looks on our families faces when they saw us both, the parties, and most of all…saying yes to marrying the love of my life. The flowers, all the guests, yummy desserts—it’s all just a huge added bonus. The most important thing on this day will be Tim, and I, making a commitment to each other for the rest of our lives.
Talk about a roller coaster of events. Not to mention, everything I just went into detail on are not the only things that happened. I think highlighting what happened though, really allows me to give myself grace through all of this. I’m a total perfectionist, so obviously when it comes to one of the most important days of my life, I’m going to be even more so. Going off the checklist, the only things left to be done are next week or the day before the wedding. And boy does it feel good! Three wedding diaries down, only one more to go. Next time I write one of these it will be my last one, I’ll have gone to my bachelorette, AND had surgery. Woo! I hope you all have a great rest of your week and thanks for letting me take you along this process.
XO,
Danielle Alana
