Time to Get to Gettin'

In the words of the famous Miss Niecy Nash, it is time to get to gettin!  What?  It's recap time!

Today's post: our arrival at the hotel.  We stayed at the lovely Pearl River Hilton, with all of our out-of-town guests, and it truly was a lovely location.  J. and I arrived on Friday afternoon, but we drove separately because we had so much stuff!  My mother and I had brought the dress the day before, so I had packed up everything else I could into my little Volkswagen Golf (which I swear to you is like a clown car, you can cram a lot into that little guy) and checked myself in!

[caption id="attachment_1878" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The Hilton in the snow!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1879" align="aligncenter" width="224" caption="Doesn't it just look utterly bridal?"][/caption]

Now, one of the truly smart decisions I made when I booked the hotel, was to book their super-huge suite.  J. and I decided not to see each other on the wedding day, so he was in a Junior suite with his brother for night one and I got the big suite.  The big suite was incredible- a whole hotel room, plus a second enormous room that had a huge TV, a muphy bed, a kitchen, two closets, another bathroom, and tons of seating.  It became a perfect place for gatherings of people, especially the next day while getting ready.  My friend C. reserved the room adjacent to my suite, which meant we had a really nice amount of space for everyone.

[caption id="attachment_1880" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Here I am with my mom and some maids, chilling after check in."][/caption]

Once checked in, my mother immediately brought up my dress and we set to work laying out the train and the veil so any residual wrinkles could fall out.

[caption id="attachment_1881" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Great place to spend the night, no?"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1882" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="And here's "the bride" getting ready for her debut."][/caption]

Of course, I had also brought a few "extras" including bottles of water I had made for the OOT bags.  I loved these so much but I thought other people might just think I was a super nerd for making them.  Conversation with J. last September:

J:  What are those?

Me:  Oh I found this free template for personalized water bottle labels so I decided to make some.  Aren't they awesome?

J:  *groan* Um are you serious?  Don't you think you're going overboard here?  I'm starting to worry about your mental health.  Maybe you should take a break from all this planning for a while.


Me: Yes, I'm totally serious and no I don't think this is overboard (but even if it is, who cares).  They were free and we're putting water in the OOT bags either way, right?  And I love them!!  Besides, nobody will think it is you who is going overboard, remember, these people know me!


J:  I can see you cannot be reasoned with.  I realize now that you are always right- would you like some flowers?

Ok that one last line may have been an invention of my imagination.

[caption id="attachment_1883" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Our one-hit wonder water."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1884" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="0% fear... just how I felt when making these labels!"][/caption]

Fast forward to December 18.  Guess what everyone was LOVING?  My water bottles!  They even ended up with their own nickname!  And even J. had to admit they were a fun touch!

Up next: rehearsal time!