Wow, I have been in a funk. Yesterday I felt so unsettled and dissatisfied- I couldn’t enjoy the day at all. And it was my day off work! I kept feeling like I was “wasting” the day! I know it’s because I’m not running. Lately on Tuesdays I’ve been doing a longer trail run in the morning, and it sets up the rest of the day so beautifully. Without that, my day seemed to lack structure. I kept feeling like I should be doing something, but nothing I could think to do seemed appealing.
This morning, while I was grinding away on the StairMaster, I had a stern conversation with myself. You CANNOT throw away these days! Even in “normal” times, every day is precious. But these days are especially unique and meaningful, because my son is getting married! We’ll never be in this place again. Get it together, Jenny.
It helped that while I was stepping to nowhere, I got a text from my son with a Wedding Timeline:
I’ve never been involved in a wedding like this. I got married in a park. My brother-in-law took the photos, and we all kind of milled around until everyone was there (by “everyone” I mean immediate family) and then we were like “Okay, I guess it’s time” and we stood in front of some pretty shrubs while a notary performed the service (to be clear- she was a notary who specialized in weddings. I don’t mean we pulled a notary from the bank to come and marry us). Then we all went to a Thai restaurant for dinner.
So this is all unfamiliar to me, and it will probably be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. When (if) my daughter gets married, I could totally picture her eloping to Las Vegas. Or getting married in some weird location, like a bar or a cemetery. Unless she becomes a totally different person, she won’t be having a formal church wedding.
There are components that I’m not initially comfortable with, but that I’m embracing so I can completely enjoy the day. Like to begin with- dress, hair and makeup. If you’ve been reading for a while you know the angst over the dress and shoes (eye roll) and hair and makeup are still up in the air. Minimal on everything (so I still feel like myself) and hopefully there will be someone there to help me on the day.
Next up- my son and I are having a “first dance.” He’s informed me that our dance will be “Hello Goodbye” by the Beatles (my eyes are tearing up already!) This song has significance to us from his childhood, when we used to listen to a lot of Beatles in the car. I told him we are going to have to PRACTICE THIS DANCE so I know what in the world I’m doing. And I also thought, “well, I’d rather dance than have to make a speech.”
WAIT A MINUTE. Let’s look at the 6:30 pm timeline- “Dinner & Toasts (Russell, Stevi THEN PARENTS). Omg. I have to make a toast??? You guys- life is sure hard for shy introverts. But for my son’s sake I will somehow rise to the occasion. My husband is comfortable with public speaking, so I think we can make a toast together. My contribution can be “yes, what he said!” Maybe?
Anyway- what I’m saying here is, this whole experience is going to be an adventure for me. I can’t let one little muscle (get with the program, hamstring!) get in the way of my enjoyment. Seriously- every day still counts.
Have you made a toast at a wedding? Any advice for me?
Top photo by Road Ahead on Unsplash
2 Responses
Oh the wedding day is so close – that is sooooo exciting!
I made a toast at my friend’s rehearsal dinner – I would have made one at the wedding, but I had to miss the wedding. I said something to the effect of how I had so many awesome adventures with my friend and now I was really glad that she had someone in her life to have more awesome adventures with. (Although side note – they are now divorced and I don’t talk to that friend anymore for various and complicated reasons… So maybe I don’t give very good toasts…) And at our wedding, the Husband and I toasted each of our guests – there were only 24 people at our wedding and each toast was very short, one or two sentences. I think we wanted everyone to know what made them special to us and why we were glad they were at our wedding. I think my favorite toasts I’ve sat through have been short and specific and have had one good anecdote in them to make it interesting.
I’m sure your son’s wedding will be beautiful.
I was just thinking the other day that I’m glad my husband and I had a big wedding. His brother and sister’s weddings were small. My families all had big weddings, which I like. I like having a lot of friends and family there to celebrate. Though I’ve been to some very small weddings closer to yours, and I really liked those as well. I’m excited for you, it’s going to be great!