How to Plan a Wedding in One Week

The answer to the title of this blog post is: WITH GREAT FRIENDS!

First, you send out an email invite telling people that you are going to be legally marrying your husband the following Sunday and despite the fact that it is the busy holiday season, you hope some people might show up. Then on Monday you pick up Prosecco, pomagranite juice, pom seeds, sparkling water. and tea so you have the drinks covered. (Drinks which Lucinda ended up pouring for the guests — a big thank you).

(photo by Jessica Collins)

Then, you start thinking about what you might wear on Tuesday (out loud to your super fancy fashionista friend Johnna Wells). In turn, your super fancy fashionista friend then happens to find the most perfect vintage 60′s shift dress that you always wanted to wear at your wedding but never knew it. (thank you for having such great style and for being so thoughtful). You then try on said dress right before getting ready for a Thursday night holiday party and realize that it might need some last minute adjustments to actually work out to wear on Sunday.

at the Wema studio...

Then, while attending the Thursday evening holiday party, you run into your dear fashion designer friend Wendi Martin of Wema Designs who asks what you are going to wear and when you explain she tells you to stop on by her lovely studio in the morning and she will see what she can do. On that same night, your friend Julie arrives from Tortola, BVI to stay with you for the week and you are so happy to have her that you stay out together laughing with friends until 2:30AM.

the dress fairies - Wendi on left, Johnna on right

The next morning, you stop by the studio after having slept for maybe four hours and Wendi takes in the extra 8″ on the dress so it fits like a glove, surges the straight stitch, cleans up the seams, then tells you there is no charge.  (thank you immensely!)

You’re feeling pretty sure of yourelf at this point now that it is Friday and you have a dress for Sunday AND have a pretty good idea of which heels you are going to wear with the dress. But then you start thinking more about the food menu on the way home from work that day and you know that is still the big task left over but you are too tired from lack of sleep the night before that you can’t bring yourself to stop by the store on the way home to pick up the fixings. Plus you need to save energy for the other holiday party at Kris’ house that evening. Another big breakthrough occurs when you get home and Brad and Tiffany show up to the house with a few dozen extra champagne glasses they loan you for the party! (Thank you – they were definitely used).

With a cat nap to recharge you, you head out again in cocktail attire and high heels to another fun-filled party. That night, Kris offers to come over early on Sunday and prep food. (How would I do all of these things without wonderful friends? Need I remind you that I never truly stressed out longer than a minute about anything!)

This time, you get home at a reasonable hour because you know that Saturday is going to be a very busy day…meanwhile you are still trying to wrap up a project in Santa’s sweatshop you are running in your basement so you can have Christmas gifts to hand out!

Tthe little elf in Santa's sweatshop!

As if Andy Paulson was not doing enough by marrying you and your husband on Sunday, he stops by the house to help us troubleshoot some screen printing questions  — (this is Josh’s frist project with his new printing equipment)!

Josh prepping the screen

Once you finish up the Christmas project, (which hopefully people don’t think is the lamest gift ever) Josh and Andy do a little Blazer’s secret handshaking.

andy and josh doing the blazer's handshake

When you wake up on Saturday morning, your lovely friend Julie proposes a plan: we will go to breakfast together, plan the menu, then head to the store and pick up everything we need. So we go for bagels and lox at Kenny and Zukes in NW where we happen to run into Henry Kibit, chef at DOC restaurant in Portland as we are planning the menu. He gives some really great suggestions on how to make your tea sandwiches pop! (Thank you for the tips!).

(photo by Jessica Collins)

So you leave from there and stop by Pearl Bakery, and New Seasons for the final items. At this point your friend Julie makes you smile when she spends time testing out the different salami and pate in the deli and says that now it really feels like a wedding because she is sampling the food for the menu.

On Saturday night, after bringing home the groceries and just before the next evening of parties, you are able to complete your white elephant gift just in time to be at your friend Anthony’s by 6pm. At which point, you feel as though you had accomplished enough and should celebrate by having a few glasses of wine (keep in mind that I am not really a drinker). As you are leaving that party to head over to Matt and Jessica’s annual holiday party, you decide it would be a great idea to talk to your husband while walking backwards out of the house and turn just in time to find yourself falling down 4-5 concrete stairs. During the frenzy of making sure the injured person is going to live, the world slows down and you watch how incredibly thoughtful and carefully your husband is in taking care of you and suddenly you remember once again (for your second wedding) that this is what this is all about. You and him. This is the man who is your rock in life. The person who lifts you up when you are down, or literally picks you up when you fall and dresses your leg with gauze:

pre-wedding mishap

The morning of the legal wedding ceremony arrives and you are so glad that you happened to buy those cute grey boots recently so you can wear them instead of heels to cover up the bandages. Julie starts cooking up the super amazing latkes she is so good at making. Kris Dyer and Ali Rahimi arrive to make the tea sandwhiches and salad (Alicia Paulson helps too once she arrives). Josh runs to Sweetness Bakery to pick up an order of pastries and then to Stumptown to get more coffee. Before you know it, your house is packed with about 30 wonderful friends and some family that are able to make it to your second wedding.

When the time comes, Andy reads a sincere speech with some good humor thrown into the mix. You and your now legal husband say “I will,” and you finally, after three years of already being married (without the paperwork), you become a Montgomery. And, you were able to look deeply into eachother’s eyes during the process (something you were both too nervous to do in the original ceremony) and know that you mean it and that your love truly has grown greatly over the years.

our neighbor told us we looked very "mad men"

THAT is how to plan a wedding in one week! With a group of wonderful and supportive friends to stand by your side without even needing to ask for their help! They just do it because they care.

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