I've Got the Power!

I showed you all the shower details last week, but I wanted to take a few minutes to share some of my favorite parts of the day.

As I said earlier I came early to help set up so I was there to greet guests as they came in. My bridesmaids were under strict instructions to greet everyone and take their gifts to the gift table, but I found myself saying, "Hi, how are you? Thank you so much for coming. It's so good to see you again... Ohmigosh let me take that huge gift off your hands!" And so, I schlepped a lot of my own gifts to the gift table (and was scolded a few times for doing so). What can I say? I was just trying to help!

It actually worked out perfectly because I was able to chat with everyone and really feel like I got to spend time with all of my guests. Especially my nonna who lives three hours away and originally wasn't going to be able to attend. At the last minute she was able to come and I was so happy to see her again:

After a few minutes, I was chatting to -- somebody, I don't even remember who -- when the coordinator turned the lights off. It was a bright shiny day and with the light streaming in through the windows it actually didn't make that much of a difference, but I did think it strange that the coordinator would just shut the lights off completely. I looked up at the ceiling and made a joke about it being time to sit down (you know, like when they dim the lights in a theatre...Okay, maybe not so funny. Whatever.), but after a few seconds a different set of lights came on. I cracked another bad joke about making sure I looked good in this lighting. Apparently I make really awkward jokes when I'm the center of attention.

Turns out our venue had a full blown power outage and the second set of lights had been kicked on by their generator. It was super windy that day so my only guess is that a tree knocked down a power line somewhere because we later found out that the whole vicinity lost power!

The coordinator ran out to tell me that everything was fine, the food was done cooking (thank goodness!), but we'd have to serve it a little earlier so it didn't get cold. Fine by me! Honestly, the power outage was just a little reminder that no matter how well you plan for the day things WILL go wrong. It reminded that  I can't control everything so the best thing to do is just enjoy yourself and embrace the chaos.

Five minutes later the food was out and we got to eating! I don't have photos of the food, but we had a great buffet with roasted chicken, cavatelli, eggplant parm, potatoes, veggies, salad, rolls, oh my it was delicious! Directly after lunch we served the cake:

And then it was time for gifts! I have to admit that it was kind of nerve-wracking to have all those eyeballs focused on me and I kept thinking to myself, "Uh, I hope I'm doing this right" (because there is totally a right/wrong way to open gifts). I found myself torn between wanting to rip the packages open as quickly as possible (because I know how boring it can be to watch someone else open gifts) and wanting to acknowledge the gift/gift giver and not just toss it off to the side and grab the next one.

Thankfully all of my bridesmaids divied up the tasks and everything ran like a well oiled machine. BM P was behind the camera snapping photos, while BM J called out bingo words and handed out gifts to the winners. BM C handed me gifts while BM D (aka FSIL) stole all the bows from me and made one of those ridiculous ribbons hats:

(I will wear your stupid ribbon hat as long as you keep this glass of wine full!)

MOH D sat next to me and wrote everything down for me as I opened:

And MOH A couldn't be there, but her momma was. And she happened to have a picture of MOH A in her wallet...

So, she was with us in spirit!

I will try not to bore you guys with too many more photos, but I have to share some of the gifts. Obviously anything with wine will put you on my BFF list and give me crazy eyes:

Seriously! Vino is the way to this girl's heart:

And then there was the gift that made me cry:

Remember the espresso machine that I wrote about not once, but twice? Well due to my registry stalking I knew that someone had purchased the coveted machine for us, but I didn't know who. Turns out my girls found out about my obsession (hmm.. I wonder how?!) and pooled together to purchase it for me. It was hands down the most generous and unexpected gift I received that day.

(A not-so-hot photo of me with my favorite ladies. Apologies for the glare.)

My most important tip is to wear something comfortable. I had agita over what I was going to wear that day and in the end I went with the dress and shoes I felt most comfortable in. I am SO glad I did because I was standing a lot and maneuvering around in weird ways as I lifted, unwrapped and moved gifts around. Oh and on that note... Wear a good deodorant! Between the nerves and the lifting I was a hot mess (literally). I know it's hard to tell from the photos since I'm pale to being with, but my face was super flushed the whole day and I was so hot. Thankfully I recently started using Secret clinical strength and it saved me from an embarrassing underarm situation. I know, I know, TMI, but you will thank me later!

Other than that, just try to soak in as much of the day as you can. My shower came to a close way too quickly and all I can say is that if the wedding day goes by as fast as this I am SO in for it!

Have you had your bridal shower yet? How did it go??