This is the year I get married...

"I can't do them now, I'm getting married in 24 hours!"

Those were the words hanging in my head as I lay in bed Jan 1st 2008, 6.13am. My first wedding nightmare.

Ben woke to see me frowning intensely at the window and asked what was wrong. "My first wedding nightmare. It was the day before the wedding and I had forgotten about the table decorations and place cards..."

Ben in his usual supportive manner hugged me and assured me that knowing my nature (and obsession with organizing EVERYTHING!) our wedding will be down to the finiest detail 6 months before the event and nothing will be forgotten.

He is probably right. I do get a tad over-excited when it comes to planning a event.

But then the thought sunk right in to the depths of my mind and morphed into "Oh my god! I am getting married this year!" Hysterics proceeded to follow this realization.

You see I was always getting married next year. I always had a full year (365 days) up my sleeve before I had to plan a wedding. I successfully ignored all wedding 'things' knowing it could wait till 2008. But now...now is 2008...now I was in that time period where I would have to do something! Bugger!

I jumped out of bed and paced the house frantically waiting for my brother to arise from the spare room. 3 hours later he was up and I was barging past to locate "The Easy Wedding Planner" - a book I bought soon after getting engaged and promptly shelved for later reference.

Over the course of day I skim read most of it then eagerly took a pen and began to tick off items Ben and I had already organized. Phew. That felt better. Some progress.

However I then spotted things I had never noticed before. Things about bridal luncheons (a lunch for the bridal party organized by the bride and groom), celebrant gratuities, and a bunch of other costs I had not factored in.

Sigh. Endless expenses.

Moving on.

The more positive BIG news is the addition of 2 more bridesmaids and 2 more groomsmen to our wedding party. I now have Aine and Martina as bridesmaids after Louisa, and Ben is including Matt and Andrew (Aka: Nugget) on his side. I feel much more comfortable knowing there are now 3 women around to witness my mental state crack under pressure, lol!

Both ladies were thrilled they were asked and I was even more thrilled they accepted. After all, they could very well say no :)

It's all systems go.

P.S. Ben confided he is scared I'll be a runaway bride - I laughed at the time and made a mental note to prove him wrong, lol!

AND...

First dress fitting is in 2 weeks!