Let’s have a wedding already!

I have heard of people canceling weddings near the date, but I want to do quite the opposite. My daughter’s wedding is three weeks away. I want to have it tomorrow. Or maybe the day after. I am ready, my garden is ready, my house can be ready in a day’s time and I have even found the perfect outfit. (My wedding followers will be interested to know that this mother-of-the-bride outfit took me an hour to find, unlike my mother-of-the-groom day-of-shopping-plus-alterations experience. Go figure.)

I feel like every minute between now and the wedding just makes time for things to go awry. The first sign that I prepared too early came when weeds starting springing up in my new landscaping. You may recall, the reception is in my backyard, so upgrades were done both front and back. But once I have finished a task, I want to be finished.

There seem to be an endless list of potential last-minute tasks looming, without adding ones I didn’t foresee.

The hot weather and drought restrictions have not helped, either. I want to send the water board a notarized note asking for a water advance. I solemnly promise, the day after the wedding I will never water again. But right now my carefully potted plants are wilting, my lawn is dying, and drought-friendly new weeds are thriving along my lovely new path.  I also purchased a dozen ferns way too soon, and am now madly trying to keep them green and happy.

I do have a few bows to still create and we have a few signs to finish, but everything else is in place — caterer finalized, DJ, photos, dress, wedding party, site décor, bubble machines, all ready to go. Every day that passes brings something new my daughter thinks we should buy, move, orchestrate or decorate. I say, grab the preacher and let’s do this thing.

I’ve been wrong before, but I am pretty certain that no one besides my girl child will notice that we only have six faux butterflies on the flower arrangement instead of four.

Jean Gillette is a freelance writer in the final stages of wedding labor and ready to push. Contact her at [email protected].