A year into my engagement (I wasn't planning on a 'long engagement', it just took this long to find a weekend when one or the other of our friends wasn't getting hitched/having a stag do/planning a hen) and with exactly six weeks to go until the big day, on Saturday I had my first wedding-related breakdown.
The signs were all there. Last Monday's disastrous search for bridesmaid dresses along Oxford Street. Last Wednesday's 10-minute sprint from work to Regent Street to buy wedding shoes before the 8pm closing time (thank you, Mr Kurt Geiger security guard for not slamming the door in my wheezing, sweaty face). The fruitless, turn-the-house-upside-down hunt for our wedding banns form, which should have been sent to the local church two months ago (is there a website I can download these from, rather than fess up to the vicar I'm totally incompetent?).
And so to Saturday morning and my first dress fitting. It was going well. Mum was duly in tears, my sister was having insane amounts of fun attaching varying lengths of veil to my head and I'd convinced one of my bridesmaids to relinquish the earrings she had on for my 'something borrowed'. All four hems (four!) had been pinned to the correct length, when we (read: Mum) pointed out that the aforementioned, pulmonary-inducing shoes might, just might make me taller than Husband To Be.
The seamstress, to her credit, didn't scream (although 'delighted' probably wouldn't be the right adjective to use if describing her face) and a second fitting has been penciled into the diary. I have less than 48 hours to find some new shoes that are approximately .5 of a centimeter shorter.
To give credit to Husband To Be, when I tested the shoes next to him on Monday morning (he arrived back from his Stag on Sunday and Monday am was the first time he was able to stand without swaying), he conceded that they only made me a smidge taller and he wasn't overly fussed either way as long as I promised not to be modeling 'big' hair alongside the big shoes.
Still, with the clarity that only a three-day week can bring, today's lunch hour will mainly be spent browsing online shop stores.