Between waiting for my guests to arrive and sneaking a bite to eat here & there, walking around mingling and stopping to pose for pictures -- I realized it's a lot of
work to be the center of attention.
Flattering? Yes.
Exciting? Beyond belief. But,
work? For sure.
After I started taking desserts to eat, I noticed other people began taking them, too. Before I knew it lots of the tables seemed bare! But my mom and her helpers were quickly replenishing the displays. =)
At some point, my mom suggested to me that I start opening my gifts. There were about 40 people [who all brought me a gift] and with my general slowness in the gift opening department they thought I should get started. =)
It was one of the most stressful things to do! I didn't expect to be under so much pressure. In the beginning, I was forgetting to say who the gift was from, what is was, forgetting to show off each gift. It was awful! I finally got into some type of rhythm:
Bridal party jobs:
MOH Chelsey: wrote down who gave which gift
BM Lindsey: made my bouquet out of all my ribbon
Junior BM Lizzie: handed gifts to me to open
BM Tessa: took gifts from me that I had already opened
Aunt Regina: took all my cards, checks, gift cards so they wouldn't get lost in all the tissue paper!
Let me tell you, I had all this help, and still... difficult!
I'm really the type of person that enjoys opening gifts -- each and every one! And I don't like to feel rushed. I like to give each gift [and the person who gave said gift] equal time of me reading the card, unwrapping the gift, looking at the gift, appreciating the gift & thanking the gift giver. But when you have 40+ gifts... IT'S SO OVERWHELMING TO DO ALL THIS!
Because at the same time, I felt bad! Because all these people were standing around... waiting... & waiting... & waiting FOR ME!
At one point, I realized I was opening gifts on the ground! All my practice of sitting correctly in my fancy chair went right out the window! But those boxes can be really heavy! And to have them on your lap... while trying to unwrap... while trying to balance them on your knees... well... the floor seemed like a safer option!
See our dishes?! I LOVE THEM!
I really wanted to have a ribbon bouquet. So I made sure to pass every ribbon/bow/string/anything toward Lindsey.
I unwrapped those ribbons
really carefully! Supposedly, the number of ribbons you BREAK [by accident!] while opening bridal shower gifts represent the number of CHILDREN you will have. Not that I don't want children because I do -- but I really wanted the bouquet [haha] so I didn't break any!
I don't even know how long it took to open all the gifts but when I was finished I got to pose with my bouquet!! And because I didn't break any ribbons... I have a long & beautiful bouquet!
And, finally me with my bridesmaids!!
3 girls weren't able to come =(
Next up on the blog: Sean's arrival at the shower! =)
