What didn't matter, and finding my "wedding zen"

In the months leading up to our wedding, I definitely was stressed about the details.  Despite my stress, I somehow managed to find my "wedding zen" a few days before the wedding.  Once we got to Madison, I didn't want to work on any more wedding tasks.  I wanted to drink Wisconsin beer and sit outside with my friends, I wanted to go to my favorite restaurants in Madison that I missed, I wanted to stay up late sitting in our best man's living room, laughing and talking about nothing and everything.  And that's what I did.  I even went to see Sex and The City 2 with all of my friends who were in town, the day before the wedding.  I had 8 missed calls after the movie was over.  I looked at them, and then turned off my phone.  I'm a bad ass.

Here is what didn't matter:

-I didn't really like our flowers.  My bouquet had purple in it, and I really can't stand purple, especially when it's mixed with pink.  But I LOVED the last minute flowers Tami (the restaurant owner) put together for the outside tables.  So I focused on those.
-My mom was super angry about anything and everything, but disguising it in the most disgustingly passive-aggressive way.  I showered her with kindness and moved on.
-Our hand-fasting ceremony didn't go exactly as planned, because we didn't rehearse it with the ribbons (which we forgot to bring to the rehearsal, probably because I was at SATC2 about an hour before).  It was still incredibly moving and special.
-Our iPod play-list was on shuffle, so immediately after our first dance, "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" came on.  Not the transition we were looking for, but everyone busted a move, and we modified the playlist accordingly.
-The programs didn't get passed out until the last minute.  My awesome preggo bridesmaid (and pretty much the go-to person for anything ceremony related) realized that the groomsmen forgot to pass them out, and busted out the programs right before we began our procession.  
-I left the vintage handkerchiefs I painstakingly collected for months in New Orleans.  Now I have a cool collection that I have no idea what to do with.

You will forget some of the details you worked so hard on.  People won't behave the way you want them.  Not every vendor is going to perfectly execute your vision.  Your wedding will not be perfect.

But when you walk down that aisle and see your future partner waiting with an expression on their face like this:

that is all you will care about.  I promise.

*all photos by the incredibly talented Kara Layne.  The first is of the outside of the restaurant where our reception was held, along with those awesome flowers from the farmers market that Tami put together at the last minute.