Wedding Series: Updates

Hey everyone.

I hope you are doing well. I don't know where to begin. Three of my friends got engaged within this month! Ahhh... it is such an exciting time for everyone. I think 65% of girls I went to school with are now engaged or married. Getting back to my own marriage, my mother and I are the only ones doing the preps. My fiancee is too busy with his own work. My dad is busy with his own work but he tries to help over the weekends. And my brother is studying for his exams, so I don't like asking him for help.

At the end of the day, mom and I run around and do everything. I kinda like it this way because I can do whatever I like =D without anyone's instructions. If I were to approximately guess the amount of mall visits I had in the last 2 months, I'd say at least 45. I've been doing all my moving myself. When everyone is at work, including the F, I take my suitcases to his house and unload them into a corner. I've done 3 so far. I just wanna pack away most of my room before all the events begin. That will take away the hectic-ness of moving after. I hate this gift business but it's a norm, so I am helpless. Also, it becomes more important at the time of a wedding. So, the gifts are taking up more space than my own belongings. I am trying not to pay $100 for extra luggage because I feel that I will have to pay that on my way back. Therefore, I gotta limit my stuff by sorting through it one more time. My bedroom looks like a fish market right now. There are so many boxes, things on the carpet, makeup and handbags everywhere. I have been sleeping in the guest room from the last month. Today, my goal is to CLEAN everything up and make room to sleep.

All the important events have happened already - the bridal shower, bachelorette and my birthday. I am so glad I was able to enjoy myself before the chaos started. The only upcoming events remaining are the Registry, my brother's birthday, Diwali and Karvachauth. It's a festive month, haha!

I contacted all my friends in India. I love the fact that I have been in touch with some of them considering that I saw them last in like grade 2. It's lovely when people remember you after decades - makes you think you've done something right. I've already set up meet and greets and things like that upon my arrival - and I am super excited for that.

I decided to skip the save the date idea because we frankly have no time left. I needed posters at the wedding and some fresh photographs but I guess I will be using my engagement portraits. There are so many little things to do that take up a lot of time. I have to scan all my childhood pictures for the wedding slideshow. I also have to start designing the wedding guestbook myself and then send it for digital printing. That is taking way too long. I still gotta get started on sorting music lists for every occasion such as mehndi, pre-wedding, wedding etc. I want to have all these lists and details in my wedding binder before I leave. The idea is to open up to the tabs in the binder when meeting vendors and have every piece of information on the tips of my fingers,

So, I just realized that all brides go crazy with teeth whitening for their wedding photographs. And this is quite a late realization for me. I don't smile with my teeth, so I am not too worried. Also, my teeth are fairly white but I will still go for a cleaning and whitening session. I did get myself a Hollywood Whitening facial last week before the bachelorette and they cleared up a lot of impurities on my face. I haven't done anything about my hair yet. They still have highlights in them from 2012 because I was trying to naturally get them out - by growing my hair and cutting the bottom bits off. I am WAY too late for all this appearance/beauty stuff because I only have 3 weeks left. I didn't get the time to give myself importance yet, lol. It's all about packing and wedding preps right now.

So, if anyone in the Brampton/Mississauga/Woodbridge area knows of a good hairdresser who can restore life back into my hair within a budget - please let me know. I am looking to spend between $100-150. All I want is to get rid of the highlights and get a uniform colour for my hair or maybe get some low-lites. That is all. I am keeping the rest of my budget for mani + pedi + full body wax before I leave. I spent $150 at Donato in August for a professional haircut plus deep conditioning treatments. Therefore, I cannot justify spending any more than $150 on my hair at the moment.

I recently went for an eye exam and I've been told that my right eyesight has slightly improved. I was anticipating my number would have been increased by now. But I am happy that it improved instead. So, I am going to get a new pair of frames + lenses today. Add all this to the appearance expense and these are just the basics. I don't know what else I am supposed to do? Am I missing something?

I will be going for a spa + bridal package 3 days before the big day. So, I can't think of anything else that needs to get done right now. Everything will wear off in a month anyway.

So, I didn't do anything to diet or reduce weight. I actually haven't worked out in the last 3 months. All I've done is - minimized my fat and sugar intake. Just by doing that alone, I've lost a couple of pounds. But you can't tone your body with dieting, lol. So, I've got 20 days to work out, haha. The first bride to be super negligent about her body. I honestly don't care at this moment. I actually ate way more in the process of wedding planning because I am a stress eater. But I've maintained 28 lbs of weight-loss since last year until now. I am 15 lbs away from my goal weight for the wedding. Basically, my work out regime will start TODAY. Let's see if I can pull a miracle in 20 days ;)

Another thing I did religiously was take care of my skin! No matter how tired I was, I took all my makeup off, cleansed and moisturized before going to bed each night. I embraced the oil method for the last 6 months and it has cleared up my skin a lot. I just have the acne scars left. Nothing a good concealer can't cover =)

Other than that, my diet has been missing water. I got sick for 11 days last month and since then my system has been messed up. I've lost my appetite and I stopped drinking water. Today, I am writing everything down so I can keep up with it all. I drank 2 bottles of water as soon as I woke up and had an almond granola bar for breakfast (protein!) One thing I've been ignoring for MONTHS is my multi-vitamin pill and I am gonna start taking it today as well. It's never too late.

I am worried about the groom the most because he hasn't done anything. He gets 4 hours of sleep a night due to his crazy work schedule and he seldom cares about what he eats. His skin is looking tired and dehydrated and I've already warned him that I am gonna kill him if he doesn't shape up already, lol. This is just a darn busy time for everyone. He also needs a mini surgery for a skin tag removal from his face. God knows when he will book an appointment to get it done.

Do I sound crazy yet? I do.
Okay. Today's check-list: get room in order, vacuum, get frames + lenses, and pack another suitcase.

Good luck to my fellow brides. Another of my friends is getting married in the same month so we are going through similar challenges. And a friend of mine is getting married a month after my wedding. Sooooo many weddings coming up - I can't wait =D I am soooo excited!