Ready or not, here we go. These past few weeks have been filled with finicky little tasks—all those things you can’t do in advance. With all of the big-ticket items taken care of and nothing huge left to tackle, I’ve had a lingering feeling that I’m forgetting something. To keep myself on track, I’ve gone into hyper-list-making mode. Even the smallest to-do item lands on my list—wedding-related or not. My lists look something like this:

• Cat food
• Guest book
• Haircut, dress shirt, baseball pants for my son
• Dry cleaning
• Buy more Sterilite tubs

Three days in a row, I called Albert, my husband, and asked him to be in charge of dinner for those nights. On the fourth night, I called and asked him to just be in charge of dinner for the next two weeks. It was the only way to ensure that my son gets fed between now and the wedding. Albert graciously accepted the duty, and Wylie has eaten quite well—and I don’t mean fast food or carryout; Albert is a great chef.

The final preparations have involved big rubber tubs. I have a few of them staged in the living room, and when something we need for the wedding is added to the tub, it’s also added to the list taped to the lid of that tub. I don’t trust myself to remember for two weeks whether I put the place-card holders in the blue tub or the gray tub—the hyper-list-making is mandatory for me to keep organized.

I’ve gotten lots of phone calls from friends and family thrilled about the nearness of the wedding. We have family and friends coming from all over the country: California, Louisiana, South Carolina, Washington state, West Virginia, Maryland, Missouri, Connecticut, Vermont, and Pennsylvania. And of course, even for our local guests, it means a trip to North Carolina. I can’t begin to express how much it means to me that so many people are able to join us at the beach and share in Mike and Tiffany’s day.

We are as ready as we can be. And if something catches us off guard, we’ll take it in stride and keep on smiling.

Amanda, a local mother of the bride, writes occasionally about helping to plan her daughter's wedding, which will be in the spring. To read about her adventures from the beginning, click here.

To read the latest Bridal Party blog posts, click here.