The most important task for the maid of honor? Providing moral support, says Jen, left.

Being asked to stand next to your best friend as she says her wedding vows is truly an honor. But by accepting the role of maid of honor, you’re agreeing to more than just wearing a bridesmaid dress and giving a toast at the reception.

The biggest thing you’re responsible for is planning the bridal shower and bachelorette party. Emily blogged about this last week, but I’ll give you a few more details. The hardest part is coordinating with everyone who’s going to attend. Thank goodness for e-mail.

Emily wanted the event to be in New York City.  Thankfully, her bridesmaid, Natalie, and her friend, Maggie—both of whom live in New York—were the hosts for the weekend. In order to make the planning more manageable, it’s a good idea to delegate some things to other bridesmaids. I asked each girl to bring either a bottle of wine or an appetizer, and Maggie brought a veil and tiara for Emily to wear.

Each day, the idea of our wedding becomes less and less of this far-off fantasy and more and more of an immediate reality. Having my bachelorette party this past weekend was a huge indicator of the wedding’s nearness.

And, oh, what a night!

When Jen, my lovely maid of honor (and a bachelorette-party planner extraordinaire), started asking me what I wanted as far as a bachelorette party and bridal shower go, I had a couple of strong recommendations: no strippers and none of the typical male-body-part adornments and/or regalia. I think both are gross! I also wanted to have the shower and the party on the same date to make it easier for friends to make it to both and for Jen to plan it. And if possible, I thought it would be awesome to have it New York City.

So with those few thoughts, Jen—with the help of other good friends—organized my bachelorette party/lingerie shower (ooh la la!) this past Saturday in New York.

After work, I’m jumping on the $25 bus bound for my NYC bachelorette party. My girlfriends have the weekend pretty much under wraps, but I’ll give you all the juicy details in a post next week!

This past weekend, Drew and I drove down to Virginia Beach for a sunny July Fourth to visit a friend, Charlotte, who is also our wedding’s singer and scripture reader. We had a great time catching up with her and her family, playing in the pool, zooming on the Jet Ski, and swimming in the ocean, though we did get sunburned, stung by jellyfish, and bitten by horseflies. Note to self: No crazy adventuring right before the wedding unless we’re okay with lobster-colored (maybe peeling) skin and red welts in the wedding pics.

Last week I mentioned scheduling a meeting with our wedding photographer. As anyone who has planned a wedding knows, photographers are très cher. In our online search of Nashville photographers, we found many who charged $4,000-plus for just a few hours, which would not include rights, prints, or an album.

Emily gets a pre-wedding touchup from her stylist, Alex.

In less than two months, my name will be Emily Bratcher, not Halonen, and I’ll go from fiancée to wife.

As the wedding quickly approaches, my planner—not BlackBerry (I’m old school)—is becoming increasingly filled with appointments, parties, and meetings.

For instance, last weekend I visited my trusty stylist at Aveda for a much-needed haircut and highlight. I hadn’t gotten either since November. And for the wedding I want hair that looks good but not too done, you know? Alex (she’s the amazing stylist photographed here) advised me to come see her for a touchup a couple of weeks before the wedding.

Last Friday, I promised to write about my bridesmaids’ getups, but the dresses haven’t arrived, so instead I’m going to blog about flowers.

I love daisies. In the chick flick You’ve Got Mail, Meg Ryan’s character says daisies are the “friendliest” flower, and I agree. There’s something pretty and understated about their yellow upturned faces and white, uneven petals. Also, they’re cheap—and when you’re buying flowers in bulk, cheap is good.

“Don’t spend money on flowers” is a sentiment shared by a number of previous DIY brides. Especially if you’re planning a wedding on a budget, spending a ton of money on resplendent bouquets and centerpieces doesn’t make a ton of sense because what happens when your ceremony and reception are over? All those beautiful blooms and elegant arrangements are trashed. If you do have an unlimited budget and absolutely adore flowers, I’d suggest making sure family and friends take them home. That way, they provide further delight.

Happy summer! It’s the hottest season’s official start, though it’s been sweltering in DC for several weeks now.

June 20 also places the countdown at 71 days (until we’re hitched). To ensure that our big day goes off without a hitch, we have a bunch to tick off the to-do list, but it’s fun stuff: finalizing the reception’s playlist, choosing the ceremony’s Scripture verses, bachelor and bachelorette parties, dress fittings! Thankfully, God has totally blessed this time with anticipation and joy—and very few freak-outs—so we’re just excited, hence all the exclamation marks popping up everywhere!

In these next ten blog posts leading up to our big day, I’ll give you the rundown of what’s left on the list.

Our do-it-yourself invitations are out, and RSVPs have started rolling in, which got me thinking about the other print project we plan on doing ourselves: the program. In order to make the program, we have to know the ceremony’s order of events. And without a wedding coordinator, we have to also plan that from scratch: processional, vows, exchange of rings, songs, etc.

As the office emptied early on the final Friday before The Washingtonian’s July deadline began, I hunkered down at my computer to listen to my brother Blake’s baseball game. His Lipscomb University Bisons had traveled I-24 East from our native Nashville to Athens, Georgia, for the first round of the NCAA tournament, and I didn’t want to miss a pitch.

For Blake, I knew this was as good as it gets. School was out, and his one care in the world was the game.