During the wedding-planning process, there have been a few items that Tiffany has dug in her heels on and not budged. Like what? Cupcakes!

When Tiffany first told me she wanted to have cupcakes instead of a wedding cake, I was surprised. I’d never heard of that before. When I mentioned this cupcake nonsense to friends, they set me straight, telling me that Martha Stewart loves cupcakes, how popular they are, that there are successful bakeries dedicated to cupcakes only, and that they thought it was a great idea.

Cupcakes? For a wedding? Really? I’ve since warmed up to the idea and think it will be wonderful. We can have several flavors with cute toppings, stacked in a tower. It’ll be adorable!

I got Tiffany a cupcake Christmas-tree ornament. I also made her some note cards with a cupcake tower stamped on the front. For her birthday, I got a small cake and cupcakes for the celebration. And I call her “Cupcake” sometimes.

In three short months, we’ll have a wedding. It’s hard to believe that it’s that close. There’s still plenty to do, but I feel that we’re in pretty good shape. Here’s our timeline for some of the bigger tasks:

• Early March: I’ll go to my mom’s for the weekend, and she and I will address the invitations. (We decided against calligraphy, and Mom and I have been practicing our loopty-loop script.)
• Late March: Tiffany, her future mother-in-law (shout out to Debbie!), and I will make a trip to North Carolina to finalize details with vendors.
• Early April: Mail the invitations.
• Late April: Our friends are throwing Tiffany a shower.
• Early May: Get a final head count.
• Late May: I gain a son! 

Mike and Tiffany with their dog, Rudy.

This has nothing to do with wedding planning.

When Tiffany and Mike first met, before I had met him, she was telling me a little about him—how they met, where he worked. She told me he was really nice and that she wanted to bring him by so I could meet him.

At some point in the conversation, I asked her if he was cute. She replied, “He’s the most handsome boy I’ve ever seen in my whole life.”

Oh, boy, I thought.

I felt then that Mike was special. Meeting him only confirmed that feeling. To know Mike is to love him. And when the most handsome boy in the whole world loves your daughter, it is a pretty great thing.

It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of the wedding planning. But when I step back in the midst of it all and see Tiffany and Mike together, it is heartwarming to see the love and devotion they share.

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.

Tiffany, right, with her grandmother.

The dress is such a big—and fun—part of the wedding that it really deserves another mention. After trying on a hundred or so dresses and viewing thousands online, Tiffany had still not found a dress that was the combination of design elements she wanted in her wedding gown, so she turned to her grandmother, an expert seamstress, and together they began to build the dress.

I know next to nothing about sewing. But I’ve watched my mom create the most gorgeous designs over the years, and I have an appreciation for what it takes to produce quality items. It’s a gift, a talent, a skill, and an art. My mom is a gifted, talented, skilled artist.

The first thing Tiffany and her grandmother did was find a pattern. Two patterns, actually—because one had the silhouette Tiffany wanted but no train. The train from the second pattern was wed with the first pattern, which is not as easy as it sounds.

Tiffany told me a month or so ago that she had read that many brides-to-be experience a lull in the middle of the wedding-planning process. At the outset, there’s hustle associated with finding the venue and vendors. Toward the end, there’s bustle around the last-minute details. Tiffany wanted to be sure that we took full advantage of the lull and marked some items off our list that didn’t have to wait until the end. So, aside from celebrating Christmas, what have we done with our lull?

The gown is done but for a few small tweaks. Tiffany designed it and selected the finest Italian silk satin, and my mom custom-made it—it’s far more gorgeous than anything she tried on in bridal shops. Tiffany’s maid of honor is very tiny, and we’ve had a hard time finding a dress to fit her that doesn’t look like something a flower girl should wear. So we’re now considering having my mom build the two bridesmaid dresses. I hope she also has time to make my dress.

Tiffany at Skip Barber driving school.

Several years ago when a friend of mine was getting married, I gave her a call the week before her wedding to see how things were going. She said there was so much to tell and asked what I wanted to hear about. I asked, “Well, what’s the most exciting part?” She immediately replied, “The dress,” and then told me all about her gown.

An undeniable truth of wedding planning is that dress shopping is the best part. Even my Skip Barber-trained Tiffany has given in to being a girly girl when trying on gowns. If you know Tiffany—or have read my other blog posts—you’ll understand that I had concerns about getting her into a dress. But wedding gowns have a magic all their own, and Tiffany has fallen under the spell.

Tiffany with her brother, Wylie, last year at the aquarium in North Carolina.

When Tiffany was first engaged this spring, she said it would be a May 2010 wedding. Perfect, I thought. That’s plenty of time for planning. But within a few weeks of the engagement, the couple decided they wanted to aim for a May 2009 celebration. In that case, we needed to get busy!

After several weeks of visiting prospective locations, not a single one has been right. Are we too picky? Unrealistic? Why is the right place so hard to find? What’s missing? Tiffany and Mike have a few requirements, naturally, but nothing that’s outrageous. They have a first choice for the date but are willing to be flexible for the right place. They prefer to have the ceremony and reception at the same site to save guests from possibly getting lost. They’d like an outside ceremony, but the location must allow for a plan B in case the weather isn’t favorable. Above all, it has to feel right. The location has to be reflective of Mike and Tiffany as a couple. It has to suit them and meet the logistical requirements.

In a single week, we scouted three vineyards, three county sites, two restaurants, two manors, and a community center. It was our busiest week, but there have been several other site visits, and Tiffany has been to just as many on her own.