The married couple!

Is there such a thing as a wedding hangover? If there is, I certainly have one. Ron and I got married last Saturday, and I can’t believe it’s all over!

First of all, we managed to get married on practically the only warm weekend this spring. It was a little hot for my taste (about 90 degrees), but thankfully all my bridesmaids let me keep the suite at the Hay-Adams at a cool 55 degrees, so I was plenty comfortable getting ready.

Being with Ron, surrounded by all of our favorite people, wearing a beautiful dress, dancing and celebrating—it was without a doubt the best day of my life. If I started to describe the entire weekend, I’d get carpal tunnel syndrome from typing so much, so I’ll just share some highlights:

Eleni and her friends are off to Atlantic City this weekend.

This entry is going to be short and sweet because work is busy and the wedding to-do list is getting longer by the day.

This weekend is my bachelorette party in Atlantic City. There are going to be 12 of us. That’s really all I know. I thought Jillian was going to be the weakest link, but she has managed to keep her mouth shut, so I have no idea what’s planned.

This morning, though, I received the following e-mail from my maid of honor:

Are you ready? Are you ready to rock it?

Eleni's parents at the tasting.

My mother has always said you can cut corners elsewhere, but you should never cut corners on the food. When Ron and I got engaged, my mom immediately started talking about the food. One thing people always remember about weddings, she said, is the food.

Having attended several weddings myself, I agree. The food might not be the most important part of the night, but if the meal isn’t tasty, it could be a major damper on the party. Before Ron and I booked our reception at the Hay-Adams, we made sure to have lunch in the restaurant. We figured the food would be good, but we wanted to make sure.

So now that we’re just a couple of months away from the wedding, it’s time to finalize the menu. This past weekend, Ron and I went to the Hay-Adams with my parents to have the tasting. Because there was free food involved, my brother also wanted to be involved.

The dress Eleni's bridesmaids will be wearing.

It’s really starting to feel like crunch time for Ron Burgundy and me. I’m realizing how difficult it is to plan a wedding in one city while you’re living in another. There’s a lot to plan to begin with, not taking into account that we can do most of these things only on the weekends.

Case in point: This weekend, I’m having my first fitting at Hannelore’s, and we’re having the tasting at the hotel. We were going to pick up the marriage license from the Montgomery County Courthouse until we realized that it’s probably closed on Presidents Day. Now we’ll just have to get the application notarized in Philadelphia and send it by mail.

So, in planning for the first fitting, I took a trip to Nordstrom on my lunch break one day and bought a ridiculous corset/bra-type thing to wear under my dress (it works wonders). I also finally found a pair of shoes. They’re light-gold, strappy sandals with roughly a 2½-inch heel. They’re really comfortable. Well, at least walking around the apartment they’re really comfortable.

Eleni with her friend Kally during the visit to Texas.

Last weekend, Ron and I traveled to Texas to visit my friend Kally, whom I’ve known since high school. She had a baby boy in November, so we flew to meet him, catch up, and experience the Lone Star State for the first time. Kally and her husband were married three years ago in Aspen, and I was one of her bridesmaids—needless to say, given the venue, it was a gorgeous wedding.

Throughout the weekend, the conversation consisted mostly of babies and weddings. Kally is also one of my bridesmaids, so she was eager to hear all about wedding planning. Ron and Kally’s husband, Austin, tuned us out for the most part, except for when we talked about videography. Austin is an outstanding wedding videographer in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

I digress. While Kally and I were talking about the trials and tribulations of wedding planning, one thing she said she had struggled with during her own planning was the seating arrangements.

Cummerbund or vest? Open or closed collar? Real bow tie or clip-on?

With all the decisions to be made regarding the bridesmaid dresses (Did we want strapless? No. Did we want long? Yes.), I forgot about the other half of the wedding party: the groomsmen.

Luckily, Ron has it all taken care of.

Okay, not really. He’s needed help, and my bridezilla tendencies have kicked in. I’m thinking classic black tux, black vest, white shirt, and a black bow tie for the groomsmen. Maybe a white vest and a white bow tie for Ron?

First off, when the groom has groomsmen scattered up and down the Eastern Seaboard, coordinating the attire is not the easiest feat. There are few establishments that rent tuxedoes to begin with—aside from those cheesy prom franchises found in just about every shopping mall. Does anyone know of a decent place to rent tuxedos other than Men’s Wearhouse? I’ve heard both good and bad things about it.