“Are you ready?” My mom whispered in my ear as we waited to turn the corner and walk down the aisle. A few short hours earlier, I had been stuffed in a hotel room with my bridesmaids getting our hair and makeup ready. In a few short hours, our wedding would be over, and Andrew and I would head to Jamaica on our honeymoon as husband and wife.

The entire Friday of our wedding melded together in a blur of elation, panic, and pure joy. Starting out in the Courtyard Marriott with our hair and makeup consultants dolling us up, the day seemed to be smooth sailing, with just a few small hiccups in the morning activities. Even as I stepped into my dress and my hairdresser secured my veil, things seemed fine, and I felt relatively calm. All the ladies headed to Meadowlark before the ceremony to take some photos, and it started to downpour as we stepped into the limousine. But miraculously, the clouds literally parted as we arrived.

After a whirlwind week of last-minute details, our wedding day has finally arrived. By the time this post hits the Washingtonian.com Web site, I’ll be in my wedding dress, taking photos with my beautiful bridesmaids, and getting ready to walk down the aisle to marry the man of my dreams.

It’s certainly been a crazy week. Even with 15 months of planning, there were so many things that needed to get finished. The out-of-town bags were delivered (after some minor car troubles), the place cards were created (after five trips to the craft store), and the wedding party arrived (with only a few flight cancellations). We’ve been blessed with the amazing support system of our wedding party and families, but it’s still easy to get overwhelmed. When you spend 15 months planning for a single day, it’s impossible not to get nervous that everything might not go smoothly.

Two weeks left. Two weeks until the culmination of 13 months of planning. It’s pretty unbelievable that this whole process is coming to an end soon.

It wasn’t until my bachelorette party that it occurred to me that our planning time was winding down. Celebrating the bachelorette party with my amazing friends was the last mental milestone I had to cross before the actual wedding. Now it’s time for the big day. That’s one if the downfalls of having a fairly long engagement: You become comfortable pushing the details to a later date. But now the bags for out-of-town guests need to be assembled, the alcohol needs to be ordered, RSVPs need to be confirmed, and so many other little things need to be crossed off the ever-growing to-do list before July 3.

Lisa Marie and friends at her second bridal shower.

One of the greatest perks of having wedding guests from all over the country is that I was lucky enough to have two bridal showers. So this past weekend, I was happily welcomed into my maid of honor’s mother’s home for an amazing bridal shower with a doggy twist.

As I’ve mentioned before, the concept of bridal showers has always struck me as a bit bizarre, so I politely asked Stef, my maid of honor, to host a charity bridal shower. Instead of having folks bring me presents from my registry, she included on the invitation that people should bring donations (financial or tangible) to the celebration. My charity of choice is the Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation, which introduced me to the world of animal rescue four years ago and is now a major part of my everyday life. I figured that in this small way, I could still celebrate my upcoming nuptials with the people I love but also do something small for an organization I respect.

On Wednesday night, I tried on my dress for the last time before my wedding day. It’s a pretty daunting feeling! This was my final fitting with famous seamstress Angie Cavallaro, and she had transformed my off-the-rack dress from the Filene’s Basement Running of the Brides event into a custom-fitted dream that exceeded all my expectations.

Over the course of the past few months, I’ve had three fittings with Angie, although I had to book them far in advance to ensure I got an appointment. Angie is an internet sensation among Washington brides-to-be; check any message board or review site for wedding seamstresses and you’ll find Angie at the top of the list. She’s reasonably priced, incredibly friendly, and absolutely understands the inner workings of the bride-to-be’s psyche. Even though you know she’s seen hundreds of dresses in her career, she makes you feel like your dress is the most amazing garment that she has ever seen.

One of the characteristics Andrew and I share is our unique style of dancing—or as some would say, our lack of style. We’re what you might call rhythmically challenged, and while we enjoy going out and dancing at the local bar, we won’t be winning any dance competitions in the near future. So as we were discussing the wedding-day rituals and what our feelings were on each, we were hung up on what to do about our first dance.

While I know many people are comfortable with the “sixth-grade sway” for their first dance, my personal feeling is that for this one occasion, it’s appropriate to incorporate a bit more choreography. Thankfully, Andrew and I had someone to turn to in our time of need: my former colleague Kathy Carroll. She’s a professional dance teacher who can make anyone look graceful on the dance floor. As soon as I told her of our engagement, she penciled us in for lessons, and Andrew and I prepared for our performance debut.

Lisa Marie and her bridesmaids celebrate at her shower in Rhode Island.

A year ago, when Andrew and I were first engaged, I remember talking to my mother about bridal showers and how funny it felt to have them before weddings. Don’t get me wrong—I’m never one to turn down a present—but considering there’s an expectation for guests to bring presents to the wedding just a few weeks away, it made me feel a bit strange to have another celebration where the focus is to bring even more gifts for our future life together. I decided long ago that my Virginia bridal shower would be focused entirely on charity, but Andrew’s mother asked if she could throw me a traditional shower for our New England guests. I always welcome a reason to make a trip up to Rhode Island to see the future in-laws and my college friends, so this past weekend I made a whirlwind trip to the tiny state to celebrate the upcoming nuptials.

The guest list for the Rhode Island shower included many people I didn’t know very well, plus future family members I’ve never visited without Andrew by my side. I’m usually very comfortable meeting new people and starting conversations with strangers, but as I got ready for the shower in our hotel room, I became nervous. It’s one thing to interact with people at a party, but it’s entirely different when you’re the focus of an entire event. To rattle my nerves even further, the GPS couldn’t find the venue, so I arrived 20 minutes late for my own shower! So when I walked through the door with 40 pairs of eyes focused on me, I was a bit overwhelmed.