Amanda and the happy couple: Now she's Mom of the Missus.

What a fabulous week we had partying and hanging out. Although the planning that remained for the week was minimal, we were busy every day. My aunt and uncle hosted a clam bake at their house one night. Sarina and her mom, Saskia, arrived mid-week. The wedding itself went so fast that having the week before with family and friends was priceless. By Friday, everyone had arrived at the beach, and the rehearsal dinner was a big bash that included all the wedding guests.

The whole week and wedding went smooth as silk. The closest thing we had to a glitch was what I prefer to think of as a classic wedding moment. With perfectly coiffed hair and our precise makeup applications, Tiffany, her bridesmaids, and I ventured out to the truck—already cooled by the AC—to go to the aquarium to dress there. Albert was driving—and might have been a little anxious. Although there was no hurry, he began driving faster and faster. In the same moment that I said, “slow down,” Tiffany said, “You’re getting pulled over.” Mind you, it’s quite humid in coastal North Carolina at the end of May. I guess as a safety precaution, the officer made us roll down the rear window—maybe to make sure we didn’t pull a bouquet on him? The policeman asked Albert if he knew how fast he was driving. Did he know what the speed limit was? What was the hurry? Where were we headed? You know the drill. Finally, I couldn’t take any more and explained from the back seat that our hair was going to wilt and our makeup would melt if he didn’t let us put the windows up. So after we answered his questions about the wedding, he congratulated Tiffany and sent us on our way without a ticket.

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:

In these past few months, life has gone on without regard for my well-set-out wedding-planning schedule. A few unexpected things have popped up: A skylight sprang a leak and had to be repaired, and a pipe burst in our house, flooded a bedroom, and required hardwood and carpet replacement. And as long as we had to pull everything out of the bedroom, we figured we might as well paint it.

Also in the past month, my son was in a play at school and my life stopped altogether so I could attend the Dominion High School production of The Music Man. In addition to being mom of the bride, I can’t forget that I am also mom of the boy.

But enough with day-to-day stuff. What has been going on related to the wedding in these final weeks?

With two months to go before their wedding, some brides might be in a panic over not having a vendor for their cake or florist. But in North Carolina, it’s nothing but a thang. No problem, no worry.

We recently went to North Carolina to meet with various vendors and scheduled two appointments for one day and six (that’s right, six) for the following day. While driving down, we came up with a list of questions and expectations for a coordinator, talked about music selections, the seating chart, and any one-off groupings that we wanted the photographer to catch. We were on a whirlwind mission. Our weekend went something like this:

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.