Preparing for a Big Weekend

A cousin of mine is getting married this weekend. Thankfully, it's a local wedding so we are able to attend. Still, there is much to do to prepare for the festivities and to prepare for house guests. I tried to do as much as I could in advance so that I could spend a fair amount of time just resting this week but much of what needs to be done, needs doing closer to their arrival.

I always enjoy seeing my extended family and I do love weddings. I would love to spend the weekend soaking in as much family and fun as possible. I wish I could press pause on my migraines and fibromyalgia so I could talk, dance, drink, eat and laugh all weekend. Unfortunately, chronic pain doesn't work like that.

I attended another cousin's wedding almost exactly one year ago and learned some important lessons that I hope will help me better navigate this year's event. 

Lesson 1: Bring sweaters. Last year I was so cold through the entire reception, which caused my muscles to become tense, which caused a tidal wave of pains, including a migraine. If I'm cold for more than a few minutes the result is pain 100% of the time. By the time we got through all the various courses of the meal I had been extremely cold for about 3 hours and we had to leave a short time after. This year I'm going to bring a long, thick sweater with me in case the reception hall is cold. I don't even care that I don't have one that matches my dress, I just can't deal with another dinner like that.

Lesson 2: Bring ear plugs. I don't know why I didn't think about this last year but boy did I rue the night. The reception hall was huge and we were up front, right by a giant bay of speakers. It was bad when they made announcements but it was horrible when the music started. Much too loud for this migraineur. This year I will be better prepared with ear plugs. 

Lesson 3: Eat before the reception. Hubby and I are vegetarians so we signed up for the vegetarian option on the RSPV. Last year the RSVP included a description of what the vegetarian meal was and it sounded wonderful. Unfortunately, between the super cold reception hall and the cold plates the meal was served on, our wonderful pasta dinner was cold by the time it reached us. We didn't eat much and I was pretty hungry when we went to bed. Yet another pathway to pain. This year we don't even know what the veg. dish will be so we are going to eat before to ensure we get to eat something good. 

Further preparations include:

- Bringing my own water bottle of room temp water so I don't have to deal with cold, iced water.

- Because of my foot pain, I had to search out a pair of flat, comfortable shoes. I wasn't able to find anything I would classify as formal that fit the comfortable requirement but I found something close enough. Comfortable was the #1 priority. I'm not about to spend the next 3 months recovering from a formal pair of shoes. Nobody I care about will judge me.

- Resting as much as I can in the days and hours leading up to the weekend.

Being so prepared, I'm left with space to just be excited. I'm excited to have my mom and sister staying with us. I'm excited to see a bunch of extended family. I'm excited to get dressed up and attend this wedding. I just hope my pain isn't too intrusive this weekend so I can have more fun than I was able to have last year.