(WEDDING COUNTDOWN) Launch day!

I woke up this morning with equal parts excitement and dread. I was excited for the big wedding day ahead and the chance to be such a special part of the whole celebration. The dread? Well, that came after tuning in to the Weather Channel. What's in the forecast for my big sister's big day? If you guessed hot and sunny with no shot of rain in sight, you'd have pegged the same daily forecast we've been hearing for so long. We haven't had rain here in months... literally. We're in a drought and are so far behind on rain, watering the lawn is forbidden.

So I ask again, what's the forecast for her wedding day? Yep, the weather wizards called for rain. And not merely a passing sprinkle -- I mean STORMS. This just didn't go well with the outside wedding my sister and her fiance planned at the stunning Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden. But my sister's a realist and, in the back of her mind, had planned for just such a forecast. With her usual grace and composure, she made the decision to move the wedding inside into a grand lobby underneath a gorgeous stained glass cupola. What a smart move -- because as the 6 p.m. wedding time arrived, so did heavy rains.

Everyone always says that rain is good luck for a wedding. I joke that the sentiment was created by a desperate wedding planner to calm the nerves of a freaked out bride. In reality, I know there's some truth to it: rain really does bring prosperity because without it farms fail and communities perish -- I get it. So I repeated the old "rain brings good luck" saying to my sister and declared that she should expect some serious good luck because her wedding day broke the dry spell.

The wedding and reception were fantastic! My husband remarked that at some weddings, you can tell the bride is trying to make a statement -- an over-the-top, "look at me" display of glitz (not that there's anything wrong with that...). But we thought this reception was about the guests -- with delicious food, delightful wines and divine cake. Not to mention a fabulously fun band! One of the bridesmaid's duties is to keep the party going by hitting the dance floor so I got my groove on.

At the end of the evening, Margaret & Jamie bid "adieu" to the crowd and took off through a sprinkle of rose petals and light rain to their waiting car. As I walked back into the reception area, I realized that it was over -- so quickly. All the months of excitement, planning and anticipation had come to a perfect close with no detail overlooked, but it feels like "the fun part" happened in a blink.

We all agreed it was a remarkably beautiful evening filled with laughter and levity -- but most importantly, love.

(WEDDING COUNTDOWN) T-minus 1 day and counting

It's here! The wedding weekend is on -- it doesn't seem like it's already been ten months since my sister and Jamie were engaged. In that amount of time, though, they've planned what's sure to be a beautiful weekend with their usual attention to detail.

I had a fairly short but quite eclectic to-do list today: pick up a video projector, get my hair trimmed, and buy a sixpence for the bride's shoe.

I hadn't intended to rent a video projector, but for the rehearsal dinner Jamie's sister and I made a PowerPoint photo toast/roast of pictures from Margaret & Jamie's infancy through adulthood. After hours of work on the project, I asked a question I probably should've asked before I started the work: earlier this week I called the rehearsal dinner venue and asked if they have the screen and equipment in house for us to show the photo toast. Um, no. They do have a screen we could use (some venues charge for this) but we'd have to rent the projector.

So today, I had to go by the rental company, promise our firstborn and get the video projector. TIP: Don't forget to write down a contact name and phone number in case you have trouble setting up the equipment.

I then went to get my hair trimmed. Usually you'd want to do this a week or so before the wedding just to give you a few days to get adjusted. But the hair stylist I use is my friend Bruce Reed, the owner of Halo Salon, so he's always booked really far ahead -- the only date I could get was today. I took it! I walked out swinging my hair like a shampoo commercial and it looked great for the rehearsal dinner that night.

After that, I went to the closest David's Bridal and bought a sixpence* for the bride's shoe. It'll count as her "something new." Initially, she'd asked to borrow the sixpence I'd worn in one of my wedding shoes and that would've been "something old" or "something borrowed." But unfortunately, it was just "something lost" in my closet!

I went back to Bonterra Restaurant, the rehearsal dinner venue, so my husband and I could set up the projector. The wedding party started to arrive an hour later. The party began with wine and the rehearsal.

Some background info: Bonterra is in an old church and the former choir loft was turned into a balcony with table seating and a small, private room. We used the open space for the rehearsal, which went smoothly and my sister liked the bow bouquet I'd created for her!

We moved into the private room for the rehearsal dinner and what a beautiful and intimate evening it was. Margaret and Jamie decided to keep the guest list to just the wedding party and their spouses, our parents, and the minister and his wife so it truly felt like a family dinner. The night was filled mostly with laughs but there were a few tears, too, during the wedding party members' heartfelt toasts. It was an unforgettable night and it makes me even happier to welcome Jamie, my new brother (OK... in-law), into our family.

*LINGO ALERT: The sixpence is a British coin and is considered lucky. It's a wedding tradition for a bride to place a sixpence in her shoe to bring the new couple wealth and prosperity. Some bridal stores sell a sixpence gift set or you can buy the coin online.

(WEDDING COUNTDOWN) T-minus 2 days and counting

Fortunately my sister's wedding will be close to home. The wedding/reception venue is about 45 minutes away and so is the wedding hotel. My husband and I have decided to stay at the wedding hotel for two nights so we'll be in the midst of the action. Plus there's a family breakfast scheduled for the day after the wedding and it'll be easier to walk downstairs than to drive into town.

Since we're leaving home tomorrow, now's the time to think of anything I have left to do as the matron of honor. That's why I made a quick shopping trip so we can pull one of the typical wedding party pranks. As you know, some brides and grooms plan a fun, flashy departure from the reception -- like a convertible, limo, or horse-drawn carriage. But some couples choose to use their own ride and that's what my sister and her fiance decided to do. And we couldn't let them drive away as Mr. & Mrs. in a plain ol' car, could we? No way!

Think of the classic scene on TV in which the wedding party used shoe polish to write "JUST MARRIED" on the car windows and tied empty beer cans to the trunk so other drivers could honk at the happy couple.

Well, that's what we're planning to do to decorate the getaway car. Here's what I bought at the store:
-balloons
-streamers
-handcuffs
-feather boa

Also, you can order a safe car window decorating marker online to write your own message on the car windows. TIP: Do NOT put anything -- shaving cream, shoe polish, etc. -- on the car's paint. It might damage the finish. If you want to save time, just buy an all-in-one decorate the car kit.

The only thing that would dampen this whole "pimp their ride" idea, would be rain... and a storm is in the forecast for the wedding day. Note to self: pack an umbrella.

(WEDDING COUNTDOWN) T-minus 3 days and counting

This a good opportunity to go over your packing list one last time and make sure you have everything you need (and then some) for the wedding weekend festivities. You don't want to risk forgetting something important -- like, say, your bridesmaid shoes -- because you didn't take time to plan before you packed.

There have been plenty of times when I didn't heed my own advice. Once, I did the "grab-n-go" packing method, shoving enough clothing and toiletries into the bag for a WEEK (not the weekend trip planned). So what did I forget in the mad-dash to leave? Underwear. Excellent...

And while going "commando" at the wedding would make a statement, it's not anything you want to be saying. Take a moment, think about each day during the wedding weekend, and pull out the appropriate outfit -- from what's outside (clothes, accessories, shoes) to what's underneath (underwear, anyone?).

Better yet, download the simple BridesmaidEssentials.com packing list and let us handle some of the thinking for you! And please... pack panties and wear them.

(WEDDING COUNTDOWN) T-minus 4 days and counting

Stick... fold... stack. Repeat 105 times.

My sister and her fiance are providing a white-themed "candy bar" as the wedding favor for the guests. There will be a table set up near the reception exit and on it will be several large, clear glass jars. Each jar will be filled with a different kind of white-colored candy, like white-chocolate covered pretzels, white Jordan almonds, etc. As the guests leave at the end of the night, they'll get a white takeout-style box (with a personalized sticker/label), into which they can put their candy loot and have a sweet snack for the ride home. I think it's a tasty idea!

So how do all those takeout boxes go from folded to fill-ready? That's where I join the story. I'm glad my sister actually let me handle this one because, as the bride, she has other much more important final wedding details to take care of this week.

I cleared the dining room table and turned it into my own little assembly line. Flattened boxes: CHECK. Personalized wedding labels for boxes: CHECK. Large bin to put boxes into for transportation: CHECK. Wine/beer to relax the assembly lady (me): CHECK.

An hour and a half later, the project was completed. On to the next one, which is a classic bridesmaid duty: make the bow bouquet. Remember all those bows and ribbons you kept from the bride's showers? Now's the time to drag them out and get crafty. The bride will hold this "practice" bouquet during her walk down the aisle at the rehearsal.

Although you might've known you'd have to make the bow bouquet, folding boxes isn't exactly on the standard list of bridesmaid tasks like hosting a shower or planning the bachelorette bash. But offering to relieve the bride of mindless manual tasks -- folding favor boxes, assembling wedding programs, filling hotel welcome bags, etc. -- can actually be more helpful by allowing her to concentrate less on "to do" and more on "I do."