Mazal tov to my brother and new sister! Their wedding was yesterday and was absolutely beautiful. Even though it wasn’t MY wedding there was still a lot of prep work that I needed to take care of for me, DH and all the kids. Here’s how we managed to get everything done while working full time and not taking any days off:
DH: He was expected to wear a tux, so he went to a place close to his work- during his lunch break. The rental came with shoes and last Sunday he and DS1 went for haircuts and bought new yarmulkas.
Kids: My mother bought all the grandkids matching shirt-pant-vest sets with the cutest black bowties. Since my kids never had Shabbos shoes before, I used the morning of Memorial Day to shop for kids shoes. I made sure they had clean socks and they were good to go.
Me: I went to check out a gown rental store one Sunday and eventually found the gown I wore at a local Gmach on a weeknight. I wore shoes I already had. My gown needed a shell, so I ran to a local store during my lunch break on a day I worked from home. My shaitel appointment was made months ago (literally!) and I dropped it off to be washed on Friday morning. Since I’ve only gotten my nails done twice since I got married, I decided to splurge and get a gel manicure. Gel manicures are supposed to last for 2 weeks, so I got my nails and eyebrows done last Tuesday, when I worked from home. It was a huge time-saver to not wait until Friday to get my nails done. With Shabbos prep and packing up for the wedding, I don’t think I would’ve had time!
In the weeks leading up to the wedding I kept a running list on my phone for things I needed to take along to the wedding hall (thanks to my new favorite list-making app Google Keep).
My list looked something like this: (and yes, I did list the obvious, which was a good thing, since I almost forgot my gown, which was hanging in the closet)
- Tux
- Bag with boys clothes (I packed this the night before- included extra socks and shirts)
- Gown
- Shoes + extra more comfy ones
- Jewelry (I listed exactly which pieces… again, good I did, since I almost forgot one)
- Snacks- pretzels, noodles, cheese sticks
- Kids Shabbos shoes (they ended up wearing them there, but I had to make sure they made it to the hall)
- Formula, baby food, bottle
- Diaper bag (diapers, wipes, etc…)
- Phone charger (in case the kids got too rowdy, they could watch something on the phone)
- Stroller
The list ended up being a life-saver, since my makeup appointment took longer than I thought it would and of course we left a bit later than I would’ve liked. By the time I got home it was time to leave, so we dumped everything (and everyone) in the car, checked over the list and we were off! I was so glad I packed up the kids stuff and programmed the hall’s address into my phone GPS the night before.
We made it to the hall with just enough time to get dressed and even feed the kids a snack. There was so much going on the entire day, we didn’t even need my phone to keep them occupied. The kids even smiled for all the pictures without being bribed!
I knew that the older two boys wouldn’t nap. We had them stay through the chuppah (they walked down the aisle so nicely!) and then our babysitter drove them home for dinner, baths and bedtime. Lucky for us the hall was only 20 minutes away from our house! With the two older kids taken care of, DH and I enjoyed the rest of the wedding. By the time we got home, we were exhausted! It was a very long day but we had a great time!
Until next time,
Shaindy
