Yesterday morning, just a few minutes after posting about my graduation surprise for her, I jumped in my car to head off to another surprise for Katie! Yesterday not only marked the one month point until her wedding, but also the last of her planning meetings at her wedding / reception venue. She’s asked me to go along to each of the meetings over the last few months, but each time I’ve been unable to go because of some prior commitment on my schedule. I went into the office super early on Wednesday morning to get some stuff done before heading out the door around 8:30 a.m. to make the trip to GA to surprise her at the meeting!

I wish you could have seen her face when I walked into the room where she and her mother were meeting with the wedding coordinator — it was priceless! We settled back down and got to the business of going through all the final details for the wedding. As we sat there, I could not believe all of the decisions that had to be made. At one point I leaned over to Katie and whispered that I felt like I was sitting in on a United Nations meeting.

After we finished the meeting, we went for a walk around the property to see where she’ll walk down the aisle, where the reception will be held, where she’ll toss the bouquet which I will catch after I trample anyone foolish enough to get in my way. It was raining so we ended up sneaking under a balcony for a few minutes which is when I pulled out the “It’s-exactly-one-month-’til-your-wedding-day-gift.”

Let’s play a little game called “Can You Figure Out What It Is?”

Still unsure?

Is Katie catching on yet?

She’s figured it out! For her gift, I wrote her a card for every single day over the next month until her wedding day.

Each card is different; some have quotes in them about brides or weddings along with my thoughts about the quotes. Here’s a couple of my favorites (if you want the whole list, I’ll email it to you — they’re great quotes!):

“How much dearer the wife is than the bride.” – Lord Lyttleton

“A woman of sixty, like a girl of six, runs at the sound of wedding music.” – Jebamoth, 450 B.C

“I chose my wife, as she did her wedding gown, not for a fine glossy surface, but such qualities as would wear well.” – Oliver Goldsmith, 1766

I actually took a picture of all the cards jumbled together before I put them in their respective envelopes. As I was uploading it for this post, I happened to look to see which of the card’s wording was visible and got quite the laugh when I noticed one particular card that has a couple of words visible. I’ll let you be the sleuths, but here’s a hint: check the cards lining the bottom of the photograph if you’re looking for a little giggle today (click on the photo to enlarge it).

After the gift opening, the bride-to-be, her mother and I went back up to take one last look at the property before heading to have lunch together. I can’t believe that, in just a little bit less than a month, that’s where we’ll be standing when our little Miss becomes a Mrs.

I think it’s safe to say she’s going to make one beautiful bride.

And that I have a really cute umbrella.