More dirty secrets about weddings, specifically your own: they are emotional roller-coasters. Some brides and wedding magazines and wedding blogs and movies and such will lead you to believe it’s the HAPPIEST TIME IN YOUR LIFE! and so much fun. Other brides and blogs and movies will lead you to believe it will make you crazy to the point you might just snap at some point and turn into Bridezilla or some close cousin of hers. It’s a little bit of both, even for modern gals like myself who are generally level-headed sane and not overly emotional people.

You know how you feel on the worst of your PMS days? Like bouncing from ‘double-rainbow, so intense’ to end-of-Terms-of-Endearment sadness to contemplating murder? Yep, that’s pretty much how I’ve been feeling for several days, and I’m not anywhere close to that time of the month.

Someone will surprise you with their generosity and support. In my case I’ve been blessed many times over with generous, supportive friends and family. Someone will let you down or drop the ball on something (if you’re reading this post, it’s not you). We’ve had that happen a couple times too, and usually the only thing you can do about that is put on your big-gal or big-guy panties and accept it, though bitching to a bridesmaid or two is perfectly acceptable.

The to-do list is still long but manageable. I’ve learned a thing or two about making decisions. I’ve found that if the answer isn’t apparent immediately or after a reasonable amount of research, then there is no right answer and you just need to pick something knowing whatever you pick will be no better or worse than what you don’t.

After an afternoon of putting my nose to the grindstone this weekend, I’ve just about completed the small collection of crafty tasks that I did decide to do. One of those things involved vintage postcards for our centerpieces — the reception is at a train station and we like to travel, so it seemed to make sense. I obtained most of the postcards from eBay, and they’re all of places where we’ve visited or it’s the hometown/state of a family member or friend.

Finished products, although they won’t all be shoved together into the same jar at the reception.

All but one were blank on the back, but the one that had a note intrigued me, so I thought I’d share it with you.

My cousin and his family lives in Indiana

Postmarked May 5, 1954 at 7 p.m. in Gary, Indiana

It says:

Dear Vi.
Just a note to say hello. Was glad to get your letter. Fredia? & Roy have a new girl. I heard from Bud & Mildred last week. Mildred has been pretty sick but better now. Did you hear from Claude? Write me the news.
Love June.

And it’s addressed to Mrs. Charles Kissinger at 1519 W. Morris Ave. Indianapolis, Indiana.

I have many thoughts. This postcard carries a message that’s older than my mother. It predates zip codes and state postal abbreviations (they were introduced in the ’60s). I wonder what Claude’s news was? I wonder what June’s home was like — I actually looked the address up on gmaps, but it just took me to an intersection, so the address does not appear to exist anymore. I wonder what Fredia and Roy’s and Bud and Mildred’s weddings were like. I wonder what June and Vi would say if they knew their correspondence was being used as wedding decor in 2011?