Watching the Royal Wedding Live? Tricks to Stay Awake

After all the months of planning and speculation, the most anticipated wedding in decades is finally just days away. In London Friday, at last Prince William and Kate Middleton will walk down the aisle, say their vows, and give the world its fairy tale. Only this half of the world should be asleep during the blessed event as it begins at 5 a.m. on the East Coast. *YAWN*

In order to ensure that you're fully alert and don't miss a detail of the divine day, you're going to need a plan of attack. One can't just set an alarm and expect one's body to be alert enough for such a big event at that dreadful hour (even worse if you're on west coast time -- 2 a.m.!). One must carefully think through and plot out a plan to ensure optimal wedding viewing. Here are a couple of strategies for you to consider:

Strategy #1: The all-nighter

On Thursday evening, pretend like you're back in college and do everything you shouldn't do if you want to sleep. Eat a huge carbohydrate-packed meal so it will fuel your body for hours to come, include lots of chocolate for dessert. Consume coffee by the pot and/or slam energy drinks. Play loud music, keep all the lights on, and shop online for royal wedding souvenirs like toilet seat covers, which will keep your mind spinning for hours. When the wedding ends, call in sick to work and sleep the day away, dreaming about the wedding.

Strategy #2: Wake & View

Have a vigorous day on Thursday, maybe knock back a few cocktails at lunch, anything you can to get extra tired. Then, go to bed immediately after dinner. Wear a sleep mask; use a black-out shade, white noise, anything you can to make yourself rest. You'll awake Friday morning, refreshed and ready for wedding viewing. Repeat as many of the techniques in Strategy #1 as necessary to stay awake for the rest of the day.

Strategy #3: Just Set Your DVR

Don't miss out on sleep for this couple who couldn't even be bothered to send you an invite, just watch it later with no commercial interruptions. And lord knows it's going to be replayed to ad nauseum, so it's not like you're going to miss a thing anyway. Besides, they're not even going to kiss!

Do you plan to watch the royal wedding live? If so, what's your strategy?

Image via Clesteh/Flickr