Scarring from Branchial Cyst Removal

I am 28 years old and am getting ready to go through branchial cyst removal surgery. The need for the surgery is pretty imminent because the cyst is severely infected causing me to be constantly sick. I have severe chills, body aches and pain all over. The cyst with infection has gotten so large I can no longer turn my head much less eat anything other than soup. My question is what to expect afterwards in terms of the scarring. I am prepared to have 2 weeks off work, but I am in 3 weddings in the two months following the surgery and just wanted to know what to expect. I have never had surgery of any kind, so just some general ideas of how fast swelling went down and scarring started to fade/disappear would be great. Thanks for any information you can share with me!