Alright, first things first.
The deal with drying your buds, is to dry it slowly but not to fast. If you dry your buds too fast it will make your buds smell like pine needles, hay, or taste bad. Drying the buds too slow in this first step is not a good idea ether because of mold and mildew will attack them. You should ALWAYS test the stems.. which will tell you when its dry enough to start the curing process. The stem should break with minimum pressure.. and you should hear a nice crisp break/snap sound, which when this happens.. and it snaps.. it is then time to start the curing process. If the stem doesn't break.. and just bends.. then we know that there is still too much moisture inside the stem and inside the buds.. and in that case.. you should let them dry for a few more days.. until you get that 'crisp snap' from the stem(s). But again, until the stem will break.. the buds are will have to much moisture to start the curing process. I mean, sure you could go ahead and start the curing process.. however! Your just asking for mold/bacteria to invade your buds... So i suggest waiting until the stems break with minimum pressure.
Hope that helped you out man.. better luck next time!
peace.