My mom sent me an email on Monday, mentioning that while the two of us slinging emails back and forth to each other might do just fine for planning a virtual wedding, there were things we needed to discuss and face to face might be a better option. She realizes how busy I’ve been lately – and it doesn’t help that she’s just as busy. But she had a point, so tonight after work I drove to my parents house and my mom and I talked.
She got me a wedding planner so the two of us pulled out our respective books and checked the list of things to do. I’ve been worried about numbers and the size of the church. She’s gone through this before with each of my sisters, so she’s got this wedding planning thing down pat. She had a list of questions. Did I have any ideas for color? Did I have any ideas about what I wanted to do about food? Did I want dancing? Heck, I was happy just to have narrowed down a month for the wedding. This other stuff is still in the ‘um…what?’ stage of my brain. But I need to think about it. People and places need to be reserved in the next several months.
We pulled out our calendars and scheduled one day a month to meet and do wedding stuff. We found it ironic that the first free weekend day the two of us have to meet isn’t until the end of July – we’re both that busy. We went to the church and figured out how many people could fit in the sanctuary. She brought a tape measure and we figured out how big the social hall is, so that we have a size to compare. We drove around town trying to think of other likely spots for the reception. Passed by barns and teased about having the reception in the middle of a hay field or something. Anything so long as the room is big enough. For a brief moment I babbled about maybe having the reception in the house that we’re building, but my mom thankfully brought me to my senses. That would be more hassle and stress than any of us have time for.
Despite our best intentions we realize that we’re going to have to break down and go to one or two of the local bridal malls. I firmly intend to avoid bridal fairs at all costs, but I’ve got to look at stuff *somewhere*. And on the way home I broke down and bought two bride magazines. I flipped through a few pages of advertisements before I went to bed. There are some UGLY wedding gowns out there. Really. Although I did get a lot of lovely ideas for bridesmaid dresses…assuming I really hated my bridesmaids. Who wears these things? Ick!