There’s Going to be a Wedding!

Let the planning begin! Where to start?

It starts with a diet. The bride’s mother (my SIL) and I.

In anticipation of the wedding since the engagement in November, my SIL has already been trying to lose weight and it’s noticeable.

I have an evening gown that I wore for my son’s wedding in 2018. I’d like to wear it for this wedding. It’s been in a full length garment bag for the last eight years so I hauled it out. For the last month it’s been hanging in my bedroom from the top of the closet. Looks good. Smells good. Doesn’t zip…by about an inch.

I know how that happened. I’m a baker and a cook. I bake about three times a week, have 2-3 pieces of anything I bake, and then take the rest to work where my SIL is. She gave up on my baking before I did. It’s been days since the dress didn’t zip and I haven’t used my KitchenAid since. I thought I heard it whimpering from the closet I keep it in.

The wedding is in seven months so if I behave myself and stay out of the kitchen, I feel confident about losing enough weight so the dress zips.

So as you can see, the wedding planning didn’t start with a wedding dress or anything else remotely related to the bride and groom. It started with dieting.

Our niece, Grace, is marrying Chris. They got engaged a couple of months ago while doing one of their favorite activities…hiking…in Colorado.

They’ve been together about seven years, completed their college educations, and got themselves established in their new careers.

Several days ago we went wedding dress shopping. I was flattered to get asked to go along. It’s been so long since I’ve been in a bridal salon that I didn’t know what to expect.

There were four scheduled bridal appointments over the course of two days. First appointment, first dress, Grace is in love. Hell, you can’t stop there! About six or seven dresses later, Dress #1 was still the top contender. We all decided to go out to lunch before hitting appointment #2.

I should mention to future wedding dress shoppers that when you make an appointment at a salon, they hold your appointment with a credit card. If you don’t show up or you cancel your appointment, there’s a $75 charge. That was news to me! So let’s say Grace decided to buy Dress #1 at the first salon, calling to cancel the other three appointments would have resulted in a total credit card charge of $225 for cancelling the next three appointments.

Off we go after a nice lunch to the second appointment. Praise God that Grace knew what she wanted. She was not, and is not, an indecisive bride. I think that makes it easier for the bridal consultant also.

Most of the dresses were very similar to the dress she loved at the first salon. However, one of the dresses was eerily similar with one noticeable difference. The dress at the first salon had a set-in waist. The dress at the second salon didn’t have a set-in waist and it shaved about twenty pounds off of Grace’s figure and she looked like a million bucks. We were all sold! Get measured, break out the credit card, we have us a dress!

Oh, don’t forget to call the two salons for the next days appointments and add another $150 for those cancellations on your credit card.

The reception venue, photographer, florist are booked, and all the attendants have been asked. My SIL found her dress the other night, the centerpieces have been picked out, and there’s still one or two taste testings with caterers. They’ve been making lightening speed progress.

What a fun time for a family. Everybody’s offering to do whatever they can to help. It’s going to be a beautiful day and their future holds so much promise.