Friday, July 30, 2010

Tessa: Engaged!

For this Feel Good Friday, I'd like to write briefly about a happy occurrence this week at the bridal shop: one of the consultants got engaged!

I remember when I got engaged. I had already been in the wedding business for several years at that point. (Click here if you need a reminder as to my resume!) And as you can imagine, working with weddings can make you look differently at this blessed event. Some people who become engaged after being wedding professionals are so jaded that they have a minimal event or even elope. Some will jump into the planning with a vigor reserved only for those who finally get to make their own choices after some time of watching other people's missteps. Let's face it, watching brides put together teal and orange for their wedding colors or encouraging the bridesmaids to wear cowboy boots with their formal dresses can be frustrating. Every unmarried professional repeats the mantra in their head, "I will NOT do this when I plan MY wedding." I certainly did! I remember creating a list of all the things I had seen other people do that I was SURE I wasn't going to do at my wedding. Items that made the list were:

1. Serve rubber chicken
2. Make guests pay for their own drinks
3. Pay $7,000 for a dress and sacrifice having enough food
4. Waste money on "token" favors like scrolls and matchbooks that would get thrown away
5. Have carnations and filler greens in my bouquet
6. Have bridesmaid dresses in wine or hunter green, since that was what everyone was doing at the time
7. Wear a dress in which my ample bustline was exposed and prominent, such as in the Victorian or Elizabethan age
8. Use banquet chairs that would make the wedding look like we were having a corporate leadership seminar
9. Attempt to squeeze too many people at a table in an effort to keep centerpiece and server costs down, but resulting in my guests being unable to push back from the table without the express consent and cooperation of the people sitting on either side of them.
10. Put disposable cameras on the table, unwittingly encouraging semi-intoxicated guests to take inappropriate pictures that my Mom and Dad would develop while I was on my honeymoon
11. Hire a DJ that would pull out blow-up instruments and ask my guests to play air guitar
12. Hire a DJ that would, in an attempt to engage my guests, play some sort of embarrassing game like blindfolded dance contest or wave the dollar.
13. Hire a DJ that was under the impression that my wedding was his show

This was not the entire list (10 years and two kids later, I'm surprised I remembered this much) and as you've probably guessed, I opted to hire a band.

So now it is time for my colleague and friend, let's call her Tessa, to undertake the planning of her wedding. She is the sweetest of girls, and very grounded. Her taste has always been impeccable, so I know that her wedding will be a feast for the eyes and that she will be a gracious bride. I couldn't be more excited for her as she begins this journey, and I wish her everything she hopes for and peace and joy in the planning process. However, I wonder what items she has on her "absolutely NOT" list...

4 comments:

Amber at The Musings of ALMYBNENR said...

AHH! An AMAZING FGF! Congrats to Tessa!

RN Mama said...

Congratulations to your collegue! I'm sure everyone is very excited for her:)

I loved your list! Sadly, our D.J. was horrible! He played a quiz game about my husband and I, and your table had to get the answer right in order to go eat :( So tacky! My husband and I were so mad because we specifically asked him not to do this...he was also wearing a tux (which we asked him not to) and sweating like a pig!

Thanks for linking up today!

dollycas aka Lori said...

It's been 27 years and I still remember that our hired DJ sent a replacement because he was double booked at the replacement kept plugging in so many worthless things that he blew all the fuses at the reception hall at least 10 times!!!

But we survived that and many more challenges, thanks for sparking one bad memory but many, many more good ones!!

Dollycas
http://dollycas.blogspot.com/

Erin Janda Rawlings said...

Your list ROCKS!

And orange and teal - ick!