When I watched that wedding planning show, the thing that struck me most about the episodes was not how beautifully the weddings turned out. What struck me was how you watched each bride grow up in front of your eyes. The process seemed to give them all a kind of bridal confidence, and I feel like I’ve sorta gotten my own bridal confidence. At first, I was just plain freaked out by the whole thing. When I first started planning, I wanted total and complete control. Then, I realized I couldn’t do it by myself, but I still held tight, only allowing Phillip, Lori, and Amy into my wedding planning world.
Now that I’ve given up control, I realize that you can’t do it yourself, and you shouldn’t try.
Mrs. D said something on the drive down about how happy she is to be helping because she didn’t get to help plan any of Danny’s wedding. So, needless to say, both she and Mrs. Mac are brimming with excitement. When I watch them hug Amy, their new best friend, I think I just grew up a little more. I don’t have my parents here, but I do have some very special people in my life.
And I’m gonna start celebrating that.
The moms had some great ideas that we incorporated into the wedding plans. We planned out the weekend’s events, starting with a welcome basket in each room and ending with a farewell brunch on Sunday. Mrs. Mac had great ideas about what to put in the baskets. My only real contribution was that I wanted some chocolate included.
Big surprise.
And Mrs. D hit it out of the park. She recommended having chilled buckets of beer waiting for the guests upon check-in.
I’m pretty sure our friends are gonna go crazy over that type of welcome.
We got to play around with place settings and decided on deep purple glass chargers, deep purple water goblets, clear champagne glasses with silver trim, white dinner plates, and an adorable multicolored salad plate. Along with all that is an ice-purple napkin. When Amy handed me a princess crown napkin ring that was Phillip’s idea, I almost cried.
Everything has been going well until they completely disagree with me about the one thing I’m most looking forward to. Phillip and I have decided to meet in private before the wedding. When he sees me in my dress for the first time, it will be just the two of us and a photographer.
Mrs. Mac says, “JJ! He can’t see you before the wedding. It’s bad luck!”
Mrs. D agrees. “Plus, you’re getting married on the thirteenth.”
“Phillip and I want to have some private moments on our wedding day. If he sees my dress as I’m walking down the aisle, I won’t get to talk to him. I want to hear what he thinks. Then, we’re gonna go take photos in front of our fountain.”
They’re both shaking their heads at me when Amy says, “You know, if we do most of the photos before the ceremony, that means we all get to enjoy the cocktail hour. Otherwise, the guests will enjoy it while you take photos.”
Neither one of them wants to miss a second of the cocktail hour, so Mrs. Mac finally says, “Well, if you make it special, it’ll probably be okay.”
“I’m so excited about Phillip seeing my dress in private. Instead of worrying about walking down the aisle and not tripping, I’ll be able to focus on him, to remember what he looks like the moment he sees me. I wanna take his breath away.”
Mrs. D gushes, “Oh, JJ, the way you talk about it makes it sound so much more romantic. I wish I could’ve done that when I got married.”
“While we’re on this subject of walking down the aisle,” Mrs. Mac says, “I want to ask if you’d mind if Phillip escorted Doug and me. Traditionally, an usher would escort me down the aisle. Doug would follow behind, and then we would be seated. Phillip and his best man would be standing at the altar already. I was at a wedding recently where the groom seated his parents. I thought it was really special, but I don’t want to upset you.”
“Why would that upset me?”
Mrs. Mac looks at me with real concern. “Because your parents aren’t here to walk with you, and from what Phillip said, you’re walking down the aisle by yourself.”
“I thought about walking by myself, like as a way to honor my parents, but I changed my mind. I asked a special man in my life to give me away.”
Mrs. D’s eyes flood with tears. She turns to Mrs. Mac and says, “She asked Chuck.”
I drop the moms off and then head home. When I walk into my condo, the lights are dimmed, my mom’s crystal candlesticks are holding dark purple tapers, the table is set, and I can smell Italian food.
Phillip takes my coat, kisses me, leads me over to the table, and pulls out a chair for me.
“What’s all this for?” I ask.
“This is a big thank-you for including my mom. She called me before you guys headed back home and said it was one of the best days she’d ever had. She’s very excited for our wedding and very happy that you included her.” He pours us champagne and then makes a toast. “Exactly two months from today, we’ll be on our honeymoon.”
“That’s a good reason to celebrate, and I’m glad I invited them. She and Mrs. D had some great ideas for everything from the welcome gifts to the reception. They adored Amy and loved tasting the cake, and we had a lot of fun.”
Phillip takes my flute and sets it on the table. “You know, I think maybe dinner can wait.” He takes my hand and leads me into the bedroom where there are even more candles lit.
He strips off my clothes and massages my entire body with an amazing-smelling lavender body oil. I couldn’t care less about dinner. All I want is him.
“I’m gonna be nicer to your mom more often, I’m just saying.”
