A TOTALLY Unplanned Wedding Adventure...

After that bike ride across town, I returned  home to get me a shower and head out for a day of looking for receptions sites.  Robby would be joining Caitlin, Tabitha (the maid of honor) and me for this little adventure.  But first I needed something to eat.  HEY!  After a 30 mile bike ride (and escaping death more than once...) I deserved a little comfort.  I announced that we would be eating Mexican that day.  And off we set for what was to be a relaxing first day of wedding planning.

Hmmm...I quickly found out that the words "wedding planning" and "relaxing" are not often used together in the same sentence for a reason.  This was the "original plan":  We would eat lunch and then head out to look for reception sites; this was one thing that I thought we needed to nail down pretty quickly since we had snatched up the last wedding date available in May.  Our only issues was going to be finding a place big enough to hold around 400 guests.  So, after scarfing down that tasty Mexican cuisine, we determined where to go first.  Well, actually our first choice was already booked, so we had to move on.  Robby instructed Caitlin that we needed to look for size; BIG was what we needed.  Although she agreed, I knew Caitlin's way of thinking...she had other things on her mind as well.

Let me preface this by stating that Caitlin is not a "Bridal Diva" or a "Bridezilla".  I choose to think she just has these pictures in her head of how things should be; and THAT is exactly why the place we looked at first, did not make the cut.  The building met all of "our" criteria;  it was big, had ample parking, was clean and convenient.  What neither Robby or I ever even notice was the carpet.  Yep!  You heard me right...Caitlin said that the building had "ugly carpet"!  Robby appeared to be a bit confused and shocked at the revelation that this site would be eliminated merely because of the carpet.  It was clear that HE had never been on a search mission with us for Homecoming dresses during her high school years.  The second place that was suggested?...It only rated a "drive-by".  This was going about as I had expected it would; apparently Robby had thought otherwise.  After a good bit of discussion, suddenly the car swung into a convenience store, where Robby announced that he "felt a bit dehydrated" and needed something to drink.  That's a little inside joke and what we say when anybody gets a little irritable and fussy.  But then I thought about that 30 mile bike ride again...maybe he really WAS dehydrated! 

Robby returned to the car and before we made it to the first stop light, that half gallon of sports drink was finished!  "Where to now?", he asked.  I said, "Let's head out to the country club."  Turning his head and stretching his neck a bit, he replied, "We have only been there HUNDREDS of times; WHAT could we possibly need to look at there?!"  I explained, "We just need to walk through the room so we can get a good visual of what the room will look like for a reception."  Reluctantly, he headed out there.  We really liked the set up and new chef they had hired and checked on the availability.  All would be a "GO" if there was no golf tournament planned for Memorial Day weekend; we wouldn't find out until the following week.  With the reception issue hopefully put to bed, we drove back to town.  As we were passing the ONE bridal shop we have in town, Caitlin mentioned that she would like to stop in and see a new dress line they had advertised.  We stopped, got out and quickly found out that they were the only store in the state that did not get the dresses (ugh...).  HOWEVER, the shop in Lafayette (an hour and a half away...) did.  Before I knew what was happening, the decision had been made and Robby, Caitlin, Tabitha and I were headed down there to look at some dresses!

Well, this had certainly turned out to be an "eventful" day.  My "quick jog" had turned into a 30 mile dangerous bike ride across town and our reception site hunting had suddenly turned into a day trip to try on bridesmaid dresses and bridal gowns!  I knew two things for certain about this trip that Robby and Caitlin were both unaware of:  ONE:  Robby thought that he was going to get lucky and Caitlin would find her wedding dress on the first day out looking for one...and TWO:  Caitlin merely wanted to try on some dresses and had absolutely NO intention of settling on a dress her first day out to look for one.  However, my hopes were a little more realistic; perhaps she COULD find a bridesmaid dress and settle on THAT on her first day out dress shopping!
Dad:  "Maybe I will get LUCKY and she will find her dress today"!

Caitlin:  "WOW!  This is only the FIRST of many bridal shops I plan to visit"!

When we arrived at the bridal shop, an associate found the dresses that Caitlin wanted to try on, along with the bridesmaid dress she was interested in  for Tabitha to try, as well.  She then plopped two chairs down in front of the platform where Caitlin would be modeling her dresses for us.  We waited as the associate assisted her in changing from gown to gown.  With the presentation of each dress, she inquired about our thought concerning the selection.  Narrowing it down to two "favorites", we had Caitlin try them on again.  I snapped a few pictures for her reference and then to Robby's dismay...she announced that she was not going to make a decision that day.  We loaded up for the long drive back home.

In my opinion, Week One of our wedding planning went quite well.  Here are all of the things we accomplished:  Got the church for the wedding, Got the reception site for the wedding (they called to OK it!), chose what will most likely by the bridesmaid dresses, chose a wedding "theme", contacted the printer who will print the invitations...and MOST importantly; hired a wedding planner and floral designer!  NOW...I really NEED to get myself that wedding planner binder to "officially" get a little more organized.  UGH!!!  I don't LIKE having to be organized.  But I am told that it is a "necessary evil" in being the mother of the bride and planning a wedding!

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