A Day of Condensed Bridal Stuff

Hal and I went to the "Bridal Day" at our wedding venue where we got to sample more of their food, participate in a Q&A and get contact information for area vendors that they recommend. I think my favorite part, quite honestly, was when we got to taste 5 different cake samples from the bakery that will be making our wedding cake. So scrumptious!

While I know I should have been focusing on how this "bridal day" impacts my bridal day, I couldn't help but get distracted with people-watching. Think about it - you're surrounded by almost 200 strangers, yet connected by the common thread that you're all getting married within the year and celebrating at F.E.A.S.T. So essentially, you're all on this prenuptial planning boat. Let the entertainment commence.

Hal and I noted that most of the couples were on the younger side, in their twenties, with a few scatterings of those clearly in their 30's or older. There was the perky (anxiety-ridden) blonde, with her wedding folder permanently attached to her arm who had a million questions. There was the high-maintenance brunette with the fiance that doodled through the entire Q&A period, while she got frustrated that her wafer thin arm was being ignored, or maybe she was getting tired from raising it.

And then there were the parents of the bride who had an opinion about everything. They only stayed to try the food while their daughter seemed to cater to their every thirst and hunger pain, leaving her fiance to fend for himself. A highlight for Hal and me was listening to mother-of-the-bride and future son-in-law get into a debate about the videographer that she claims they need, while he wants nothing to do with it. He's going to use his Flip camera, after all. But my favorite moment had to be watching her pick at the smoked salmon as she said, "I love how this looks with the edges dark like this. So classy!" Meanwhile, her husband (father-of-the-bride) was voraciously tearing the salmon apart on the plate. Such an entertaining juxtaposition and in many ways sums of the day.

You could look around the room and see the excited brides, the anxious ones, and even the high maintenance ones. And then you saw the grooms. For the most part, they all looking mildly interested at best and a bit pained at the same time. After the Q&A, Hal was done. He was overwhelmed with too much "condensed wedding stuff" as he put it. And while I could sympathize to some degree, I was actually comforted by the fact that all those emotions the 70 brides in that room were feeling, I was feeling as well.