Traditional

I always thought I was pretty traditional. Being from South Carolina and having the parents and grandparents I did/do, it was sort of engrained in me. If you know me, I'm always screaming about my "heritage" and whatnot.... my mom is probably the least traditional of all of us, my dad is pretty traditional.... certainly my home state and the "southern" way of life is. So... I always figured I was too.

Turns out, I am in some things and not in others. I like a good handwritten note- and if at all possible, I'll send out birthday cards and thank you notes before sending an email. I think if you give a party, you should do your best to make the presentation beautiful- if at all possible. I am a dress up on Easter kind of girl. The list goes on... so I guess I did always think my wedding would be traditional. My sister is NOT a traditional person. Not in the least, and somehow or another, she ended up with the Scarlett O'Hara wedding and I'm finding it not to my personal taste. Hers was beautiful- and so I start planning mine and suddenly, things are going WAY to the offside. I spoke to Conrad about it last night.

Conrad says I should do what I want. So the point of all this is to say that I saw an add on Craigslist yesterday for a very expensive wedding dress, which was WAY cheap... so I went to look at it. This is my first time up close and personal with a wedding dress. First of all, they are HEAVY. I can not believe I'd have to drag that around... I mean this thing weighed at LEAST 15 pounds. It was gorgeous, it really was and I see all those commercials and other people's pictures of the girl in her pretty white dress... all long and flowing and I start thinking yeah-- but my wedding is outside and in a BBQ restaurant and I just don't see how I can drag one of these things around. So I don't know- the more I looked at it and the more I touched it, the more I decided that a traditional dress is NOT for me. It's really not.

So, on top of getting married at a BBQ restaurant, having no bridesmaids or groomsmen, picking the person to stand up with me to be my bestest buddy from childhood- Mike, hereby referred to as my "Man of Honor", having a wedding cake decorated like a cow... no groomscake- apple cobbler instead... and now here I go with the dress... it's just as untraditional as I could get. All I can say about the dress is, I am going the bridesmaid route because they are lighter and there's more variety and they are cheaper and the dress is not going to be white. I can almost guarantee you it won't be... I will be the most untraditional bride ever- and people will talk - and I do worry about it, but what can I do, really? I want to be happy and comfortable- so I need to do this.

I knew in my heart I did, but when I actually saw a real dress yesterday, it became crystal clear to me. So.... stay tuned for the big day. I hope the ambulances are standing by!

Ka