C is for CHOICES

In Round 13, I wrote that C is for Courage and as I was pondering this round, it suddenly occurred to me that I've had to have a lot of courage lately to make some CHOICES in my life.  First of all, Lorne and I have set the date for our wedding, which will celebrate not only the love we have for each other, but also our commitment to each other no matter what lies ahead.

When I started planning the wedding, I thought that because we had both been married before, we should have a small ceremony with only family and close friends.  I should wear a nice dress but not a bridal gown.  We would just have a cocktail party and keep it really simple.  I was a bit concerned that people would look askance at us, especially if I wore a bridal gown.  But then when I told one of my best friends we'd set the date, she jumped at helping me out by being my bridal consultant (she has arranged many weddings in the past along with her own 3 daughters' weddings) and my professional photographer. 

So after booking the venue, off we went in search of a dress.  Note that I was thinking of "a" dress.  We ended up at David's Bridal and Wendy and the store's consultant went off to pull dresses for me while I waited in the dressing room.  The rack outside the room quickly filled up with none other than bridal gowns!  Long ones, short ones, tea length ones...and some coloured ones.  The second dress I tried on gave me chills until I looked at the price tag!  I said to Wendy that I loved it, but (gulp!) it was rather dear.

So I kept on trying all the dresses that they brought for me.  I kept insisting that I didn't want to look like a ridiculous "old" bride trying to look young.  Sigh!  Finally, I was getting tired but I couldn't get the thought of that second dress out of my mind.  Wendy said to me, "Listen, after all you and Lorne have been through in your lives, you deserve this!  Aren't you worth at least as much as what you paid for your daughter's dress?"  So I tried the dress on again, and this time considered it more seriously.  We agreed that it was suitable for my age (tea length and basically fully covered up) and for the venue, which is a heritage home not far from where we live.  And I thought to myself as I teared up, "I look good!  I look young! Lorne will weep when he sees me in this dress!"

And I said "Yes to the dress!"

Two choices down - the venue and the dress - and more choices coming up.  We are in the process of choosing the food that the caterer will provide and a dress for my attendant (Cathy was my best friend that I travelled to England with in 2012).  We chose to have a noon wedding with a high tea sort of reception where everyone can mingle at the heritage home near the beach that we've booked. And one more major choice is the wedding cake.  It doesn't need to be large, but it does need to be special.

The wedding will be May 1st - only about 3 months from now, so stay tuned! 

And NO you can't see the dress yet.  But here are some shots of the venue - Cammidge House, built in 1914.  The municipality is celebrating its 100th anniversary this spring, too.  Weather permitting, we'll say our vows outside on the porch (which will be decorated with ivy, kissing balls, and flowers) but if weather does not cooperate, we'll say the vows in front of the old fireplace in the living room.

Now before you exit, be sure to think of the comely Denise, the founder of ABCW, and our administrator Roger, who manages to stay calm when people don't follow the rules and regulations of the site.   So a little reminder to those who are new here (and a HUGE WELCOME, by the way) that it is important to read the little section on the homepage about linking to the ABCW site and keeping your post to something relating to the letter of the week.

Ciao!