Say Yes to the Dress

I am completely addicted to this show. I love seeing the dresses and the brides when they have finally found the perfect dress. Yes, I have a sappy side. But, I think I have wedding envy.

I had a nice wedding. It was a small ceremony in a church with the reception in a hotel. There were about 50 people there. The ceremony was only about 15 minutes (that was awesome!!!) and since we had no booze at the reception, there were no crazy drunks (and believe me, they would have come out).

But, I didn't really get to make a lot of choices about my wedding. We were so young; Bob had only graduated the week before the wedding, and I still had three semesters left. Two college students really don't have the money to fly everyone to Turks and Caicos for a wedding on the beach at sunset. And neither my parents nor Bob's parents have a ton of disposable income. No $10,000 dress for me (not that I want one).

We got married in Butte, Montana. That's where we went to school. Yes, we are college sweethearts. Awww. But, it's a small town and not a lot of options. It was about half-way between my family and Bob's family, so it seemed like that was fair. But as far as venues, not so many. The reception was at the Comfort Inn. Not the fanciest place, but it was cheap, and that's where all the out of town guests were staying, so it worked.

The flowers were minimal. We only had one attendant each, so I only had to buy two bouquets. We had one arrangement on the altar, and a few sprays of greenery on the pews. Simple corsages for the moms, boutineers for the men. At the reception we had lillies floating in bowls.

The food was pretty much all homemade. We ordered deli trays from the Safeway, my mom, grandma, and aunt made a few salads. The in-laws made some fruit salads and they brought tons of home-baked cookies (some of the best I've ever had). And of course cake.

Don't ask about the pictures.

All in all, it was a very nice wedding. It was just a crazy time to get married. As I said before, Bob graduated the week before the wedding. Three days afterwards, we moved to California. I think we were a little insane.

So now, when I see these shows about weddings, I get a little envious. I know that they don't show you behind the scenes on TV, but I just imagine that these brides get pampered a little bit more than I did. They probably weren't recovering from finals week and getting ready to move 1,500 miles to a city they've never even visited.

But, I have a plan. Next year will be 10 years and Madeline will be 3. We're going to DisneyWorld!!! Hopefully I can talk my hubby into "renewing our vows." I really just want a pretty dress...