(All those who showed up, anyway. But more about that later.)
One down, one to go, and then the wedding. I think I would call the "PA Bridal Shower" a success, overall.
The Prep
I wish I had some photos of the room before everyone entered, but Mom was in charge of photos and unfortunately got stuck at the house waiting for YS and Other Bridesmaid to arrive. They were caught in some sticky traffic on I-95. (Which is why I was fretting when YS emailed to say they were coming up the morning of instead of the night before, but what am I going to do, argue with the bride?) But with the help of our parents and our cousin's (cute pregnant) wife who offered to come early to help, the room looked lovely.
--The room already was decorated with rose-colored walls, and on top of the white linen tablecloths they'd put pink napkins. . . I'd say our unofficial theme was pink and black so that was nice. Mom and Dad went to a produce place that sold roses in bulk and placed them in some dollar-store glass vases with baby's breath, so each table had at least one vase of pretty pink and white roses.
We also had discussed having some "baby pictures," but hanging things on the walls was prohibited. The next best thing: framed copies of photos on the tables. Mom picked a couple recent ones of YS (solo and with YSF) as well as one at age 3 and her 8th grade cheerleading photo. The only one YS complained about was a Christmas one where her hair looked "choppy." (Yeah, we didn't see it that way.) I had leftover "PRINCESS" stickers from the invitations, so I stuck one on each corner. . . the corner that seemed to be coming apart. (They were dollar store frames, after all and in fact one or two had broken at home. Mom was smart and had bought extras.)
There were also some cute/hilarious balloons.
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| The diamond ring one says, "I do (woo hoo!)" |
Those were fun stuffing in the car, taking from car to apartment (it was already 88 degress out), loading back in the car and driving with. Not.
Was I anxious? Yes. But at least the cake and balloons got there safely, I had help, and there was friendly staff including my pilates teacher who works at the country club part-time.
I was also a little irritated because in between traffic status texts from YS, I was getting texts from Older Brother stating that our niece was "having a teenager moment" (she's 11! She doesn't get to have "teenager moments" so be a real parent!) but honestly I could not blame the kid.
Her mother decided at the last minute she wasn't going.
Yes, our SIL had our brother call YS (not me, the hostess) the night before to explain she was "too stressed" over her father (had a heart attack weeks ago while they were on vacation) and the home business. Really, the home business takes up your attention over this?
Who threw her bridal shower? Oh, that's right--my mom, my sister, and I did.
Funny, she wasn't too stressed to be out celebrating her bestie's birthday the week before (evidence: tagged in facebook photos).
When you're a parent to five kids and you're over 30, you don't have any right or excuse to be this rude and immature.
I hurt for my sister. I know she took it graciously, but still she should not have had to. And I'm hurt. Because I get the message that doing anything for her husband's family is just too burdensome. And I know she'll show up at the wedding because her college buddies will be there. We just do not rate in her eyes.
And we had to spend the party explaining why Niece was there (yes, she relented and our bro dropped her off once he knew I'd give her a ride home) and our SIL wasn't.
Up next: Part II, The Party
