Friday, October 16, 2009

At 4 a.m. I opened my eyes and PING! I was awake. Which I don't even mind so much - are you kidding? Entire hours of a quiet house, alone? Worse things could happen - except that I start to get sleepy again about 6, and in about 45 minutes little voices will be asking for juice and toast. So I'm going to just talk to you guys for a minute, drink my coffee, and focus on staying awake.

Hey, you want to know an easy way to plan a wedding? Have a baby first.

My sister is the calmest bride ever. Sunday night we walked into a bridal shop. She tried on a few dresses, found something beautiful, and said, "Hey, this is pretty! Let's get it." A few minutes later, as we poked through the bridesmaids' dresses, she said, "Hey, that one is pretty! Go try it on." And ten minutes later, voila! A wedding party was dressed.

EA-SY. Not cheap, but easy.

While we were there, another bride tried to start a conversation, wanting to commiserate over all of the stress of planning a wedding. My sister blinked at her a minute, then said, "Yeah, I don't care. I have a baby to take care of, and I'm just ready to be married. But it's going to be pretty!"

Of course the scenario can become a little ... Sweet Home Alabama. I am tempted sometimes to declare, "You have a baby! In a bar!" except this isn't anything like that, of course. She isn't supposed to be able to have children (neither was my mother when she conceived both me and my sister, which makes me think that maybe the women in my family should stop believing that particular piece of medical information), she's lost a baby before, and Baby H is nothing but a blessing, for both my sister and our family. Even so, the whole thing just becomes a little comical at times - making childcare arrangements for the rehearsal dinner and honeymoon, calling the wedding photographer during naptime. That kind of thing.

But it also brings a wedding into its proper perspective. It's a ceremony - a social event. It will be beautiful, it will be fun. And when it's over, society will deem valid what our family has known for a long time - Scooter, her Brian, and Baby H are a family. And after that day, their lives will be a little less complicated.

Yay.

Happy Friday all.

4 comments:

Heather said...

Gotta love when a baby has simplified something instead of making it more complicated. LOL! I am so happy for your sister!

Lisa said...

Yeah, being responsible for a tiny human really puts all the other noise in our lives into proper perspective. I mean, why stress about a minor wedding detail that people probably won't even notice when there are other, more important things to spend your energy on?

Kendra said...

Yay indeed!!

I watched "Say Yes to the Dress" for the first (and last) time the other day....eek. The stress and importance that some women put on the "perfect" dress for the "perfect" day...too much pressure.

It's an important day, for sure. But it's just a DAY.

Anonymous said...

I am so excited for your sister and glad that planning isn't stressful for her. The planning isn't what is stressful for me - I am actually really enjoying it. There's just that one pesky non-wedding detail I wish I could make less complicated. :)