Say Yes to the Dress...

At 90 Pappa's still pulling them in...

The family reunited in Arkansas this past weekend to celebrate my Dad's 90th birthday. Quite a milestone indeed and since my Dad loves to fish, what would be better than a fishing day for the boys?

Goal- fishing lines to be in the water by 7am. Departure time - 5am. Driving time: an hour and a half. The Birthday Boy was the first one to catch a fish and a nice trout it was...



The girls would have no problem finding something to do much later... 

Front: Bride's Grandmas, Honoree Grandma Leaine and Oma
Back row: Cousin Becky and Aunt Terri

Smart daughter Lori had plans  to involve her Oma (Grandma) in her wedding preparations so what could be better than going dress shopping?  Some women folk are really not shoppers ( I'm omitting names to protect the innocent) but because it was for Lori, these two acquiesced.

We arrived to our 10 am appointment in the Heights bridal boutique  called:

only to discover the date had been mistakenly written on the following week's calendar. Oh dear. "Not to worry," they replied, "they could accommodate two brides at once. " Thank goodness or we would have had one very disappointed bride-to-be.

When I went wedding dress shopping many moons ago, I went to a consignment shop, saw 4 dresses my size, tried them on and bought one of them for $90. Today this would be a totally different ballgame with my daughter.  I mean you've watched Say Yes to the Dress, haven't you? 

Step 1 
Mother of the Bride & Bride: 
Hit the racks and pull out a variety of styles.

Thank goodness there really weren't oodles to choose from as Lori "had" asked to stay away from strapless although it seems most of the samples were strapless. (Haven't we have all been at weddings where the bride spent half the evening tuggin' up on the bodice?) 

Anyhoo, Kristen, our boutique attendant, suggested pulling 8/9 dresses. Regardless of size, Lori and I chose different styles, fabrics, neck/back lines, sleeve lengths - off the shoulders, spaghetti straps, cap sleeves, lace boleros, bodices, trains/no trains, lengths and accoutrements: i.e. decorative belts, to determine what Lori liked best. We avoided bows and huge Scarlet O'Hara styles.

Electrical clips?

Step 2 
Bride: Tries choices on
Store attendant: Clips floor sample to ensure better fit with electrical clips no less. 

Step 3 
Bride:   Models for her audience. 
Family: Ooohs and aaaahs.
                                                                                          
What? You didn't think I was going to show the bride in the gowns, did ya? 

Step 4
Family: Comments on pros and cons. 

Step 5 
Bride: Narrows down choices to top 3. Tries them on again. 

Choices were narrowed down and Lori definitely got a good idea re: styles and what not only looks the best on her but how they feel.  A bride's got to be able to move on that dance floor!

Let me just say she will be wearing a white dress, a short veil and will be a stunning Bride which I can say with full confidence because I am her Mom...