Get that gown off right now!

Well, I didn't really get a chance to post a blog about my whirlwind trip on Monday to knock out a ton of wedding details with my little organized bride to be. I need to first tell you about this cute photo that has always made all of us laugh and you can most likely hear me chuckling as I write this.
One Halloween, my friend Connie loaned us this little brides costume for Rachel to wear and Mary Beth wore the mouse costume that was handed down from Rachel. As you can tell by the look on her face, she would have much preferred the brides gown! So maybe since that time she has been in a race to make sure she made it down the aisle before her sister did, who knows. We just have found so much joy in the pouting face and Rachel's pure delight in wearing the gown, even with a few missing front teeth. Such great memories.
Monday, Mary Beth had just made it in the night before from a long drive from Virginia Beach where she had been visiting Jon's family for a week. She slept for a while, but was up and going and we began with an appointment with the cake decorator, Sherry at Harp's Bakery. Sherry goes back in our history a bit because she used to hand out cookies to my three to keep them occupied when I shopped at Harps when they were little and now she is taking the order for Mary Beth's wedding cake! Mary Beth has a specific, creative design in mind that I can't reveal here and Sherry is going to try to see if their designer can use his talent to meet her expectations. Of course it involves the peacock design, but I will say no more! It was close to lunch time and our stomachs were growling and talking cake was not helping the situation for sure! Drove through Geno's Pizza (sorry to mention that Rachel....but it was yummy) to help us make it through the afternoon. Not exactly on my diet plan, but 3 of the food groups were on there, plus grease.
We left there and flew across town to Unforgettables, to rent the table cloths and chair covers for the reception. She was excited to find they had just added some great colors that she was looking for that was a pleasant surprise. Rental is the way to go, folks! And they deliver and pick it all back up....amen.
From there we went to Booneville to visit my friend from work, J.C. (Jacrel) at Booneville Flower Shop to start getting flowers planned. I had forgotten how far that drive is and continue to be amazed at folks that drive that far to work. I am so spoiled to driving 5 minutes...so close I could almost walk to the clinic or over to the school! What a great delightful shop they have there! The minute we walked in we were greeted by the lovely smells and sights of the flowers they had and the neat gift shop area. J.C. had her laptop and photos ready to share with us. They have done some awesome weddings. The thing that impressed us so much is that they were almost as excited as we were about the flowers and plans for the wedding! And they weren't going to charge us for renting every votive cup!
We left there and drove through McDonalds so Mary Beth could grab a salad (you know these girls this size have to eat several meals a day) as we headed up the hill to Bethel Heights to MiLady Bridal to order the bridesmaid dresses. We knew we were pressed for time, so we called Cassandra, the owner. I was hoping she might stay late for us since we were placing the order AND giving her the deposit. This amazing lady was so gracious that she put us at ease and allowed me to get my foot out of the engine and said to just not worry about the 5:00 closing time....she would just go home and start supper for her family and meet us up there at 6:00. So, folks, where does that kind of grace come from these days?
That even allowed us time to stop and unload all of Mary Beth's luggage at her house in Springdale!
We arrived at the bridal shop and Cassandra and her husband (who is just as into the bridal scene as his wife!) starting helping pull bridesmaids gowns for her to try on. They helped her look at fabrics from the expensive ones to compare to the less expensive ones, compare costs and fabrics, colors, styles and everything. I sat down realizing that I was suffering from battle fatigue at this point. She tried on several and they began taking photos to text over to Rachel in New Hampshire to view. Mary Beth was concerned about my lack of enthusiasm but I told her my "spirit had left the building!" She found one that she loved, was an extremely reasonable price and came in a color that she was wanting. So, it was finished. I left her with enough money that at one time would have bought an entire wedding dress, and we left Bethel Heights.
Greg and Jon joined us at a mexican restaurant in Springdale (forgot the name of it now) and we enjoyed a great meal. Mary Beth said the music sounded like some they heard on their cruise. I told her it sounded like the music we hear every weekend from the apartments behind us. While we were there, I got a call from Enterprise, the rental people that I had to get that awful Ford F-150 from for a week while "Baby" was being fixed. They wanted to do a survey on how much I enjoyed the vehicle. Boy, did that lady pick the wrong person to call. I told her I would not rent again until I was standing somewhere in flames and they offered a free rental with free gas. She said someone else would be calling me again. Oh well. At least it gave her a story to tell her husband when she got home that night.
Wedding planning. They say it will all come together and I suppose it all will. Funny how I wake in the middle of the night with a thought about something and have to write it down. We are now under the 3 month countdown. Should be fun having such a mixture of so many friends and family all together....fun being the key word here. Anyway, I was glad to have such a great day with Mary Beth. Thanks MB.