Groom Room

"Show up and look nice."

That phrase was relayed to me by one reception hall guide this past weekend. Apparently, this is the job of the groom. Show up and look nice.

So where does a groom get all niced up? Certainly not at the reception hall. Of the 16 odd places visited, I've seen one room for the groom to prepare. I use the word room loosely. More accurately it was a mirror, a bench, and a door. Nice. At another place, Ji inquired where I would prep. She was told, "We'll figure it out." Oh ok.

Grooms, no one is concerned about you. No one thinks it's your day. You do show up, and you look as nice as you can. The bride has a team, you're sequestered so that the bride doesn't see you. You're the cool calm guy, ready in 15 minutes for the biggest day of your life. Bring a magazine.

In no way am I discounting the needs of the bride. The hair, the nails, the flowers, the dress, the jewelry, it's easy to see why bridal suites need to be bigger. I'm just wondering when it was decided it was ok to slight the groom when it comes to accommodations.

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Flash poll: Bride and groom seeing each other before the wedding - No way or ok?

Us, Simpsonized

Sunday Done-Day

After one more weekend of rounds, a decision will and must be made. The finalists are in, but maybe we'll get surprised with a new contender. Also a second visit to a previous stop has been scheduled. I'm not sure how many places a typical engaged couple visits, but it seems as if we have really gone beyond. In all, 16 places will have been visited. Was it exhausting? Yes. However, I'm glad we have seen so many because it never hurts to be thorough. Thinking that we didn't give ourselves enough options would have irked me.

This is the major hurdle. How many times we've heard, "Once you pick the place, then all the fun stuff starts." I hope. It feels like time is flying by. You know what...it is. We've been engaged now for 40 days. I say we're due for some of the fun stuff.

On a side note, my people skills are improving dramatically. I have these appointment skills down cold. I'm not as big a talker on the actual tours, but on the phone I'm a dynamo. The one time I was really good in person was when I was really annoyed. Maybe that's the secret. Go into the meetings ready to get down to business. Lesson learned.

Hardcore wedding tour '08.

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Valentine's Day is next week...don't sleep.

And for the flowers....

Don't fret ladies, you'll look great in your orange dress holding this loveley arrangement!



See you all soon...

Fall Fashion

With the Fall 2008 NY Fashion week going on right now, I can't help but think about dresses and shoes and accessories for the wedding. Even though I really shouldn't think about these things until we have a date and venue.

Look at all these orange dresses I found, bridesmaids!




Orange is HUGE this year.

P.S. Don't worry, I wouldn't REALLY make you wear orange...Or would I?

If you'd like to leave a message....

Among the most frustrating things about planning a wedding is the amount time you spend leaving messages and getting messages. I've been tagging with one place for at least 10 days now. There appears to be no end in sight. The phone tag has also been in conjunction with e-mail tag (e-tag? cyber-tag? tag-mail?).

The problem dealing with these places is that the people you need to consult with are either giving people tours, planning receptions, dealing with vendors, dealing with an endless stream of already paying customers, or only work three days a week.

I really would just like to have my appointment made today. Until then, it's freeze tag for this couple. Brrrr.

ARGH!

The voice of calm is getting hoarse.

I've done a pretty good job so far with this planning stuff, but today everything is just frustrating me. I can't find any more places to visit, I'm waiting to hear back from a strong potential, and I'm worried we may have to choose a place we like but not love, which is a little disappointing.

I know everything will work out. It's just been particularly exasperating.

Where are we going to live! Oh man.