Changes

As the parent of a 26-year-old daughter who is scheduled to marry an extremely nice young man in October,  I suffered a rude awakening when I began to help Emily plan the happy event.
 

1979 --Lena Hall, me and Julie Nelson

In 1979, when I married Emily's father we had a very modest wedding, even by Iowa standards. As the daughter of a frugal man, I wasn't interested in spending a lot of money on this event and besides this was still the era of hippies. Weddings were considered "establishment" and really cool people just lived in communes. My only sister was my (one) attendant and Bob asked a friend of his to stand up with him. The reception consisted of cake and punch in the church hall, followed by games and conversation on my parents' front porch. It actually was pretty fun.

Emily gets a kiss

In 1987, Emily was flower girl in October my brother Larry's wedding.  Was she ever cute!  She was an adorable flower girl, but shy -- halfway down the aisle, she broke away, ran over to my pew and buried her head in my lap.  Just too much for a 3-year-old.
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Fast forward to 2010. My first clue that things had changed was when Chelsea and I were watching a reality show called "Say Yes to the Dress." During the show, willing salespeople bring young women mountains of wedding dresses, which are then modeled by the girls for their mothers and friends. The show's drama comes from the angst that these young women experience as they try to figure out what dress to purchase. Invariably, the dress they love the most costs more than what they have intended to spend. I would not be saying yes to any of these dresses -- they're way too expensive to be to be worn once, regardless of the significance of the occasion!

Emily and Jake have selected a venue for their October wedding/reception and I am attempting to adjust my expectations to present day when six attendants are the norm and the reception could be a sit-down dinner for 150. It's a far cry from cake and punch in the church, but times have changed and I need to change too. They are a lovely couple and the wedding will be beautiful!

Jake and Emily