I am an organizer. Give me a problem and I can produce a plan that will cover all the bases. It’s how may brain works. I have apparently passed some of that on to Austyn as well. There is great fun is solving problems, putting plans together and watching them be executed. If not careful it is also a tool to use to gain and keep control, a very dangerous arena to be in. Austyn and I were both finding ourselves with huge projects, a wedding and a major move. Both need plans and both come with vague time lines which makes it feel almost impossible to plan.
It was a Friday evening when Austyn came to me with the, “I have to do something or I’m going to go crazy” conversation. “Should we start working on invitations?” I asked. The next morning I walked into Austyn’s room around 7 and she was at her computer designing. From the looks of it she had already put in a few hours. By 10:00 she presented us with the first draft.
I pulled out my pocket size wedding etiquette book to make sure the wording was correct. I wanted to make sure all the names were listed properly. The invitations read:
Because you’ve shared in their lives by your friendship and love,
we are very proud to announce the marriage of
Austyn Elizabeth
daughter of
Jeffrey & Jeannie Bruenning
to
Brian Patrick
son of
Robert & Janise Ford
Tuesday the Twenty-fourth of June, Two thousand eight
…sometime in the afternoon
Holden Beach, North Carolina
…sometime in the afternoon. That was so Austyn. My first thought went to the reception. How can I organize a reception for …sometime in the afternoon? I do believe the chief may have an issue with this. Sometime in the afternoon is how it read and that is how it would stay.
We gathered the pieces; the actual invitation, the response card, a travel information card listing hotels and websites and the envelopes. We would need a small envelope for the response card, that one should be pre-addressed. Pre-addressed to where? No one in our family had any idea what their address would be when these response cards would be sent back in. Once again we found ourselves sitting at a dinning room table laughing. What address do we use? I don’t think the etiquette book allowed phone numbers. Out of this did come the idea for Austyn and Brian to set up their own wedding website so we could expand travel suggestion, list of where they were registered; a place where could keep everyone up to date on their plans. A brilliant idea I must say.
I often compare our journey through life to the frequent cab rides we take. We all know we need to get somewhere and we can’t do it on our own. We are too tired, the distance is too far or we simply do not know how to get there. So we stand on the corner hailing a taxi. We can’t just stand there because the taxi won’t stop. We have to wave or whistle to let it be known we have the need of a taxi. We enter the back seat, no taxi driver ever let’s you drive. We state where we need to go. At that very moment we loose total control and put our full trust in the driver. Surprisingly enough, we get there. Sometimes it’s fast with horns honking, sometimes it’s a pleasant scenic ride and sometimes we are so preoccupied we are unaware of where we are. The final outcome is that we do get there.
I have a wedding to plan. My husband and I are moving across the country and my son is going to make me a grandmother. I know where I am going but I’m too tired, don’t know the way and it is just too far so I keep standing on the corner hailing taxi’s. Surprisingly enough they keep picking me up and getting me to the next point.