Re: Suzy from --Wedding

[Guest guest]

Suzy,

I live in Athens, AL. It's a small town in north Alabama just south of the

Tennessee border. We are 100 miles south of Nashville, TN and 100 miles north

of Birmingham, AL. The closest larger town is Huntsville, AL. That's where I

worked before my disability retirement. Huntsville is about 25 miles east of

Athens.

I cannot imagine how hard it must be for your soon to be daughter-in-law to be

planning her wedding without her mother. Nikki depended on me to help her with

every step of the wedding. Since I had retired from my job just prior to the

time that we began the serious planning, I had a lot of time on my hands. There

were many days when I was in the hospital with wedding stuff spread all over my

bed or making a million phone calls for wedding 'stuff'. The nurses thought I

was nutty! Well, I am pretty nutty, but I was glad to have something to focus

on besides my pain and the decline in my health.

I'm sure that your daughter-in-law will come to treasure her relationship with

you as time goes by. It is probably hard for her seeing your son enjoy his

relationship with you. I'm sure that reminds her of all that she is missing.

Nikki and had their wedding here in Athens. The wedding was at our

church, Athens Church of God. There are two different types of the Church of

God religion. Ours is very similar to the Methodist religion. Our church is

small but the sanctuary is simple but beautiful. We had about 150-175 guests.

The reception was held in the ballroom of Athens State University. Everything

was lovely but it took about 50 times as much effort as I had anticipated!

Glad your hubby was able to find his tux. We rented all the tuxes for Nikki's

wedding. That ended almost being a horrible catastrophe. They sent the wrong

jacket for my husband and then sent the tux for one of the groomsmen to the

wrong store. The manager had to drive to Nashville to get Bud's jacket, then

she delivered Bud's jacket and the missing tux for the groomsman to the church

in Athens about 2 hours before we began the pictures! We had numerous vendor

catastrophes, but in the end, the wedding and reception was beautiful and Nikki

and left the reception both married and happy!

What are you guys doing for the rehearsal dinner? Nikki and had a

hawaiin luau rehearsal dinner. 's mom rented the swimming pool at a

local country club and had a nice barbecue dinner catered by a local caterer.

Unfortunately, it was raining until just minutes prior to the time for the

dinner so we had to eat inside instead of around the pool. Nikki was not happy

about that. However, the decorations were really nice, the food was good, and

all the guests (about 60) had a great time. Nikki spent the night before her

wedding at a local motel with my stepdaughter, (maid of honor) and her

two friends who were bridesmaids. Nikki's younger sister, Tori, was the maiden

of honor, but at 14 she was a little young for the good clean fun that

planned for Nikki. had a blow up doll man, a uniquely shaped cake (if

you get my drift), along with other silly bachlorette things. Nikki was so

stressed Friday night about every little thing that didn't go perfectly, so I

was quite concerned about how she would be on Saturday - the wedding day. The

night with and her bridesmaids was just what Nikki needed. can be

an absolute nut, while Nikki is typically rather reserved. However, all the

silly bachlorette stuff along with egging Nikki on helped Nikki to relax

and have fun. She was a different girl the next day. She was totally relaxed

and other than a couple of short, tense minutes, she truly enjoyed her wedding

day. She told me that she had so much fun just doing silly girl stuff with her

sister and friends the night before her wedding. She also had a bachlorette

party at 's apartment a few weeks before the wedding. They included Tori

in that party. They basically had just a typical girl's slumber party, which

was what Nikki wanted. They did facials, foot soaks, manicures, etc. When

Nikki and were younger, they absolutely loved all the various '

' girl stuff you could get at Wal-mart. I ran across some nail

art kits prior to the bachlorette party and gave it to the girls. I told them

that I just had to buy stuff for my girls one last time. I figured

they would think I was silly and probably end up giving it to 's younger

sisters. Well, both Nikki and ended up telling me that they had more fun

at the bachlorette party than they had had in years. They ended up playing some

of the games they had played when they were younger. They both said that the

nail kits were the most fun thing of the whole night. As you can

imagine, it did my heart good to hear that my girls had such a fun, silly girls

night. As much as I do hate that Nikki didn't get to grow up with her father in

the house - he and I divorced after 11 years of marriage when she was 6. He

remarried less than a year later and her little sister, Tori, was born when she

was 8. Bud and I married when the girls were 6 1/2 and 8 1/2. It wasn't always

easy and they didn't always get along. However, they do love each other very

much. So, if Nikki's father and I had not divorced, Nikki wouldn't have her

stepsister, , or her little sister, Tori, in her life. It's funny how

often things that are horrible somehow end up bringing good into our lives.

Enjoy your son's upcoming wedding. I'm sure it will be wonderful.

W

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