Vicki's Blog

I was talking to a young acquaintance the other day. Her Grandmother told her I put on a show to help engaged women plan their weddings. Her wedding is something she has put a great deal of thought into, even at the age of 9, so she began to tell me her dreams. She said that if her wedding was in the winter she wanted everyone to go skiing together after the reception. But if it was in the summer, she wanted everyone to get on the swingsets and swing together after the wedding. In any case, her color theme was going to be purple!

What are your dreams? Swinging together at the playground sounds kind of fun to me and the photos would be great! And you could certainly have a destination wedding at a ski resort. So let your imagination run wild and plan just the kind of wedding you’ve always dreamed about. Whatever it is, there is someone out there who can help you make it happen. One of the most enjoyable parts of producing The Tulsa Wedding Show is getting to see all the new products and services that are available in our area. And there are some really interesting new things at the Show coming up on the 9th. I’ll tell you about some of them in the next few days.

Happy Dreams!

MORE SILLY STUFF FROM 1922:

Renee, from the Association of Bridal Consultants, read us some other fun things from the Book of Etiquette, circa 1922 that made us all laugh. The duties of everyone involved in the wedding were listed – the poor groom was called a “minor character”. But what was most telling about how things were done in 1922 was that the bride was told that, upon her engagement, she was to write tactful letters to all the other men she had been seeing. There was even a sample letter. And I am paraphrasing here -

Dear Bob,

I am writing to tell you of my engagement to Richard Applegate. He is a wonderful man and I know we will be very happy together. I wanted to thank you for all the lovely times we have shared and tell you that, under the circumstances, I will not be able to attend the VFW Dance with you on the 30th of next month.

Sincerely,

Sharon Smith

Why Sharon would be serious enough with Richard to be newly engaged to him while having a date pending with Bob is never addressed. So all you Sharons out there, let the Bobs in your life down gently and be sure never to treat your groom as a minor character!

I went to an Association of Bridal Consultants meeting on Sunday at the Silo Event Center. It was interesting and I appreciate the invitation from Lynn Wheatley of Lasting Impressions. The speaker was Renee Grannis, the Dir. of Ethics and Education for the Assoc. Her topic was wedding etiquette and she read some very interesting excerpts from one of her collection of antique books of etiquette. This particular book was published in 1922 and talked about the intricate and exhausting weeks that are required to prepare for a wedding. Everyone in attendance got a real chuckle out of that. When I got married in 1981 I spent more than weeks in preparation but I didn’t spend a year or more as many brides do today. I didn’t choose and order a groom’s cake. My veil covered my face. I didn’t visit venues – everyone got married in their church. I didn’t even think about favors. But everyone had an aisle runner!

Things have certainly changed between 1922, 1981 and 2009. There are infinitely more choices and much more creative ideas than there ever were before. I know it can be overwhelming and walking the aisles of The Tulsa Wedding Show can seem like overload. But slow down, take your time, soak it all in and enjoy the best time in history to plan a wedding!