It was unfortunate timing as my 'to do' list for the weekend was extensive – my 'winter necessities' shopping list had become urgent as a result of the freakishly cold weather last week (Does anyone else think we're in for a Winter o '47 style marathon freeze this year? Don't say I didn't warn you) and more importantly my duties as Chief Bridesmaid for the Dobbyn family wedding 09 were becoming pressing.
Yes the wedding isn't till July 09 which should leave plenty of time for preparation but the bride has big exams in January, the other bridesmaid heads to Australia for 6 months in December and, well, this is my family we're talking about here.
My main duties are getting myself and the other bridesmaid clothed, shoed and accessorised (feel my pain) and organising the hen night. Doesn't sound like a lot but the workload seems to be multiplying exponentially as I actually start doing the tasks.
Bridesmaid outfits:
We have the dresses – they're lovely teal, flowy dresses that will suit us blondies perfectly. So far so good. Of course they have to be adapted by a dressmaker to make them the right length before bridesmaid number 2 heads down under. In order to be able to be measured correctly we need the shoes....She lives in Galway, I live in Dublin – the challenges mount. Once that's all sorted I have to get matching jewellery, design hair styles and possibly make-up/fake tans etc.
I'm knackered just thinking about it.
The Hen Night:
My darling sister wants no ordinary hen night...no dinner, cocktails and L plates for her. No...for her hen night my sister is jetting all her friends over to Edinburgh (ok Ryanair will probably do the jetting) next June to take part in the Moonwalk....an overnight walking marathon in aid of Breast Cancer Research.
Yes she's making her friends 'walk' for her hen night. In fairness the event does sound pretty cool – it's around midsummer so the night should be mild, it's mostly women who participate, people design funky colourful, lit-up bras to wear over their clothes, generally there's a festival atmosphere...and it's all for a good cause. I'll take that over matching t-shirts and L plates in Temple bar any day.
She's also considering taking everyone for 'high tea' in the Balmoral that afternoon for an uber posh, lady-like experience that the Grannies and Mothers will enjoy.
So far so good.
In fairness the fact that the Bride here has a clear idea of what she wants and is aiding the organisation is definitely a good thing.
It does look , however, like I'll have to design invitations, organise everyone to register for the Moonwalk early next year, organise flights, accommodation and design at least one funky bra (hopefully not 15 of them) in order to get it off the ground.
Step one (invitations) was on my list for this weekend and given the fact that I was staying at the beau's place just around the corner from the holy grail of Invitation design – Daintree - I couldn't use the cold as an excuse to avoid going.
My first mistake was leaving it till late afternoon to go in – the cold had me knackered so I slept till about 4pm. I arrived in the shop circa 430 to utter pandamonium...brides and brides families everywhere comparing Indian Cotton card, the merits of 'fan leaf' over 'aquatic plant' paper, shades of ivory envelopes, ribbon, dried flowers, feathers etc.
Daintree features a greater level of selection than any normal human can possibly handle without breaking into a cold sweat (which is precisely what I did not 2 minutes after entering the place). Brides on the other hand seem to revel in it...every aspect of a wedding requires endless decision making and each bride has to make exactly the right decision in each case or their wedding will be an utter disaster. At least this must be the case to explain the stress levels aroused by satin paper and silk ribbons.
I was looking for something pink and simple but also elegant and artistic because my sister is a classy dame.
Something like this maybe:
After selecting a pink envelope and a piece of Indian Cotton card that looked like it would fit into it when folded over I felt like I was almost there. I then started to look for some coloured/patterned paper to use as a seond layer or strip for decoration and at that point became stumped. Yes I could find lots of gorgeous matching papers...but what the hell was I actually going to do with it?
It was at this point my utter lack of an artistic ability became apparent. How many layers were there meant to be? What font would I use? How the hell was I going to print these up anyway? What kind of glue to use? Did I have to print the addresses on the envelopes? Why does everyone in here seem to know what they're doing but not me?!
My cold sweat became an all out flood and I had to discard the pink envelope and run. I wasn't in any shape to handle these crucial decisions – much more planning and preparation was required. As I gulped in fresh air on Camden st I realised I was in way over my head.
I don't know how brides do this for real on a big scale for an entire wedding. Whatever about hen night invites – where do people begin to design their wedding invites? Terrifying.
My only hope is intense internet research prior to entering one of these premises again. Being a Dobbyn might actually help me handle this challenge....for once we have the right amount of anxiety and insane punctuality for an event.
After all I'm not Chief Bridesmaid/Best Woman for nothing...it's up to me to see my sister has the best damn hen night the world has ever seen.
Mission accepted.
