Georgia bride-to-be fabricated abduction story

Many brides have said to me that they feel like the last weeks before their wedding were out of their control. I always compare it to a boulder rolling downhill, things happen fast and you lose grasp on some things – everything you have planned for is now happening and stopping it can seem like the most difficult thing in the world.

But, in reality it only seems that way. It CAN be stopped. And not by running away. If you have serious, serious doubts, you need to sit down and talk to your fiance, parents, friends – no, they don't want to hear it. They will most likely be hurt and upset but they will listen. Better to stop a mistake before it happens and lose money, than running away or going through with the marriage. Running away from it solves nothing – it just means you lost the money and have more lies and doubts and trust issues to face when you get back from where ever you ran to. Going through with the marriage most likely means a level of unhappiness and higher potential for divorce.

A friend of mine used to tell me after giving me tough advice: Easy says, hard does and that applies here. But in the long run a much better choice than the alternatives.

Missing Bride-To-Be in Georgia

Jennifer Wilbanks is supposed to get married tomorrow, April 30. She went for a jog on Tuesday evening and has not returned. Her fiance reported her missing that night and the police and much of the town of Duluth have been searching for her since.

This wedding was to be HUGE – 600 guests, 14 bridesmaid, 14 groomsmen. The national average is somewhere around 150 with 3 or 4 bridesmaids and groomsmen.

So was it cold feet? Was this a random crime? Or did her fiance have something to do with it? In this day and age of Laci Peterson and Lori Hacking, that was the first thing that jumped into my head. I truly hope this is not a repeat of those other cases. I hope for everyone involved it was cold feet and with a wedding that big, stopping it any other way must have seemed impossible – so she chose to disappear.

The other options are too sad and too familiar.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer**

The article discusses how often Catholic Churches don’t allow Wagner’s Bridal Chorus (you know, the one you sang when you put your nightgown on your head like a veil and marched down the make believe aisle in your basement) AKA 'Here Comes the Bride' as processional music. Most brides can deal with that, they pick another pretty song to walk down the aisle with their Father to and all is well…but wait!

A newsletter back in September informed priests in the Philly diocese that “many of the traditions favored by brides – such as having their fathers walk them down the aisle – are not, in fact, part of the sacred liturgy and so are not considered appropriate.”

Depending on the parish, some brides are being told that they cannot walk with their father but will process in with their groom. After many brides reacted not so favorably, the archdiocese has clarified its statement. They now have said that so long as the groom isn’t an after-thought then the bride can walk with her father – i.e. have the groom walk in as part of the processional instead of coming out of a side door. Still it doesn't sound like some parishes are interpreting the newsletter like that.

It will be interesting to see if this affects the number of weddings in the diocese in the coming year.

As a related side note, when Randy and I got married the priest in the church we were being married in asked his couples greet their guests together at the church before the ceremony. We were married by a Deacon instead.

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Courtesy of Cleveland Magazine – The Silver Spoon Awards. Cleveland is home to some amazing restaurants and fabulous chefs. Here are a few of my favorite categories:

Best New Restaurant
1. Blue Canyon Kitchen * Tavern
2. Melting Pot
3. boulevard blue

Best Fine Dining
1. Ristorante Giovanni's
2. Lockkeepers
3. Three Birds

Most Romantic
1. Pier W
2. TIE: Baricelli Inn / Ristorante Giovanni's
3. San Souci at the Renaissance Hotel – Cleveland

Best Chinese
1. Hunan by the Falls
2. Hunan Coventry
3. Pearl of the Orient

Best Mexican
1. Luchita's Mexican Restaurant
2. Nuevo Acapulco
3. Lopez Bar & Grille

Best Steak
1. Hyde Park Steakhouse
2. Ruth's Chris Steakhouse
3. Morton's Steakhouse

Some pictures from Marni and Ike's rehearsal dinner 2 weeks ago.

Randy and I at dinner:

Marni and I at dinner:

The lovely Laura (another bridesmaid) and her honey:

This site is going straight into Playing Favorites !

Flowers by Anne

This is a floral designer out in California who has cataloged hundreds and hundreds of different bouquets, cake, reception and ceremony flowers. It is all searchable by color, by name of flower and by general style.

Kudos to Anne for this fantastic reference site!

As promised, pictures of the recent snow storm!

The front of the house – we only had about 12″ at this point – total snow fall was over 18″ from Saturday evening through Monday morning:

The HUGE limb that came down across the neighbor's driveway and into the street – this was only one of many others:

Ahhh…the happy, dorky couple – all bundled up and still freezing:

Green Weddings – article about how couples are choosing to make their weddings more environmentally friendly.

Fun gifts for the groomsmen from wishingfish.com:

Dumb Dares for Work: for the co-worker who makes 9 to 5 a little more bearable

6 Pack BYOBag: for your college buddy who always had beer

Pac-Man Game System: for your high school friend who spent HOURS at the arcade