i flew into montgomery, walked off the plane and into mom’s car awaiting me curbside, and headed to meet alisa at starbuck’s–
a little pre-dress-shopping caffeine in order.

first stop.
what once used to be a dress and gown shop turned into a regular clothing store with a secret stash in the back. a secret stash that does well in secret since it didn’t appear much was sold from back there. but one good thing is it gave us some guinea pigs to try on. the first dress i tried on, susan assessed the situation with what i needed–what looked best on me, what i preferred, what would not work for me, and which direction to proceed.

second stop.
dress after dress, each one of us choosing a different rack and having at it.
i went to try the chosen dresses on.
some cute ones, some i liked, and then…
alisa brought it up to me saying, “just try it. we could take off this flower if…”
“if nothing, i like the flower…and i really like this.”
i tried it on, came out, and all 3 judges said, “that is it. that is you.”
i tried on one more, but it was unanimous…we had found the dress.
while the owner called the company to place my order it was on to mom.
and within minutes, she had found a dress too.
all in under a hour we had found my dress, mom’s dress, and cancelled all other bridal appointments.

what now?
a whole day planned for dress shopping and we were done.
all my hopes of things i might possibly get to do awaited me.

exchange a tie for dad.
lunch.
a trip to the oaks–the wedding/reception site.

even though i have been to the oaks before, it looks somewhat different when you are mingling at a reception than it does undecorated, empty, and in it’s natural state. it served as a blank slate for us to discuss the possibilities, with alice showing up on the scene giving us pointers from the many events hosted at the oaks.
pig in a potato…yum!
time with uncle lamon and aunt grace.

hanging out with tim, beck, and the boys.
day 1…in the books.

day 2.
started off with an on-the-go breakfast at a true southern favorite…

on the way to meet susan and a potential caterer. it is so very different actually sitting face-to-face with a vendor than trying to communicate via phone only. getting full view of the menu, picking out options, getting opinions from others.
so helpful.

visit to the jeweler to check out bands for fk and finalize some details regarding my bands, per fk. and a good-bye to mom as it was now dad’s turn.

a stop to look at suits for dad and rusty on the way to visit with grandma and ralph. hanging out, talking about wedding plans and showing the pictures of the dress, meeting the kittens, followed by lunch at fat boy’s.

meeting up with anne at cathy’s shop to discuss flowers and decorations.
last wedding plans finalized for the trip. and by this time–not that i truly have an opinion about flowers and such–i left it all up to the experts…and took myself out of the picture (only after i pulled out some pictures to share my ideas). i think i’m done with all the wedding decisions one can muster in a whirlwind 2 days.

dinner with dad and anne was in order at a good ol’ montgomery favorite in order to finish out day 2.