The bouquet toss analogy

For the humiliating, but kind of fun tradition that is the bouquet toss, Melanie joked that she was going to throw the bouquet straight to me, and it ended up that she did, albeit accidentally. I saw it flying straight to me, and I put my hand up as if to catch it, but what I really ended up doing was knocking it away from me and over my shoulder onto the floor, where it was quickly snatched up by an eager 10 year old. I couldn't figure out myself if I had tried to catch it, or tried to knock it away, and neither could all of those who saw my arms flapping. We'll have to call in the instant replays from the photographer to clear up this one.
Thinking about how the catching of the bouquet is supposed to be good luck for single women to "catch a man" and be the next one married, it occurred to me that the whole debacle could be an analogy for how I am with relationships in general.

I mentioned it to a few other girls, and we found that the analogies worked for them too: one said that she just plain did not want to catch it, and would have consciously avoided it. She finds herself isolating herself from opportunities and relationships in general. We're not sure if it's just because it's not worth the effort, or if it's because she is afraid of trying to catch it, and missing it. Another girl said that she just didn't expect the bouquet would come her way, so made no efforts to catch it or miss it. I happen to know this girl is usually oblivious when guys show obvious interest in her.

We then thought about Melanie's little sister Hannah who didn't hesitate to snatch up the bouquet I had knocked to the floor. If our bouquet behaviours directly related to our relationship dysfunctions, what could we learn from the girl who caught the bouquet? Well she hardly understood what the tradition was about, but was unafraid and bold enough to take the chance and dive for something that may or may not be something she'd want. She's not jaded.

Enough overanalyzing... I just hope the whole bouquet toss tradition doesn't actually work, because it could be a long wait for me if 10-year old Hannah gets married before I do!

Speaking of analogies: I'm getting a bit worried about the implications on a piece of apparently time-tested wisdom after reading this on BBC.

Melanie & Ryan's wedding

This past weekend was tiring, but in a good way. Almost everyone from our office drove the long trip for Melanie & Ryan's wedding in Wisconsin. It was my second time being a bridesmaid, and I was so glad to be a part of it. I've learned before how much I regret sharing some of those experiences with dear friends when I've been too busy and self-absorbed (that's another long story, for another time).

Here are some pictures and little bits from the time around the wedding.

Here we are working on the wedding favours in the hotel lobby. We had some good "girl time" in the few days before the wedding: doing this, getting our nails done, going out, a lot of laughing, and a bit of crying. :)

Melanie & Ryan bought flowers in quantity like this, and then her aunt arranged all the bouquets and centre-pieces.

Melanie was a beautiful bride. One thing that brought tears to my eyes multiple times during the day was just seeing how happy she was. We shared a lot of lonely single days together, and it was so great to celebrate this day with her.

Waiting for the wedding to start. The church was booked for another wedding right afterward, so this was one wedding that was on time!

Melanie and I

Melanie and Ryan

The whole party. I was thinking that being a bridesmaid on the wedding day is pretty easy... help take care of the bride, hair, make-up, dress, smile for pictures, walk the aisle at the right moments and try not to trip. I was a little afraid of messing up the last two, but luckily I had Leif (second from right) to follow for the timing, and his arm to hold, up and down the aisle, so I didn't.

The reception was a lot of fun too. They had a dance which was a lot of fun as almost everyone took to the dance floor. Most of us were disasters out there, but it didn't matter. I created a bit of a mess in the middle of an electric slide lesson when I was in the middle, holding the hands of Mel's 2 and 5 year-old nieces stepping the wrong way every time. But it was fun. :)

The day after the wedding was also my birthday (26!), and Jenn (maid of honour) and Amy and I went to a church in Milwaukee and then out for lunch with a friend, which was nice. After that, it was 10 long hours in the car, arriving into London in the early morning hours on Monday. Happy birthday to me. :) I didn't mind really, I just know now that Melanie & Ryan will never have any excuse to miss my birthday. :)