A Wedding Cover-Up (Literally)

Hi everyone (emphasis on the "one" probably at this point, given the blog's infancy) -
Big Red here, embarking on my first blog post and I'm very excited about it! Currently, my life is being dominated by wedding planning - 127 days and counting (not that I'm counting or anything, TheKnot.com does that for you, luckily.)

I feel like I'm in a pretty good place with getting all the plans in order, but I had no idea just how much work actually went into all this! Now, I'm in PR, so I've planned and executed bigger events, on tighter budgets, in much less of a time frame, but I think since this one is (obviously) so much closer to me, I care more about the things I never thought I would. For instance, I'm a simple girl - really, Brown-Eyed Girl and Blondie will attest to that. You find me almost every day in jeans and a comfy sweater at work and most likely a hoodie on the weekend. Make-up = mascara. It's a big deal if I put lip gloss on. So for the wedding (especially the reception decorations), I really thought I'd be going with the simple look in an effort to stay true to how I am as a person, as well as keep costs down.

Enter Papa Big Red. He's great - gets into the wedding planning details, wants to know my thoughts on things and (usually) goes along with them. Until the dreaded chair cover experience. We were checking out reception halls back in June or July and I found the one I just had to have - big sweeping double stair-case in the lobby, HUGE chandelier, high ceilings in the room, big dance floor, the works. I'd also been there for my senior year of high school dinner dance, so we've got history there too. The hall coordinator is telling us all about the great upgrades they can do to the room, including putting chair covers over the regular chairs, which are your typical banquet hall chairs (except theirs are yellow.)

I was cool with them - they're nice, nothing fancy. But they don't need to be fancy - people sit in them and you never see them again! Oh no - Papa Big Red would have none of that. "If he was going to pay for a reception, we're going to do this the right way, not have empty, trashy looking chairs" (no offense to the hall.) So, we went back and forth for a while, me protesting about not wanting "togas" on my chairs, him not budging an inch. Lo and behold, he wins after I protested for quite a bit more time and finally threw my hands up and went with it. I think I even said in my most dramatic voice "Fine, whatever" (I always wanted to be an actress in some capacity so I guess I took my chance there and gave a very fine performance in my opinion.)

Mama Big Red and I went to the hall last weekend to actually choose the covers (cue dramatic "Jaws" music here - I was actually nervous about it!) Looking back to when World War 3 almost broke out between my dad and I, I'm not sure why I made such a stink. The chair covers really do finish the room, tying in the color scheme that we're working with (purple!) AND come as a packaged deal that includes all kinds of nice additions to the reception - sweets table, fruit table and champagne fountain for cocktail hour (you'll be able to find Brown-Eyed Girl and Blondie there for sure!)

So, while I'll never tell Papa Big Red that he was right (because I'd never hear the end of it), lesson learned. Always go with the chair covers ladies - if only for the champagne fountain that comes with.

-- Big Red