Page 10 of Little Gray Dress

“Socialites?”

“Yes. Rich socialites that know everyone in town. That’s a good definition.”

“No problem. Did you have a theme or colors picked?”

“A theme?”

“Yeah, a lot of couples pick a theme for the wedding and that’s where we get our colors, decoration ideas, and venue from. It really sets a tone for the wedding.”

“Well, I don’t know. I’m gonna be honest with you…” I pause – not to intentionally be dramatic, but because anytime I tell someone this I get a gasp, moan or hanging jaw. “I was never the girl who was planning out her wedding or her Prince Charming. I never really cared about any of this. But because I’m marrying into this particular family, I’m expected to throw this seriously over-the-top wedding, and I have no idea what I need or want.”

Megan’s mouth drops open and her eyebrows pinch together like she’s confused, or maybe constipated. “You never dressed up and played bride, or bought bridal magazines?”

“Nope.”

“How weird! But don’t worry, I did, and I know everything about weddings. I’ll make sure yours is fabulous.” She smiles over at me before jotting down a note in each of her three devices.

“Just to throw a couple ideas out there… We could do an elegant, traditional red carpet style party, or we could wait until winter and do a winter wonderland type wedding, or we could do something vintagey, Great Gatsby style.” She stares up at me, pen ready to jot down anything I say.

“The vintage one sounds good. As long as it’s not like a Hallowe’en party.”

“No, we’re just stealing the idea of it, not the actual theme of it. It’ll be gorgeous. Trust me.”

“I do. I should warn you, though, my future mother-in-law is Amelia Cabot.”

“Oh. Wow.” Megan takes a deep breath.

“Yeah, but she tends to like to do things her way. When I’m done here she’s going to drill me on what went on and insist that I give her your number so she can get you her ideas. Just so you know, you don’t have to do anything she says unless you think it’s a good idea. But like I said, I’m pretty clueless.”

“So, you want her to help with the planning?”

“If she comes up with something fitting then I don’t mind. But put your sassy pants on and be able to tell her no, because she is a bit… demanding.”

She lets out a small groaning sigh. “I know all about her. I’ve heard horror stories from other event planners. I’ll stand my ground, though. You have nothing to worry about.”

But the suddenly discouraged look on her face tells me she could be nervous about meeting the great Amelia Cabot. I don’t blame her. I once witnessed Amelia fire a waitress at an event she threw because she dropped and broke an entire box filled with unopened expensive bottles of wine in the middle of the party, after tripping over someone’s dog that was running loose. Who lets a tiny dog run loose at a swanky party? Rich people who don’t have kids, that’s who.

“So, I will get started on a proposal tonight and we can meet up on…” She flips through her book quickly and scans her computer screen. “Can you meet me Saturday? At my office? I’ll have samples and outlines for you to go over with me, and we’ll make a lot of the bigger decisions right then.”

“Absolutely, it’s a date.” I grab my purse and coffee from the table ready to be done with wedding planning for the day.

“Oh, and Emi…” She touches my hand as I start to leave the table. “Keep your whole day free because we’ll go look at venues that day too.”

“OK. Can I bring Jack with me?”

“For sure. Actually, if he wants a say you’d better bring him to everything.”

“Everything, OK. Thank you so much, Megan.”

I don’t know if Jack will go to every planner appointment with me, but if I should have to suffer all this just to get married, he should have to as well. It’s not fair that men don’t have to do anything for the wedding but show up, yet women are expected to be frazzled, irritated and short on time for months on end for something that’s over in a single day.

“I need to come to everything?” Jack asks later that night as we fall into our nightly routine of dinner on the couch while watching Drunk History on Hulu.

“Well… maybe not everything, but some stuff, yeah. I can’t do it by myself.”

“What about Lily? I’m sure she’d be a better opinion on this kind of stuff than me.”

“You don’t care about the details of the wedding?” I tease him but I know that it’s true. Men don’t care. And if they say they do, they’re either lying or gay.

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