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Much ado about nothing

The countdown is on. I’m getting married September 27. I met my future husband in the fall of 1981 at the North American International Livestock Exposition in Louisville, Kentucky, where we were both attending the National Block & Bridle Convention. We haven’t been dating all of these years, but I know what I’m getting into, as does he.

I always thought weddings were much ado about nothing. Not that a wedding isn’t a very special occasion, but I’ve seen people go a little overboard in planning the “perfect wedding.” Fortunately, Jim and I both wanted much the same type of ceremony and reception. Our wedding will be traditional, in the little country church that we attend. Traditional music and Bible verse. We are not writing our own vows. In keeping with tradition, I’ll borrow my sister’s pearls, carry a handkerchief that belonged to Grandma Evelyn, and another with an embroidered blue “L” that belonged to Jim’s brother and my good friend Larry, who we lost less than 2 years ago. My dress is new.

At 41, the thrill of finding “just the right dress” isn’t as great for me as finding a dress at “just the right price.” One of my girlfriends insisted that I stop telling people that I paid less than $100 for my wedding dress. I am proud of my frugality. She believes that because the dress looks like it cost at least 3 times that, I should not boast about my penny-pinching. I only plan to wear it one time. I’ve waited this long, so what is the big deal? She’d just die if she knew that I was sharing with you that I found the shoes I’ll wear with my dress on sale for $17.99, and that at this late date I still do not have my headpiece!

The reception will be in our show barn. Using pallets from a local seed company and sheets of ½” plywood, we built a dance floor. Instead of building the stage for the band the same way, our neighbor convinced us to pour a slab of concrete. Now we have another great place to tie cattle after the wedding. Jim had 2 truckloads of mulch hauled in which we spread on the dirt floor of the barn using a sileage fork and an apple picker. It smells like either State Fair or Farm Progress Show.

The idea of registering for gifts is not appealing to me. I do not like the idea of telling people where they should go to shop for my wedding gift and then have them print out a list of specific items I would like to receive. I put off registering for gifts for as long as possible. We were in Springfield in July when I casually mentioned to Jim that we needed to “run by K’s Merchandise.” I had promised a friend I would take care of it that week-end. As we pulled up to the front door of the store where Jim let me out so he could go park, I shared with him the true reason behind our visit to the store. Suffice it to say that he’s never taken that much time parking a vehicle. By the time he made his way into the store, I had taken care of the preliminaries so we were ready to pick our gifts. Not having been through this before, I was delighted that I did not have to carry a notebook through the store, listing the gifts we so desired. Jim’s face lit up when I showed him the laser gun we would use to scan the bar codes on the items we wanted. That was the last time I held the gun until he realized we’d been there for an hour and were scheduled to meet friends for lunch.

Again, at the pleading of another friend, I registered at another store on-line, and did a solo run at Target with the familiar gun. I would advise you to carefully check the printed list of items if you ever decide to register that way, as I noticed, apparently after half of the people at Brownfield Network had checked my list, that the next to the last item on my Wedding Registry was a baby monitor. Jim thought perhaps we should leave it on the list, as it would come in handy to have it in the barn so we can hear what is going on with the cattle. . .

Jim has begun calling it “Cyndi’s wedding” and I refer to the reception as “Jim’s party.” Whatever we call it, it will be a very important day in our lives. We are so blessed to have great role models for marriage. Bill and Cleo Puyear, Jim’s parents, will celebrate their 48th wedding anniversary just days before our nuptials, and Eddie and Judy Young, my dad and mom, will celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary October 5.

In case you wonder where I’ll be for my honeymoon? At least one day will be spent at the Simmental Cattle Show at the Keystone International in Harrisburg, PA.