To Quiet the Little Voice - 8. Two Weddings and a Nervous Break Down

“So you decided to tell me that now?” Susan looked at her best friend like he had suddenly grown horns and a tail.

“Well, I just sort of thought you should know. Come on, it isn’t like I am the groom telling you I’m gay the night before the wedding!”

Sue took a deep breath, earning her a dirty look from the seamstress. The wedding gown fittings had been stressful enough. Every time she tried the silly thing on some other little chunk of it hung wrong. This was the third fitting in two weeks, the wedding was less than two weeks off and still it wasn't even close to right.

The entire wedding seemed to be cursed.

First there was trouble with the hall. The idiot manager had booked two weddings into the same ballroom. Top that with the fact the other couple had paid not only a deposit but the full projected cost. Sue and her fiance were out in the cold. Quite literally. The only alternative the place could offer was a garden venue. Not what would be called ideal for a February wedding? The icing on the cake was they tried to refuse to return the deposit. Since they were offering the garden at a “considerable discount” they seemed to think it unreasonable not to want to freeze the guests.

A round of frantic calls and visits were split up between the bride, groom, and both sets of parents. Finally a new location was found, and everyone rushed over there together to do the paperwork and work out the best routes to send the guests along to get there. The new place was so far out in the Pennsylvania countryside anyone without Sat-Nav ran a real risk of getting lost.

The caterer had gone out of business with just two months left to find and book a new one. Again the family split up for a round of frantic shopping and tasting. Having found a new caterer didn’t seem to be much help though. The caterer and the hall manager seemed to have a history. A bad one! It took extended pleading and cajoling to get things moving again, with both the hall and the caterer promising dire consequences if the other steps out of line.

Finding a florist has proven close to impossible. Who knew so many people would want to get married on the same weekend?

Finally the details were finalized (again) and the invitations sent. Surprisingly the guest list didn't balloon out of control the way they can at times. Everyone respected the idea if someone was not specifically mentioned, they were not included in the invitation and there were no instances of

“Mr. & Mrs. J. Smith and children” responding for 8, sighting companions for the three children mentioned. Sue and her fiance were blessed with some of the best family out there. Now if only this woman could get the gown to fit properly…….

Now here she was with yet another gown fitting being scheduled, a case of nervous exhaustion threatening, and now her best friend in the world tells her he is running off to New York State to get married. This weekend, the weekend before her wedding.

“How can you desert me with only a week to go? What if something goes wrong again? It isn’t like wrong hasn't happened before with this wedding! Who is going to keep me sane? Who is going to take me out for a bachelorette party this Saturday? Who is going to show up with a pint of ice cream Friday night and keep me from panicking? I need you!

“Calm, Sue. Breathe. You have the best family in the world. If something hits the fan again they will just pull together like they always do and fix it. I will be back in time for the rehearsal dinner on Friday night. I will be there with the ice cream later on. And in case you forgot – the party is tonight, remember?”

“You had better be! My mother is still freaking out about me having a guy in a tux standing up for me instead of a gal in a horrid bridesmaid dress. If I have to explain to her you are MIA because you and Phil ran off together I swear I will hunt you down and lock you in a root cellar somewhere!”

He wrapped his arms around her, being careful of all the pins. He grinned at the disapproving look the seamstress shot him and whispered into Sue’s ear.

“It will be alright love. Look at it this way. With everything that has already gone wrong you are in for a good 10 years of trouble free life!”