Gratitude

A friend of mine sent a note recently, which reminded me of the importance of staying grounded and being courteous.

Planning a wedding can be a lot of work, take a lot of your time and energy, just remember to be thankful for the help you get and appreciate the people who want to be part of your exciting experience.

I’ve been given permission to share my friend’s note with you and I hope it serves as a reminder.

Here is ‘The Note’…

“The other day, I overheard two bride-to-be’s discussing the burden of attending the numerous wedding showers thrown for them. They take up so much time… everyone there’s dying to know all about their plans… people ask them so many questions… they don’t really care for all the gifts… et cetera.

What I found especially fascinating was that they both seemed convinced that they were doing everyone a huge favour by putting up with these wedding showers, accepting these gifts, and making small talk with these wedding shower attendees. Almost as if they were celebrities deigning to make special appearances to their fans.

The fact that most people in this world get married at some point or another seemed to entirely escape them.

The fact that the people putting on these showers were no doubt attempting to fulfill the obligations of polite society, again, seemed to escape them.

Some other facts that seemed to escape them…

…that all the good people putting on these showers, finding and paying for gifts, preparing food, sending out invites, decorating, and even just showing up — probably had a million other things THEY could’ve done with their time, too.

…that these strangers at these showers were making small talk with them because it’d be incredibly awkward to sit there in silence… or talk amongst themselves while ignoring the bride.

…that these people were probably asking questions about their weddings because it’s the only thing they know about these brides. And let’s face it, asking about the wedding SEEMS like it’d be the most relevant brand of small talk to attempt to make.

I’ve seen PLENTY of brides who are happy for support, and grateful for gifts given to launch them into wedded bliss. You guys are great! :)

But I was pretty repelled by these ranting brides. I think it would’ve been courteous of them to have announced at the outset that they wished to have a bridal-shower-free engagement. It’d be a decision I could respect a heck of a lot more than their complaining about all those “annoying” bridal showers they’re forced to attend."

I thank my friend for taking the time to write about this experience and sharing it with us.

Judy Peters
Announcer
Steinbach Center News Department
Golden West Radio