Bridal Meltdown: A Cautionary Tale

So instead of a Thrifty Thursday feature, I've decided to bring you a cautionary bridal tale that should be a lesson to us all.  Last night I was making the rounds at some of the discount stores that sell home decor and I decided to run into Ross Dress for Less.  Now personally, I hate going to Ross, there is far too much polyester and synthetic leather for my taste...but I've heard from multiple people that they have a decent selection of home decor.  I am beginning to collect my stockpile of wedding decor and I am looking for a variety of candle holders, dishware, vases, etc. 

While perusing the aisles at Ross, I came across an aisle with cake plates and I spotted a young girl sitting on the floor (this should have been my first indication of the horrors to come...that floor is disgusting!).  This girl had taken a 3-tiered cake stand out of its box.  I was interested in the item, so I struck up a conversation to see if I could take a look.  After discussing the merits of the cake plate, I said I was shopping for my upcoming wedding.  The girl said, "Me too, I'm in wedding hell."  At that point, I took a closer look at the girl sitting on the floor.  She was wearing sweats, no makeup, glasses, and she looked like she hadn't see the right side of a brush that day.  Plus, as I mentioned, she was sitting on a very dirty floor.  After being momentarily stunned (I mean I write a wedding/entertaining/lifestyle blog...I just assume everyone is excited for weddings!), I said, "Oh, really?  You don't like doing wedding stuff?"  This bride looked at me and said "No, absolutely not when you are trying to plan a wedding in Florida from Washington, DC and you have no idea what you need."  I responded with, "Oh, I can relate.  My wedding is going to be held about 4.5 hours from here, not as bad as Florida, but still." 

This weary bride asked me when my wedding was and when I replied "next July" she gave me an envious look and said "mine's next month."  With that piece of information, I suggested she check out Posh Purpose (the best blog!) if she needed a fun read to get her through, wished her the best, and hightailed it over to another aisle.  I figured she only had about one tiny shred of sanity left and I did not want any of that bad juju rubbing off on me! 

I also had a moment of clarity and realized that I do not want to wind up parked on the dirty floor at a home decor store one month before my wedding stressing over cake plates and being envious of a bride with 9 months to spare (that's me!).  So listen up brides! Plan early and plan well and start making those spreadsheets!  If you do find yourself in a similar situation, at least take a yoga mat (you can sanitize them) to provide cushion and support (and most importantly, a barrier) between you and that floor!