Let the Cavalcade Begin!

When Cory proposed to me, I was eight hours from home, on a business trip to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. I kind of felt like I was keeping a secret, since the only people that knew were my co-workers, my family, and the handful of people Cory told. I was too busy covering the Sugar Bowl to leave more than a brief note on my blog that morning.

When I returned to Columbus, I immediately became absorbed by the first symptoms of nuptual neurosis. I rushed out to Barnes and Noble, and spent the gift card that I'd received as a Christmas gift from Cory's mom on magazines such as "Elegant Bride" and "InStyle Weddings." Not that I read much of them. I was more interested in the advertisers.

See, much like most women's magazines, bridal magazines are primarily made up of ads. And somewhere near the back of the magazine is an advertiser's directory (or as "Elegant Bride" calls it, the "Bridal Concierge." Elegant, indeed.) Attached to the directory (or concierge) is a little, tear-off postcard that you can circle the products you're most interested in, and return it to the magazine. The particulary web-savvy have a website that fulfills the same function.

Translation: Free stuff. Lots of it. Invitation samples, catalogs of bridal gowns, accessories, and party favors. As my boss, Dave, often says; "If it's for free, it's for me."

The first wave of catalogs arrived a short week later. Jean M, Exclusively Weddings, The American Wedding Album. I received an invitation to an Anne Barge trunk show (the first of many from Anne Barge), and another invitation to a bridal exhibition at the Bloomingdale's at the Perimeter Mall in Atlanta (we couldn't go... both of us had to work. A bummer, since it promised a free gift basket for both the bride and the groom.)

Then nothing. For about three weeks.

Then, this weekend, I awoke to an unmistakable sound. The mailman, wrestling to shove something thick through the mail slot in our front door. Thicker than a magazine. Could it be? Yes! The cavalcade of catalogs continues! During my free time this weekend, I busied myself with Willow Tree Lane, The Precious Collection, Ann's Wedding Stationary, and Rexcraft.

I feel the symptoms coming on again. I think I'm coming down with another case of wedding fever.