I laugh. “We’re learning that this isn’t necessarily our thing.”
He chuckles. “So no second career as a wedding planner after hockey, eh?”
“Not a chance.” I grin. “It’s not awful, but the challenges we face because we don’t feel like we have a specific direction are becoming more and more stressful.”
“What direction?”
“That’s the point. We don’t have one.”
He shakes his head. “No, no. I mean… I suppose I mean, what doyoumean by ‘a specific direction’?”
“A theme. Every single theme sounded lame. Even the ones we were curious about or admired didn’t feel like they were meant for us.”
Dad nods. “Ah.”
“We scrapped having a theme entirely and now we’re just going with colors. Blues and grays.”
“That is a theme of sorts.”
I sigh. “Yeah. It’s okay so far. We’re finally making progress.”
“Progress that you’re happy with?”
I think about the attire and the flowers and smile. “Yeah. We’re happy with what we have. I guess we just feel like we get stuck at every turn. Nothing is straightforward and easy.”
“First, good. That’s completely normal. Nothing in planning a wedding is likely going to be straightforward and easy. Second, are you running into obstacles because you don’t agree?”
“Not at all. I don’t think there’s been something we haven’t agreed on yet.”
Dad smiles. “I know it sounds like a pain in the ass, but I promise you’re doing it right. I’d be more concerned if this entire process came too easy.”
“Did you and Mom have this problem?”
He laughs. “No. Your mom took care of everything, while I occasionally agreed with whatever she showed me.”
I frown. “And… did you like the wedding?”
“Let me tell you a secret. This isn’t true for everyone, but I’ve found it’s true for quite a bit of people. Quite often, there’s one person in the relationship who has a vision and takes the reins while the second just nods their approval. Traditionally, that’s the bride. Not always, but usually. I was there to marry your mother. I didn’t care about any other aspect of it. It was all about making sure your mother had the day she always dreamed about. If my bride was happy, then I was happy.”
I sigh.
“Oh, and I wanted chocolate cake. That was my one request.”
Laughing, I shake my head.
Dad pats my arm. “You’re doing good, Son. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with both of you taking the reins together. Especially when you’re having an easy time agreeing on decisions.”
“I’m not sure if either of us cares in the same way Mom did. Or how Eddy will. I think what keeps us moving forward is that we don’t want to look back with regrets and wishing we did the whole big wedding but couldn’t be bothered at the time. We want it to be meaningful and we want fond memories.”
“In the end, all these struggles you’re facing are going to be fond memories too. You’ll look back in ten years and laugh as you reminisce.”
“You think so?” I ask, imagining us sitting on the beach, talking about Nat bringing us flowers after the first lady scared us off.
“I do. Your mother will still talk about planning our wedding. I’m willing to bet you’ll hear some stories today. From your grandmother, too.”
I smile, hoping I will hear their stories. I think maybe hearing them will put me more at ease about the things we’re running into.
As soon as I step out of the car in my parents’ driveway, my phone rings, so I remain outside to answer it. Especially since it’s my fiancé.
