Say yes to the dress

The Famous Amys traveling band pulled back into Asheville early this afternoon after spending a few days with my family down in Birmingham. Chris, Taylor, Ruby Blue and I arrived at my sister and her fiance, Dirk’s, doorstep late Thursday evening, and proceeded to eat, drink and laugh our way through the entire weekend, with much help from my parents, who flew in from Iowa, and my extended Blackwell and Graffeo families. And because Libba was there, I pretty much kept my camera packed in it’s case the entire trip, because why waste any time as a rookie photographer when there’s a professional in the same room? And, as always, she took some AMAZING pictures of our family, but I forgot to get copies of them before I left this morning – Might have something to do with the amount of Pinot Grigio we put down. Anyways, even though I don’t have photographic evidence of how much fun we had visiting with all our family and meeting my sister’s future in-laws at her engagement party, trust me. IT WAS AWESOME.

But. One thing I did manage to get pictures of, not to mention the main reason why we were all together this weekend, was shopping for Libba’s wedding dress with her, my Mom and Taylor. As most of you know, my sister is getting married this May, and had ironed out all the important details for the special day – location, photographer, cake, music, etc - over the past few months. All except her dress. So there was a lot of pressure leading into the day, not to mention the biggest snow storm the state of Alabama had recorded in a long time. Right? SNOW. In Birmingham, Alabama. I’m pretty sure it followed my parents down from Iowa.

Anyways, we braved the blizzard and made it to the wedding dress shop an hour away from Libba’s, praying the entire drive that the employees didn’t freak out over the eighth-inch accumulation and close down for the day. And, lucky for us, it was open, stocked full of beautiful dresses and had a super-helpful and knowledgeable staff. Oh, and we also had my tiny-toddler helping us make some decisions as to which of the many gorgeous gowns to try on.

So, because Libba was preoccupied getting dressed up like a supermodel-bride, I was in charge of pictures. And after Libs stepped out in her first amazing option, I snapped a pic and was immediately scolded. Something about not taking pictures of any of the dresses until you buy one, a warning that was literally plastered in huge signs on every wall in the store. But, Come on, you can’t expect me to pay attention to much of anything when my nearly-two year old is trying to rip things off hangers that cost thousands of dollars. But I did get one picture:

Doesn’t she look so pretty? She’s gonna be the most beautiful bride ever. Well, not to spoil the surprise, but that was NOT the dress that she ended up choosing. And she tried on several more keep-on-the-yes-list gowns, and after another trip through the showroom, she found HER dress. The most perfect dress ever. It is so Libba. And it is breathtaking. And Dirk is going to cry when he sees her in it.

And while I did get plenty of pictures of her in it, I’m so not going to reveal any details. You’ll have to wait until after the groom sees it. Or until Libba says the rest of the world can see it. She’s the boss of this wedding, you know.

So we accomplished the main reason for the trip on Friday, and the rest of the weekend was spent partying, with my daughter being the most entertaining of our whole, crazy bunch. Which was a welcome change to Taylor’s six-day temper tantrum at the beach last May. No, T was one happy camper this visit. And while it was most likely a result of all the candy she was fed, or all the toys and clothes my parents and Aunt Jane bought her, she was especially attached to my Mom, her Ya-Ya, this trip. Which made my Mom the happiest person in the entire world.

So while I don’t have that many pictures to share with you – Check Libba’s blog sometime this week – I can’t express enough how wonderful it was to spend time with my dear family this Valentine’s weekend, help my sister find her perfect wedding dress and remind myself how blessed I am to be surrounded by so much love.