My daughter is getting married!

Mike and I celebrate 30 years of marriage at the end of this month. 30 years ago, when I was thinking about my own upcoming special day, did it even cross my mind that one day I'd be making wedding plans with my own daughter?

That sigh you heard the other night was me, gasping a little as my heartstrings were tugged. No, I'm not gonna get all mushy here. What's the word? Verklempt? I'm sure that's not how it's spelled, but I know what it means.

Originally, Katherine wanted a destination wedding in St. Lucia, but her father offered her an amount of money to stay here. She has been doing her research into different places and we sat together the other night going over brochures. We've pretty much picked out where it is going to be--a little waterside restaurant not ten minutes from our home. The menu selection is amazing and we will be the only ones there. Katherine has picked the first Sunday in November of 2012.

Even with 100 people, this place is infinitely less expensive than your average Long Island catering hall. Katherine does NOT want a fancy (and, in both our humble opinions, wasteful) $50,000 New York/New Jersey type wedding. I think it's going to be very elegant without being flashy.

She will have her four best friends as bride's maids, plus two junior bride's maids and possibly a ring bearer and flower girl. She wants a white dress with a wine-colored sash. Looks like wine/burgundy will be the wedding color. Of course there will be an usher for each girl (but probably not the juniors) and that is up to Erick. If we fall one short, Katherine would ask her older brother, Michael to step in. The younger ones wouldn't be all that interested--although I have told Nicky he's going to be getting a decent suit whether he likes it or not!

So that's the beginning of the wedding story of Katherine and Erick. They've been dating about five years now, and we just love Erick.

I will post news as it comes along, as well as other family stories. I started this blog as a modern-type of journal. I kept journals for all four of my kids but haven't written anything in years. A new era of life is starting...