Wednesday 23 March 2005

always the bridesmaid, never the bride

If you have a reasonably common name, as I do, and you use a big-brand email account, you've probably received email for someone with the same name as you, but who is *not* actually you.

Usually, in my experience at least, this mail is of two kinds. It's either from Mummy, who is just getting the hang of this internet-thing and has a lovely recipe to pass on from Aunt Cath; or else it's from an illiterate subteen who's messaging all the cool kids & inviting them to join her network (whatever that is.) If I'm feeling generous I'll respond to the family messages & let them know what's happened. The other kind is generally too lame to have much fun with, so I just bin it.

Over the last few months, though, I've been included in a round of email group correspondence about a wedding party soon to take place on the other side of the world. Here's part of the earliest one I can find - not the first one I read, which is lost:

from Katie -

Subject: up-do for wedding


hi Ladies,
not sure if Casey has talked to you guys about all this...but, we need to decide what we are going to do about our hair.  Who wants an up-do or who wants to just do their hair ourselves.  I am not sure about costs yet, because a salon has not been decided...SO i have no clue what an up-do will cost someone.  I can find out prices and get back to everyone???


to which Brooke responded -

That sounds good.  I am curious to see about the price. 

then, Colby chimed in:

me also-

(Brooke and Colby seem to be sisters - they have the same surname, and they both format their email text in pink.)

So, anyway, a few days later Katie reports back:

Subject: hair


will prob be about $50..not too bad



Brooke is doing a happy dance.

What to do, what to do……..that is really good! I think I am in.


Colby isn't quite as keen. She doesn't want to be left out, but on the other hand, she doesn't want to wind up looking like something out of a girl group. Or does she??

Hmmmm- I am in- I can handle that. We should all be the same, anyhoo.

Thanks for looking into that, K


At this point I briefly wonder whether I should contact one of these girls & inform them that the other Laura, their buddy whose email address they don't know, is unaware of the up-do arrangements and may turn up on the day with a disastrously down-do. or even, god forbid, an out-sideways do. I mean, Casey would NEVER talk to her again! However, apathy wins out as usual and I don't do anything.

The next message is from the blushing bride in person, or "KC" as she calls herself. This one went to a much bigger list of people. I've edited it for boredom-related reasons

Here's the mapquest directions from Dulles, I know they look confusing, but once you clear the airport, it's pretty much a straight shot across Eastern MD.

From: Washington Dulles Intl Airport (IAD) Sterling, VA US
To: [xxx-xxx] XXXXX St Ocean City, MD 21842 US


here follows a page of incomprehensible navigating directions, ending with this:

Total Estimated Time: 3 hours, 31 minutes
Total Distance: 165.07 miles

love KC


Again, I wonder if I should intervene now, but I decide definitely not to, since the other Laura surely got an invitation with the address on it, and if her name is Laura, she's probably smart enough to use a street directory. Besides, I want to see what happens next.

Sure enough, I get more mail the next day. This bundle is headed 'Bach party'

(woo hoo!)

And the first one is from Katie, who SO has her shit organised:

Hi Ladies!!!

So I wanted to give you the scoops on whats happening...its finally
coming together!!

We are going to be staying at the x x x x x x x Time Square both
nights.  The first night is only going to be you two, Me, holly, Casey
and probably Cara

The twins and possibly katie Mac will meet us on Sat morning (and
possibly some other peeps but this is the main bunch)

We are going to be leaving MD around 4 pm on Friday...I am hoping it
doesnt take more than 5-5.5 hours (its usually 3.5)
So we will get there around 9:30-10ish?

Depending on what time your flights come in...we can all meet somewhere,
possibly pick you guys up or I can call the hotel and tell them that one
of you will be checking into the hotel and you can just go get the room.
I am thinking that Friday is going to be a relatively low-key night..

The room for Friday night is going to run each of us around $80. (its a
suite so we will all be in the same room)
The rooms for Sat night will be $0!  We got a hook up through brooke and
Colbys dad's girlfriend

We have a limo for sat night.  I think it is going to run us each around
$50 for the limo plus tip.  THIS IS A SUPRISE!!

We are making reservations at a restaurant called Tortilla Flats which
has been recommended to us by many people and is supposed to be a good
young crowd, good food and drinks and inexpensive!  The limo is picking
us up from the restaurant!  then its a night on the town!!

Sat we have all day to do whatever in the city.

I think it would be nice on one of the mornings to order in a nice brunch
from room service??  we can see about that...

COOL!??!

I will be sending out another email to all the girls but wanted to send
this to you guys..


I want to get an up-do too, now. w00t, a suite!!! And I love Mexican food, especially if it comes with a 'young crowd.'

Maybe I can go instead of Yael.

hey,
i just wrote casey an e-mail with some potentially bad news.  the sat. night
of the bachelorette party is passover, and i need to spend that evening at a
jewish household somewhere.  i'm going to talk to my parents to see if they
have any jewish friends in nyc where i can do this, or maybe i will just
come to nyc for friday night and then go back to DC to my parents for
saturday.  regardless, it's going to be a little difficult b/c starting
saturday evening, i'm not going to be able to eat too much or to really
drink b/c almost everything is off limits for me for 8 days.  anyway, the
bottom line is that i'm trying to figure out if the bachelorette party is
going to be possible for me, and i'll let you guys know in the next couple
of days.  i really hope i can make it!
and thanks, katie, for all of your hard work in setting this up.
-yael


Yeah, thx Katie, you Rock. But I don't think you reeeeaaallly care too much that Yael might not make it:

Oh No!  I hope things can be worked out...just keep us updated = (

-----------------------------------------------------------------

And that's it. So far.
I just want to know what happens in the end.



Update: After posting this I spent the rest of the evening feeling mean, so today (next morning) I've just shot an email off to Head Bachelorette Katie. Beh, damn conscience.

2 comments:

Fluffy said...

I am going instead of Yael.

*serious look*

I will, of course, be posing AS Yael. I'll say I've decided to renounce my Judaism and and ready to get down with the up-do and do lines of coke on the back seat of the limo while having 3 way sex.

Yael has REALLY let herself go. Big time.

Mel said...

I am going to be a bridesmaid later this year for one of my dearest friends. We already have the dresses - they're tasteful cocktail frocks, not strapless or satin.

But I am going to dinner at her house tomorrow night and she has asked us to bring any pictures of hairstyles we might have cut out of magazines!!! Lynda is normally a sensible girl; I don't know what's got into her.

BTW I am strongly against the updo as it will make me resemble a potato, but then I like the pampering aspect of having someone else do my hair.