The perfect wedding takes planning, and planning, and then more planning. Of course, it also takes money -- lots of it. That's where Dad comes in. It's also where Dad leaves the room and encourages us to elope. No way! Mom and I have dreamed of this day for years. The long white gown, the flowers, the music, the cake, the reception with a band and a catered mealhow could I ever fulfill this fairy-tale dream if I simply eloped?

However, we did compromise on a few things. The reception will be held in our church's fellowship hall, elegantly decorated of course. We'll use monogram wall decals from Walls Need Love. Instead of the expensive florist, our flowers will be prepared by someone that one of my dad's bowling buddies recommended.

Well, OK, the interview was a little odd. We went out to this place in the country with a long, muddy driveway. The lady's dog must have been about a zillion years old. It was half bald and wobbled around on stick-like legs. She let it come into the office with us. About half-way through our work session, there was this horrible smell. The lady hopped up and dragged the dog out, trailing brown liquid. She left the critter out in the yard and cleaned up the mess.

She apologized, but that didn't really make me comfortable. Her flowers looked OK, though, so we went ahead and put in our order. Then we got out of there fast.

We can't put holes in the reception hall walls, so those monogram wall decals from wallsneedlove.com will really come in handy. We put our name in elegant cursive on the wall behind the cake table. Under it, we put our wedding date for a nice touch. To make the entry really elegant, we put a monogram wall decal of our entwined initials on the floor right where guests will enter.

Now I'm getting ready for the ceremony, donning the gorgeous white gown. I'm so nervous and excited, I can hardly stand still. But what's that commotion? I can hear someone in the lobby telling people to hush, that there's going to be a wedding.

I sent my aunt to find out what's going on. She's back. She says the florist is late and came in drunk. She's the one telling all of my wedding guests to shush up. Aunt Carol sent her packing and distributed the flowers to their places. Whew! What a day. I hope my darling gets here soon. There's no sign of Peter or the best man.

It's ten minutes after the ceremony was supposed to start, and here they are, leaping from a cab and looking like a couple of bums. I think I smell liquor on them, too. Oh well, at least the monogram wall decals look nice!