Reality bride Molly Hallock, has some partying in her future
Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a series of posts from Molly Hallock, who’s planning a wedding 3,000 miles away from home. She’s engaged to Derek Koch, a New York restauranteur starring in a new reality show, Playing With Fire, airing on the E! Network. (Watch for appearances from Molly, too!)
Wedding planning is a bit like a giant, pricey to-do list. Flowers, check. Dress, check. Linens, cake, venue, menu – check, check, check, and check.
It’s easy to forget something kind of wonderful:
A wedding entails a lot more parties than just the one that celebrates the night you say “I Do.”
Until recently, I hadn’t thought a lot about the other parties that go hand-in-hand with a marriage. But now that the wedding date is getting closer, I’m so lucky to be looking forward to several gatherings that will bring together generations of family members and friends from different eras of my life- -childhood, high school, college, and work.
Right when I was about to flip out about the latest bill that arrived in my e-mail, I received an invitation to my bridal shower. My Aunt Val was the third person in the world to hold me and has watched me grow over the decades. She’s been so excited about the wedding and I couldn’t have been more grateful than the day she called and asked if she could throw a shower for me in Seattle. It’s going to be tons of my family and hometown friends, and I can’t wait.
Then there’s our trip to Ohio, where Derek’s mother is throwing us a coed shower—which means guys are invited as well as girls, and which will be great fun.It’s a steak fry, and my soon-to-be MIL has been planning it for a long time, so I am so excited for some mid-west cookin’…and to meet his extended family. His mother alone has 13 brother and sisters. (As to how I’m going to remember anybody’s name, that’s another story!)
And then there’s my wild, anything goes, last hoorah of singledom. (Derek, if you’re reading this, grab the inhaler and breathe. It was a joke.) My maid of honor is my sister, and she just confirmed that she and my best friends have made all the plans for my bachelorette weekend in Santa Monica. Right now it seems like a dream. It’s a blend of all the things I like most: family, friends, ocean, sand, chilled white wine and long jacket-free summer nights. I don’t even care what we do, I already know it’s going to be amazing. The cherry on top: Not only is it going to be my last weekend with my girls as a single woman, it’s also my birthday.
Funny, just typing this post and looking forward to these parties is easing a lot of the wedding stress that’s made its home in my nervous system over the last few months. What a happy reminder of how fortunate I am to be surrounded by people who love and support me and who’ll be part of so many joyful celebration and future memories.
