Up next for us: Time to plan a lovely wedding

So GirlWonder is engaged. Please join me in saying, “How is this even possible? That child is six years old.” Believe me, we feel the same way here. Didn’t she just graduate kindergarten last spring?

After amicably parting ways with her longtime high school sweetheart in early 2020, she declared her intent to stay single.

She was pretty adamant about it, even as nice young men flocked to ask her out. Her “thank you for asking; it’s so sweet of you, but no” game is strong.

Future arrives

Then, seemingly by the hand of God himself, her future arrived. She met a fine young man who we all adore. He told me early — and often — that he intended to marry our daughter.

I honestly never doubted him. He’s the kind of young man who gets what he came for and does what he says. I like that in a future son-in-law. Now he has officially asked for her hand.

For the record, Mr. Wonderful and I may be pushovers, but BoyWonder drives a hard bargain when it comes to being worthy of his baby sister. He definitely had questions. We all love her fiance, however, so it was pretty easy to say “yes.”

Now that the question has been popped — on our front porch where they spent many pandemic dates since there was little else to do — and the ring has been procured, it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty of wedding planning.

Down-home wedding

She is fairly certain she wants to get married here, at the house where she grew up. That is so romantic, sweet and touching. It is also inspiring sheer terror in me.

Yes, we have acreage. No, it is not laid out for a party venue. Still, for her, we will consider it.

So now, I’m trying to figure out parking and potties and how one shuttles people up a 1200 foot gravel drive. “Get out your hiking boots grandma!” hardly inspires wedding confidence.

I did remember that we have a pretty fancy outhouse. Two sides, no waiting! Yes, really. I absolutely do forget that we have that tucked away in the woods from the days when workers stayed in cabins on our property for days harvesting the orchard. It was far before our time, but the sturdy outhouse remains. So we have that going for us.

We also have a barn. Barn weddings are beautiful. Our barn is more “warehouse” than charm, but if anyone wants to get married next to a plasma cutter setup I can make that happen.

New discoveries

As she begins to discuss her plans, I learned new things about GirlWonder that even I, as her mother, did not know. Namely, she hates chocolate cake (are we sure she is my child?); she does not like gazebos (I have no explanation for this), and her least favorite color is navy blue. Who knew?

So with those noted, she’s just about the most laid-back bride-to-be around right now. She knows she wants to be married in the church she grew up attending — at the end of our road. Everything else is just details.

GirlWonder and I spent the day with her future mother-in-law, who is a delight. We toured wineries to get some of those details down. As it turns out, I cannot start out sampling wine before noon.

At this point, I know we had a very nice afternoon and the wedding reception will consist of somewhere between 100 and 4000 people and will be held … somewhere.

We also know that I cannot sip wine and make coherent plans.