Kathy was married and two Lodge members earned quarters.  One quarter said that she would actually show up for the event.  The other is that she would go through with it.  After all, at 51, it was a safe bet that she'd hike up that white dress and run up the aisle.

I've previously written about the wedding shower when the Real Bridesmaids were revealed:

http://open.salon.com/blog/kris_t_parker/2010/09/21/the_real_bridesmaids_-_revealed

The background is that Kathy chose her groom's 16-year old niece as sole maid of honor for the event - instead of having her three drinking buddies from the days when we solved the world's problems over bottles of wine every Thursday night.  We were slighted.  We knew she should have chosen us.  Surely, she must have realized the gaff. 

 Kathy stood up for two of our weddings, after all.  She knew that weddings were not to be taken seriously.  Beth was married on April Fool's Day after all.  My own wedding (in happier days before my husband took off two month's ago) was filled with castles and silliness. Behind the scenes we came up with our own theme for Kathy's wedding.  We would b The Real Bridesmaids regardless of the bride's choice.

The planning commenced.  What do real bridesmaids have so they can be recognized?  They have headpieces, beautiful headpieces.  Since we're drinking buddies of the bride, we figured that ours should have wine corks in 'em, along with hunks of grapes.

Still, we could have blended in with the other guests so we needed to up the ante.  How 'bout a sash that spelled out "The Real Bridesmaids" to wear across our chests?  That should do it. Right?

Ok, at the last minute, Beth brought us some boas.  What's a party without a boa, or tow or three.  The boas were the big hit, borrowed by nearly everyone on the dance floor (which was covered in feathers  by the end of the night).  

Here we are, The Real Bridesmaids (Tall to short, Beth, me and Linda):