The Chesapeake Bay Beach Club

Looking up the CBBC's beach at the Sunset Ballroom and Garden room where Laura & Josh will have their wedding and reception.

This is a view of the Garden Room, with the umbrellas closed.

The Garden Room at night (photo by Larry Huffman Photography).

Looking down the ailse. Josh & Amy, his Mom, are standing at the front of the deck.

Five Months from today!

Just five months from today is Laura & Josh's wedding, June 27, 2009. The wedding and reception will take place at the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club, which is on Kent Island in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. It is an absolutely beautiful site, with a beach and two gardens for outdoor weddings. Last year the CBBC added a new room off the Sunset Ballroom, called the Garden Room. On the roof of the Garden Room is a deck with large umbrellas that can be opened to keep the guests out of the sun during the ceremony. This is where Laura & Josh's wedding ceremony will take place. It looks out over the Bay with the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in the background, as the above picture shows.

Laura and Josh live in Columbus, Ohio. This weekend we were supposed to go to the brides tasting at CBBC on Saturday to sample the food for the reception. The economy has gotten in the way of our plans. Josh's company is unfortunately laying off a large amount of people. Thankfully he still has a job, but now Josh has to work, so he will not be able to come down this weekend. We postponed the tasting to March so that Josh can come too. The good news is Laura is still flying in from Columbus this weekend to visit. I get to see my "baby" for a weekend. She's only been gone a month but it seems like forever. We will be trying to finalize which the florist to use and hope to get to a cake tasting or two. Mmmm ... just what the MoB needs ... more calories!

Why am I the Reluctant Mother of the Bride

Laura & Josh

It's not that I don't want my daughter to be married. I do. Happily married. And I believe she will be very happy. I truly love her fiance. I loved him from the first minute I met him.

It was January 2006 and it had been snowing all day. We live in Maryland, northeast of Baltimore, so we do occassionally get snow. More ice than snow ... but that's for another time. My daughter Laura was living in an apartment with a roommate from college.

Laura called me in the middle of the night, as she had many times before, to say she was sick. Being the "good" mother that I am I told her to wait it out until morning and I would take her to the doctor. About 7 am I called in to work that I needed time off to take my daughter to the doctor. Then I headed over to get Laura. We went to a Patent's First that was nearby, and boy did I feel like the world's worst mother after they looked at her. She was dehyrated from the flu, and I had completely missed it!

After an IV to bring her fluids up we eveantually went back to her apartment. She was miserable to say the least and I felt terrible for being Mommy Dearest. Enter into this picture ... Josh.

Josh was living in New Jersey at the time. He had been introduced to Laura through her roomate after much cajoling that she should just "meet" him. They ended up talking all night long like they were long lost friends. And that was the beginning of their story.

Josh had few days off from work so he came down to visit Laura. She told him she was sick, but he came down through the storm anyway. After introductions I went outside to dig out Laura's car from the snow. By this time we probably had 6 - 8 inches or more on the ground. I turned around and Josh was out there helping me to shovel out not only Laura's but her roomate Jess's car. What's not to love about a man that just jumps in and helps out!

No, the reason I am the reluctant MoB is because I don't like being in the spotlight too! It's her & Josh's day ... can't I just sit back and enjoy in the background? No ... it doesn't work that way.

So this is my journey, as this reluctant MoB makes her way through the perils of an American wedding.