So years later, as I maniacally planned for my wedding, I asked Carol to be my Maid of Honor, because frankly, she had the most money and was always blowing her own horn about how organized she was, a perfectionist, incredible hostess and so on, as compared to me or my friends, the losers.
June was low on funds, and we agreed to let Carol run with it. Carol went all out, even got a book on how to be the world’s best Maid of Honor. She was going to show us how it’s done right, thus have the opportunity to boss everyone around. She could now extend her criticism to not just me, but to all my bridesmaids.
They were: June, my confidante, kindest person one would ever meet and would take a bullet for me unless she was on her way to an audition, but we have an understanding.
Nancy: My second best friend whom I also adore and was my first friend upon arrival in Los Angeles. She has always been there for me despite whatever is going on in my life and a heart so big you just want to crawl into it.
Marilyn: my younger sister, who had little to do with anything as she isolates and basically hates everyone. But she was the only family I had in L.A. Bitter, mean, and suicidal. But family is family.
Melinda: another very close friend, but she is also an actress, however incredibly self absorbed, and her mission in life was to find a husband before she ran out of eggs.
Anastasia: a work-friend, incredibly lovely, brilliant and the one most responsible for my “dating” Mark as she kept pushing me to go out with him. She was there when we met. She and I have a very deep connection and like most of the others, she brings joy wherever she goes.
So there you have it; all wonderful women in their own right (except my sister.) Though these brides maid situations often seem forced, they all got on very well.
(As a side note, I let them pick whatever dress they wanted to wear. I will never understand why brides insist on having their bridesmaids wear the same typically ugly dress they end up throwing away. I wanted my wedding to sparkle and all of these women have great taste. Except my sister, I bought her dress.)
I took great pleasure in designing my wedding. But Carol, the Maid of Honor, was teetering on a nervous breakdown and had a long list of chores for my wedding shower that she delegated:
“Now June, you are in charge of bagels. Marilyn, you are in charge of sparkling water. Anastasia, come early and help me cut the finger sandwiches. Nancy, you are in charge of setting up the table. I rented beautiful tablecloths and I expect them to be neat. Also, be sure to scatter rose petals as a centerpiece.” But I think the bridesmaids grew weary of her pretty quick. Carol ended up doing everything herself, but the shower in all fairness was lovely. She does have a beautiful home and she would be damned if it didn’t look perfect.
There were loads of gifts, mostly lingerie, which to this day, still bear the price tags. Carol gave me a small photo album of the two of us, mostly her, through the years. I loved looking at the pictures, but then she wouldn’t give it to me! However she did give me or I should say re-gifted this crazy pair of lacy underwear with a tail! It reminded me of Madonna in the 80’s but even she wouldn’t wear this.
There were no giant cookies to punch, or lavish bowls of chocolate to dive into; no trip to Paris, in fact it was quite sedate. But she did take the opportunity to further play “Miss Know It All.”
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