Day three in Detroit...

Saturday morning, Leiya and I arranged to meet with Tony's mother again at a different bridal salon and Leiya's high school friend drove all the way from Columbus to join us for the day.

It was so good to see Erin again who actually is only in the States for a short time before she goes back to Tokyo and her husband.  These two girls, so close in high school have taken on completely opposite paths, Leiya marrying and staying in Detroit and Erin finding her love in Japan.  I have gotten to be with Erin and her mother both in Japan and in Ohio and I really appreciated Erin making the effort to drive three hours to Detroit for the day.

I think in the three days that we wedding dress shopped, Leiya must have tried on 50 dresses.  All of us observers, Tony's mother, Erin, Tony's sister who joined us for a while, and myself made sure to keep our opinions to ourselves saying that it was Leiya's choice, she would know when she found THE dress, we didn't want to sway her with our likes and dislikes...  but actually, maybe she caught on to what set our hearts to singing...

I too was expecting that Leiya would just "KNOW" the dress but as it turned out that didn't happen.  She tried on, she took off, she tried on again.  I was taking pictures of Leiya in dresses full length and then close-ups, back shots, pictures with veils etc. and then showing her the photos so she could get an idea of what she looked like... 

There were some dresses that I loved and others that I didn't like at all...  I probably said too much anyway.

"That's a lovely dress Leiya, but I don't think it photographs as well as some of the others and pictures are going to last a lifetime..."

Do I sound like a pushy mother-of-the-bride?  I sort of felt so getting all caught up in the excitement and possibilities...  Tony's mother and I whispered a bit about our favorite dresses...  We discussed what Tony might like...  We mulled over the pros and cons...

"Beautiful dress!  But for an outdoor wedding?  Shouldn't it be a bit more casual?"

We set aside wedding dress shopping for the day, picked up Tony and then went to visit Tony's grandparents (who aren't much older than Tetsu and me!) at their home north of Detroit.  This was another idea that Leiya had for a wedding venue and she wanted me to see the area and help her decide on a few things...   They have a barn...

 There are a lot of big trees...

 The scenery is gorgeous!

There were so many places on the grandparent's land where a wedding could be held... if it doesn't rain!

Anyway, I was so happy to meet more of Tony's warm and loving family and that night I spent another late night thinking of all the possibilities for a wedding, imagining what could be done or thinking about what measures could be taken if the weather didn't cooperate... 

Can you see me getting very much into this wedding planning mode?  I honestly didn't think I would turn into the stereotypical mother-of-the-bride but it seems I am going that direction...