The dress, custom Vera Wang. The guest list, 300 people. I listened.
I said, “Congratulations.” I asked polite questions.
Then she told me the budget.
“$85,000,” she said like it was nothing. “Your father and I are covering everything. Melissa deserves the best.”
I was quiet for a long time.
“That’s amazing, Mom,” I finally said.
I didn’t mention that when I’d gotten engaged two years earlier to my boyfriend of four years, they’d offered me $3,000 and said I should keep it small.
I didn’t mention that I’d called off that engagement 6 months later because he cheated. And my mother’s only response was, “Well, maybe it’s for the best. You’re not exactly easy to love, Amanda.”
I didn’t mention any of it. I just said congratulations and hung up.
6 months before the wedding, Melissa invited me to her final dress fitting. I drove down from Atlanta on a Saturday morning.
