is coming up soon. I didn't really know what a bridesmaid fitting is, and so I did what I do when I don't understand something, which is go on the Internet. I learned that this involves seamstresses and measurements and 360-degree mirrors and pins, lots of pins.

In some cases, there's lunch.

As you can see, my knowledge about this is a little sketchy. But I get the sense that this is some kind of event.

One of our online staffers suggested that I should be rigged for a wireless "Dan Cam" on my lapel and broadcast live during the wedding ceremony.  Sort of C-SPAN meets Bridezilla. That's a sensational idea, and evidence of the kind of outside-the-box thinking we encourage here at 215 S. McD. 

I actually have considered live blogging via my Blackberry.   

 Maybe we are on the cusp of a recession. That's what the economists say, at any rate, and they have predicted 9 of the last 3 recessions.  Anyway, I invite them to come to the wedding show at the State Fairgrounds in West Raleigh. You could barely navigate the floor for the crowds. So there's some disposable income out there, because the place was loaded with young women and their moms. Some guys who wanted to be anywhere else. Not so many dads. 

Me, I went with my wife on this windy day mostly to feed this blog. Hilary and Travis have made most of the major decisions -- the caterer, the wedding hall, the flowers, the photographer. There are still some details remaining to be resolved.

Like what kind of pillow they will get for the young ring-bearer .... and gloves for the flower girls. The cake.

If you go to the show, go hungry, because there are lots of free samples. You  can fill up on slices of cake.  

If you are looking for a teeth-whitening solution, there's a booth rented by a very well-known local dentist.

DJs all over the place.  Photographers. Videographers. Caterers. A huge Belk booth. 

One thing I did not anticipate was the butt-squeezing contest. This took place on the stage where the fashion shows have been held.  Here's what happened. The MC's invited a couple onto the stage -- a bride-to-be and her fiance.  Then they invited four yound men from the crowd up on the stage. They then sat the young woman down in a chair and blindfolded her.  She was then required to squeeze the butts of the young men to see if she could, while blindfolded, identify her fiance's backside.  She did, and they won some prizes.

I offer this without comment, except to say that things have sure changed, haven't they, and you probably don't see this kind of thing at the Dixie Gun and Knife Show.

Samantha Thompson Smith, our fashion writer at the N&O, says the tiered look is going to be the rage in '08. Here's the Vera Wang she emailed me. Like I'd know. I had to resize the picture because the original image was 4 megs and it made this blogging software very unhappy.

Update:  It looks like Hilary's picked out her locale for the bridal luncheon. And she is on day two of her teaching career at Clayton High. 

156 days until the wedding. The shuttle is rolling out to the launch pad and the countdown is proceeding.  

Here's Travis at his recent graduation, with proud fiancee.

Final exams and graduation behind her, Hilary has a few days before starting her teaching job. So she was shopping for wedding invitations.

Wedding invitations are complex. They are like the settlement documents at a real estate closing.

According to my wedding bible (The Knot Book of Wedding Lists), here is what you might find in the bundle of paperwork such is the invitation:

* An outer envelope

* An inner envelope

* Reply card with self-addressed stamped envelope

* Rehearsal diinner invitation

* Maps

* Travel and hotel information

* Menu card

* Place card

etc.

The Knot said you could expect to spend up to 3 percent of your budget on, ahem, "your stationery needs." Wow.

Of course, you have to set up an RSVP database in order to track who is coming -- this is for the caterer, mostly, so you have an accurate headcount.

Then there are details about how to negotiate a contract with the calligrapher. And how to deal with the post office so the invitations are hand stamped rather than run through a machine, which could damage them. Which offers some insight as to how postal workers become disgruntled.