Classy Role Models



Donna



Hillary



Three of my favorite MOTBs pulled off three remarkable weddings this summer.   Each faced a formidable challenge: the paparazzi, long-distance, and the elements.
                                                                          
 It took nothing less than the prowess of the Secretary of These United States to keep her daughter Chelsea's nuptuals  hidden from imposing cameras. Hillary managed to keep the wedding location as clandestine as a State Secret. The New York Times reported that even  guests did not know exactly where the wedding was going to take place.  The invitation read more like treasure hunt instructions than a formal  announcement of the particulars. It designated not a venue, but a vicinity - within driving distance of Manhattan. The precise location was sent to guests  a week before the  event.

Mary Jo

While Hillary planned Chelsea's wedding far from D.C, Donna, a Northeasterner, orchestrated her daughter (Em's BFF) Meghan's wedding in the buckle of the Beltway.  Though the bride and the groom grew up in New England, both had settled in the nation's capital after college graduation. Two years later they set their hearts on a red, white, and blue wedding at the National Cathedral. Mom had to pull together a destination wedding.  Securing church, reception hall, menus, hotel blocks etc. called for frequent jaunts 350 miles south, oftentimes by car - a car that carted close to 100 hotel welcome bags, a wardrobe of bridal wear, and cases of refreshment along with the ParentsOTB the week before the big day.

  Mary Jo put her faith in Mother Nature when she planned an outdoor reception for her daughter Ariele's nuptuals. How inclement  could a Labor Day weekend be?  As if to test her trust, the Outdoor Mom of All Seasons ushered in the approach of this New Jersey affair with a week of thick, difficult-to-breath-in humidity and  then a hurricane warning, the rainy effects of which squeaked by the day before the ceremony. Though I get the feeling this celebration would have been sunny, even in a downpour, the power of positive thinking was put into play. Mary Jo initiated Facebook posts from Jersey shore to Boston shore, directing Hurricane Eric out to sea. Oh the power of the social network! Nary a drop rained on the wedding party parade. The celebration went without a hitch (except for the hitching of the bride and groom)  in an outdoor tent aglow with white lights and lanterns. The night air was as clear as the chime of a wedding bell.

  I get the feeling the Mother who has run a wedding could run a country. She has to direct the  show - on a tight schedule, stick to the budget, feed the masses, keep the peace - and her cool. If Hillary ever does consider running for a higher office, I can suggest two cabinet members.