Cary and Aileen have been waiting for this day. With finances locking them into a holding pattern for marriage, this couple chose a very untraditional method to move forward. With financial help from OWN, Cary was going to plan the entire wedding for his bride. The only problem…he was already planning to cut corners in order to accommodate his bachelor party. Luckily his best friend TJ was there to help. TJ rocked! He had a spread sheet already budgeting out the costs. However, Cary was all about the memories and didn’t want to pay too much for cake, invitations or transportation. Why is the bachelor party almost always an issue?
As they checked out the venues, reality hit. Things were going to be more than they had expected. I got especially concerned when they literally looked at house with the dining tables stretching down the driveway. I am serious…a driveway. He chose the house with a hor’dourves reception. But it gets worse! As he heads into the first dress shop, he asked if they RENT dresses there. How big is this bachelor party going to be? After picking the rental dress and making a few alterations, feeling confident he made the bridesmaid dress decisions within a few minutes….and yes, he rented those too!
Cameras pan back to Aileen as she described her perfect wedding. The one place she was comfortable cutting was with the cake. She actually didn’t even want a cake. She was perfectly fine with elegant cupcakes. Yet Cary was looking to find a cake that was decked out a fantasy castle cake. Now the invitations were something else…check out this deleted scene.
So I am going with this thinking…this guy so doesn’t get it. THEN he calls TJ over to his office to show him the suits he picked out for the wedding. When TJ mentioned renting, Cary let him know that he was buying them. I was so sad for Aileen. I hope he isn’t this self-centered and selfish in real life. This wedding is clearly all about him and what he wants. There is little regard to her. The rings, wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses all together cost around the same price as the suits. Not cool! To top it off, he spent $2,200 on the 2-day bachelor party in a penthouse suite at the Palms Place. Her bachelorette party was a little less. For a little over $600, Cary had Aileen’s favorite restaurant prepare a proper 7-course Japanese meal for her and her friends. He made one mistake…his boys were texting. In the middle of her meal, Aileen learned her fiancé spent a bundle on himself. Suddenly the thoughtful dinner was lost on her. She was disappointed and worried. Trying to recover from the news, she headed to the dress shop to learn…she had a rented dress. Hearing that Cary was specific about the details and changes on the dress, Aileen began to feel a little better. Finally something was about her.
Back from his trip, Cary jumped right in to wrapping up the details. It was hard at times with Aileen’s parents. There weren’t arguments, but there was a language barrier. In an attempt to honor them and their Korean tradition, he set out to purchase a goose for them…to symbolize his fidelity. I felt for him. His bird phobia is as bad as mine. Once he realized handing a bird off in the middle of the ceremony in a new suit wasn’t going to be easy, he opted to find another tradition. With only 24 hours to go, he needed to think fast.
In the meantime TJ informed Aileen that she was to be at the hotel to get ready for the wedding. Unfortunately Cary forgot to tell the bridesmaids or hair and makeup. She sat waiting in the lobby all alone. Finally her maid of honor gives her call and they work to coordinate. After waiting an hour and half alone, finally the makeup artist arrives and soon after the bridesmaids arrived. Finally the moment was there. Standing at the altar, Cary took the time to address her parents….all in Korean. It was both thoughtful and touching.
In the end I guess the dress, the venue, the cake or food really doesn’t matter. It is all about the love. But I hope she never finds out about the suits!