Mike, Juliet, Sam, Bill, two Bridezillas and me

If you saw the show this morning, your jaw probably dropped to the floor like mine did. A bride who was mad that one of her bridesmaids had to leave to attend to her baby in the ER with a 103 fever? A bride who made all of her bridesmaids cut out carbs and attend a boot camp so they'd be beautiful in the photos for her? When they cut to me, I was still reeling from some of what I heard. The audience actually gasped at some of what those brides had to say. Mike and Juliet turned to look at me for solutions to the Bridezilla problem, and my first sentence was out of shock...and then I launched into how Bridezilla behavior is actually the opposite of etiquette, how a bully bride is far from the ideal. In a nutshell, the two Bridezillas weren't too fond of me. ;) But it had to be said. In our era of praising spoiled heiresses and the Me First generation, an etiquette expert requesting consideration and respect for others isn't going to be voted prom queen. I was there to do a job, and I got the message out -- today's bride is not the Bridezilla. There's just a tiny percentage that gravitate toward a reality show. For every me-first bride, there are a thousand brides who take care to meet their guests needs and who would drive that bridesmaid to the ER to be with her baby. So let's just say I pretty much hung out by myself in the green room.

It wasn't an icky crowd at all. I loved seeing the PAs and producers running around doing their jobs, the Blackberries in full use, the hosts mingling with all the guests, and Sam from Top Chef getting his coffee and saying a quick hello to me. I'm a big Top Chef fan -- the marathon is on right now as I'm working -- and Sam is one of my favorites. So it was really nice to meet him as well as say hello to Bill Bellamy (who, I've just found out, Joe was actually on television with, years ago in college).

So now that Joe has picked up the bandages I got him for his softball tournament injuries (my man's a warrior!), I'm working into the night to complete a bunch of almost-done assignments. Tomorrow I'm back in the city for a big meeting, and Friday is rest-the-back day. I'm not moving at all.