Brides' Night Out

Tis the season for meeting Internet friends!

First Andre, now the knotties.

Who are the knotties, you ask? Well, the girls from the Milwaukee message board of The Knot.com of course. Fellow brides and brides-to-be from the area who, like me, spend an incredible amount of time online planning their wedding, reading about other people’s weddings, and best of all, talking to other women on the Internet about their weddings.

I’ve been on The Knot here and there for a little over a year now, and in the past couple of months, I’ve been visiting just about every day, several times a day. The boards – my favorites being Fall Weddings, Honeymoons, Getting In Shape, and of course, the Milwaukee board – are going nonstop with postings from women all around the country. And most knotties agree – it becomes an addiction!

I’d heard of the GTGs before – that’s get-togethers – that take place all over and consist of local knotties getting together to meet in person, have some drinks and talk more about their weddings. There have been a few in Milwaukee since I’ve been on the site, but I’ve never been to one.

When I met with three other Milwaukee knotties at Broadway Paper earlier this month, we discussed the need for a GTG. After some polling on what would work best for everyone, we planned it for last night at the Milwaukee Ale House and invited all the Milwaukee gals.

I wasn’t sure what to expect and I was a little nervous heading downtown after work yesterday, but it turned out to be SUCH a fun night!



The group of 20-25 of us sat on the outside patio along the Riverwalk at four tables pushed together. We wore geeky nametags with our real names and Knot names on them so we could identify each other (I’m ENev - nice to meet you) and got to know each other a bit. Everyone commented right away on how people in our “real” lives thought we were nerdy for coming to this – they just don’t understand. :)

It was just very fun to talk weddings with girls who are going through or have recently gone through the same period of their lives. Often, you can only talk about your wedding for a couple of minutes before you start to bore the people in your everyday lives, which is understandable. But this is such an exciting time, and we brides-to-be are immersed in the planning process and so we naturally have weddings on the brain much of the time! To be able to talk about wedding stuff for six straight hours last night was pretty cool, I have to admit.



When I arrived at the Ale House, which is on Water Street in the Third Ward, I had to use the bathroom very badly, but decided I’d wait until I was seated to get up and go. Then I got to talking and decided to wait until after we’d ordered our dinners. Well, after more than an hour and a glass of wine, I finally decided to head to the restroom.

I was just zipping up (LOL – sorry) when the lights suddenly went out. I blinked and tried to adjust my eyes, but there was nothing – it was PITCH dark in there, and the lights weren’t coming back on. I left the stall and tried to feel my way back to the door, which was no easy task. I got a bit panicky – the pitch dark is scary! – but finally found the door. I opened it and found that the power had gone out and everyone was kind of looking around like “what happened?” And no, I didn’t get to wash my hands – the automatic faucets weren’t working!
I went back outside and told my little story, and then went back to visiting and drinking and waiting for my food (with clean hands – one girl had sanitizer in her purse.)

Forty-five minutes later, the power still hadn’t gone back on and our waitress told us that they were closing up for the night. A generator had blown down the street and the whole block was out. They didn’t even comp any of our drinks or anything, though. Oh well – guess they couldn’t control what happened. I’ll have to get back to the Ale House – I was really looking forward to my veggie pasta!

After some quick thinking, we called over to La Fuente to see if they could accommodate our large group and they said they could, so we piled in our cars and headed over there.



One long table was set up for us and we sat down and proceeded to mow on the chips and salsa that lined the middle of the table. It was 9:00 by this time and we were starving! We spent the next hour and a half eating Mexican food, drinking margaritas, taking pictures and being silly.

I thought La Fuente was really cute inside and the service was great. The food was just alright – not as good as I expected it to be, but still enjoyable.

I finally made it home around 11:00, quite full, a little drunk, and totally happy – I had such fun, and I hope we knotties do another GTG soon!

And since we're speaking weddings - mine is four months from today. Four months from this very minute, I will be at my reception, already married and ready to dance the night away. Oh my gosh.

Comments

[Anne]

Very nice post, ENev:-) I'm jealous you get to do this blog. I wish I was as computer savvy. Hope to see you soon at another GTG.

-ariggy

[Dave]

Ewww you didn't wash your hands? Dirtball.

[Charlie]

Hmmm... sounds like a real girly good time!

Ah, La Fuente... great margaritas. Although they have gotten me into troube in the past... let's just say I proposed marriage and am now engaged to 2 co-workers...

yikes! :)

[Derek]

I was hoping to be the next "blog buddy" you met but I don't know now after that non-hand washing incident!

[Alba]

You were drinking WINE at the Milwaukee ALE House?!? I know you normally don't like beer, but they have GOOD beer there!

[Christi]

hehehe silly brides =)

Glad you had fun!!

[Juggling Mother]

Oh yes, i remember the fun planning my wedding was - and how nobody else was very interested (except my mother, but we mostly argued!). I also talked onlne a fair bit:-) It sounds like a good night was had by all despite the power outage.

Here from Micheles today

[utenzi]

It's certainly nice to have a hobby, Erin, and talking about weddings is more fun than collecting stamps. I guess. More a girl-thing, y'know?

Michele sent me off to see you, Erin. And Milwaukee, of course.

[kate]

Great blog!

Good luck on your wedding,

Here from Michelles,

Kate

[Terri]

Hi Erin...Here from Michele's.
Not sure why you couldn't post on my blog. The comment area to click is on the lower right after my entry, but thanks for visiting.
This sounded like a fun night out...sans the power failure. My cousin lives in Oak Creek, close to Milwaukee.

[Jessica]

Love your energy! Would you be interested in being a Bride's Night Out Party Consultant? Give me a call or send me an email.