Guest post by Anna

Interesting experience, a wedding fair. I had never been to one, and, truth be told, wasn't so keen on going to the Surrey Welcome Wagon Wedding Fair. But, the timing was right and Bel had the tickets, so off we went.
Anticipating heavy traffic, we left an hour and half early. My Montreal driving skills combined with an open HOV lane got us to our destination 50 minutes early. Our options were sit in the car (we lasted about three minutes at that), mingle with golfers at the 19th hole (we were at a golf course banquet hall), or see if we could get in to the wedding fair before the doors opened.

We saw two vendors heading towards the fair and followed in directly behind them. That is, I did. Bella had more of a dramatic entrance. Picture a mostly empty hall, abuzz with the activity of vendors setting up, models getting their hair done. Then picture Bella slamming her four-inch steel-toed shoes into the door's kickplate--thereby attracting the attention of all those inside the hall with what can only be described as a thunderous noise. All activity in the hall stops and attention turns to the source of the noise at the doorway, and, with one steel-toe firmly under the kickplate, Bella hurtles herself into the hall, arms akimbo and long black jacket opening up behind her as if for flight. <that is so completely, entire untrue! they were sensible, low-heeled pumps -ed.>

Needless to say, it did not take long for the Welcome Wagon lady to come over to ask us if we were vendors or models. Being neither, we were booted from the hall by the very door by which we had gained our stealthy entrance. Not to be daunted, we raced around the building repeatedly, found the true entrance and lined-up. First in line. First through the door when it opened 40 minutes later. We even bypassed all the booths and the entry forms for free prizes in order to get the best seats in the house for the fashion show. (Though we did get up, once our territory was clearly marked, to fill in some entry forms.)

Part way through the fashion show we realized the whole point of the evening is to win door prizes. That's it. You go to the booths, chit chat for a minute, fill out a form, then during the fashion show, you win prizes. That is, if you've filled out the forms. We had a paltry amount of chances. <note - the door prizes were actually based on door tickets, so it turns out I was entered for all the draws. The forms I filled out at the booths - just voluntarily giving my phone number to a whole lot of saleswomen. Smart. -ed>

But it was good entertainment, seeing as we could not actually watch the fashion show. You see, our seats, the ones we had raced to stake out, turned out to be directly in front of the mega-watt spotlight. There was a point where my eyes were actually tearing from the brightness, so I spent the entire fashion show watching the runway floor. Bella attempted to take pictures of the models, and now has a collection of photos of bright white circlesSo the prize draws were a pleasant way to pass the time. And such prizes! Weekend getaways to ocean-front resorts. Serving sets for the new home. Photography packages. Wedding decorator gift certificates. Massage oils. Bouquets. Spa packages. All sorts of romantic things.

Each time one was announced, Bella could be heard "Me! me! me!" under her breath. But the name called was always Jenny or Lisa or Blanche.

Then they announced a one-year subscription to the oh-so-sexy TV Week magazine. All I heard beside me was a quiet "Ugh. No way. I don't want that. Not me. Not me. No. No. No."
And the host announced "Bella Garfolo!"

A hushed audience. No one answered. No one claimed the prize. Beside me, I heard a muffled "Oh, you have got to be kidding me." A long paused elapsed as everyone, my sister included, looked around the room, waiting for Bella Garfolo to claim her prize. Finally, Bel weakly put up her hand and said "I guess that's me."
That's right, out of about 70 ultra-romantic prize packages, Bella managed to score the prize that says "Honey, now that we're married, let's forget all the fanfare and settle down to a nice evening of TV-watching." And, instead of memories that will last a lifetime (the getaways, the photographs, etc), Bel and David will have one year of weekly TV updates. Almost brings a tear to the eye...Actually, it did, as I don't recall laughing so hard in recent memory. (I spent the rest of the Fair making little "T" and "V" symbols with my fingers, with no end to the hilarity.)

I am now a convert. Wedding Fairs are fun! I tried to get Bel to sign up for the Burnaby Welcome Wagon Wedding Fair next week (can you imagine: *two* years of TV week!?!?), but she has declined. Perhaps her schedule has already been filled with all sorts of scheduled television programming.