Check yes or no

Posted Tuesday, August 14, 2007 6:34 PM

I knew they would come. I mean, they had to, right? But knowing they are coming and seeing them in person are two different things. I'm talking about our response card. The coolest thing to reach my mailbox since those free samples of Jelly Belly I requested by senior year of college. We sent our invitations out one week ago. By the end of last week, we had received the first four response cards – all yes.

The card our guests fill out says:

______ Yes, I / we will be ready to celebrate

______ No, but I/we will be thinking of you

I loved seeing that people not only checked off that they were coming, they wrote notes expressing how excited they were and wished us mazel tov. Some even circled whether they were an "I" or a "We."

The fact that Adam and I got so excited over the responses must mean that 1) we're slowly losing our brain cells to this wedding; 2) we're so utterly exhausted after moving me in that we're downright giddy; 3) we can't get over how wonderful our friends and family are; or 4) a combination of 1, 2 and 3.

Every time we check the mailbox I giggle when I picture thet scene in "Father of the Bride" where Annie Banks' parents, George and Nina, are sorting through responses. The "Yes" box they are keeping the cards in is overflowing, while the "Decline" box is practically empty.

Some brides-to-be on theknot.com also keep a counter in their signature line indicating how many R.S.V.P.s they sent out and received back. Something like that just stresses me out, so I opted not to. Bride's prerogative.

I have a very cute recipe card-like box where all our R.S.V.P.s are waiting patiently until I figure out what to do with them (I'm open for suggestions).

The R.S.V.P.s mean the wedding day is drawing closer and closer (60-something at last count). All of our guests were told to respond by Oct. 1, which means I have a chance to remind our guests when I see them at our joint bachelor/bachelorette party in August, my shower in September, Rosh Hashana in Chicago and Yom Kippur in Los Angeles. Not that too many people should need reminding when they have a month and a half to write a checkmark and send back a pre-stamped envelope – but you never know.