Tables, not just for HTML anymore

By this time Liz and I were happily engaged, and starting on plans for the wedding itself. We were coming back from a visit to her parent's house when Liz and I had our first . . . disagreement about the wedding.

The discussion was about, of all things, tables. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

On the drive back, Liz spoke up.

"Sweetie, how do you feel about having tables at the reception?"

In my mind's eye, I made an overhead picture of how I envisioned the reception. Tables on one side, dance area over there, and food over there. Yes, there were tables there. One chair per guest. When I replied, I had no idea I was precipitating a conversation of such importance.

"I had always pictured tables at the reception. Why?"

I know now why the misunderstanding occurred. In Liz's mind, I had the whole reception area crammed full of tables, with the guests packed immobile like so much veal calves around them. Her reply displayed that.

"I had wanted to have it open, so people could mingle and walk around and not be stuck at some table. Maybe a few chairs by the walls, but not any tables"

Cue my mental image. I thought of a college party, with about seventy-odd people shambling around and 4 chairs dispersed through the whole room, each occupied by about seven people. And I was inviting my grandparents to the wedding. While Liz may have felt up to standing for 4-5 hours, I wasn't about to tell my grandparents to suck it up and cope.

"But people are going to want to sit down. I'm going to want to sit down. I really think it'd be a lot better if we had tables."

It seesawed back and forth. Liz wanted people to be able to freely mingle and talk. I wanted somewhere for people to sit. She didn't want people to get stuck at a table with people they didn't want to sit with. I wanted tables so families could stick together if they wanted to. She didn't want to assign seats. I didn't care about seats, I just wanted people to be able to sit together if they wanted.

We ended up understanding what the other was trying to say and compromised. Tables for everyone, but plenty of open space for talking, mingling, dancing, etc. Assigned seats only for the wedding party, everyone else gets to pick and choose where they're sitting.

And I just know there's more coming . . .

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