My boyfriend (at the time), I'll call him "Randy" was an attorney who had gone to law school in San Diego (we lived in L.A.). He received a wedding invitation from an old college friend whom he had only seen a few times since then. The wedding was set for October 31st, Halloween night and while the invitation was formal, it stated, "Please wear costumes". The location was not at a church, but at a Women’s Club Hall. I might add that this was a second marriage for the bride and that all of us were in our 30s and 40s. Because of all this, I assumed this would not be a "formal affair". I might also add that I had never met either the bride or the groom.

My assumption was further justified when Randy told me that his friend, the Groom to be, was known to be quite the "prankster" and he thought that this wedding would be great fun! So we began to plan our costumes. We decided that it would be hilarious to go as a "shotgun wedding" bride and groom. I was going to wear a (previously used) wedding dress of a friend; this dress was not a formal gown, but a tasteful, lacey, "prom dress" and I was going to stuff a pillow at my waist to look like a pregnant bride. Randy was going to wear an old time "preacher’s outfit" and carry a toy shotgun.

Now to the day of the wedding.

The wedding location was about two hours away from our house and, while they say, "it never rains in California", on that day it was a torrential downpour. At the last minute we decided not to wear our costumes for the drive, but to bring them along and change when we got there. We dressed in what I would consider acceptable "non-formal" wedding attire.

Because of the rain, the traffic was horrible and we arrived at the Women’s Club a few minutes after the start of the wedding. There was no time to change into our costumes so we just sneaked into the back of the club to watch the remainder of the ceremony.

To my astonishment, not one person was wearing a costume. In fact, everyone was wearing very tasteful formal wedding attire. I was horrified at the thought that, had the weather not been bad, we would have bounded into this room with our funny costumes on only to be mortified that we were the only ones dressed liked that.

After the ceremony, however, many of the attendees did change into costumes. But the costumes they wore were not funny, humorous ones like we had planned, but big, elaborate Renaissance-type gowns and Shakespearean outfits that looked like they were from an opera or a ballet.

Well, I sat there glaring at my boyfriend and thanking my lucky stars that we did not make this horrible "faux pas" when I happened to glance at the receiving line. There was an older man standing in it that looked familiar to me. I asked some people around us who that man was and was told he was the father of the bride. I knew that I’d seen him before and I thought and thought and all of a sudden I realized who he was. He was the Chairman of the Board of the company that I worked for!

So, that is my story of "near complete humiliation". I do not understand to this day why the invitation, which was for Halloween night, had said, "Please wear costumes" without further explanation of what we should expect.