# 154 - Wrapping Up Filming "Randy to the Rescue"

Okay everyone, Deputy Dave and I are working hard to get OUT of the city, but it seems as if fate has a few big city moments in store for us yet.

It looks like we are putting our house on the market next month and I'll soon be sharing more pictures of country houses that Deputy Dave and I fell in love with during our recent Texas road-trips, but this past week definitely put us in the throes of more big city moments.

To start, Randy, a charismatic reality television personality on "Say Yes to the Dress" is going to be the star in his own reality show series --- a show with his name in the title. It will be dubbed, "Randy to the Rescue." It appears that he is wrapping up his affiliation with "Say Yes to the Dress" after this contract period is at an end and he will be dedicating his incredible energies to his new series. My family will be helping this series launch.

I can only imagine how they have edited this Momma who is writing this blog entry...there's no telling how I will appear to the public...scary thought.

Yes, this past week, my family and I were on set, filming to be on a reality show.

No, I can't believe it either.

My daughters and I with Randy.

So much for trying to get away from the city, but I sure was glad to leave the big-time city moments in Dallas and get home to my backyard chickens in the Greater Houston area and to keep making plans to get moved as soon as possible to the country!

If you've not seen Randy before, then tune to TLC for the New York version of "Say Yes to the Dress" and you'll see who we've spent time with over this past week --- as our family was on the set filming my daughter selecting her wedding dress.

The new show, "Randy to the Rescue," will be seen on TLC cable network this coming summer. My oldest daughter and my family will be a part of the series opening.

We are thrilled, but only because, frankly, I didn't believe that Heather would find THE wedding dress during the filming of this episode, but she did. And we're thrilled because the entire experience of filming was made unbelievable enjoyable by the joyful nature of Randy and his crew. If only all of Hollywood were so gracious!

And, if you see the show this coming summer, you'll see that I bawled like a big baby...a delayed kind of crying...AFTER they had actually stopped filming. I don't really know what happened, but all of a sudden, I was staring at the back of Heather's dress and realizing that this was going to be the dress that I'd see my baby wear on her wedding day! My emotions gathered like a sudden tornado, and I became overwhelmed by a whirlwind of emotions.

I can't show the dress, but everyone who watches the show this coming summer will actually get to see the dress she will be wearing to her wedding in October. As for her fiance, Henry, he will be allowed to watch the show only up until the part when she is coming down the runway for her grand reveal as I stand there shaking and about to become a puddle of mush again.

For those who are followers of my blog, it might warm your heart to know that Deputy Dave is man enough to put aside the macho attitude so that he too could become a big puddle of mush while watching his baby girl come out in THE dress. And since he'd been the most difficult to please with finding a wedding dress, this was quite a moment.

The scene on set had been quite tense prior to her finding the perfect dress, the fourth dress she tried on in the studio, because daddy had his own set of ideas for a wedding dress, then I had my own set of ideas about the perfect wedding dress and Heather's younger sister, Stefie (who we also call "Sunny") also had her own ideas about the wedding dress, and our differing STRONG opinions absolutely needed a "Randy to the Rescue" kind of intervention.

Stefie taking a final on set while taking a break from filming.
I am so proud of her, she finished her semester with a BANG,
in spite of the distractions of being filmed for television!

We weren't faking it or trying to put on a show because we only needed to be ourselves to show how difficult it can really be for a bride to find a perfect wedding dress that also pleases her family. For the bride who actually cares about how their family feels about the matter, it can be extremely stressful for all involved, especially the bride.

Stefie, as the little sister, definitely had strong opinions. Her small size should not betray her big attitude!

Deputy Dave did not want see his daughter in a wedding dress with ANY skin exposed.

I (as the Momma) was fighting for old-fashioned Southern lace sleeves...for ANY lace.

Stefie wanted her sissy to wear a mermaid style wedding dress that the fiance hates.

Heather also had two friends on set, but they could not compete with this family's strong desires and outspoken personalities. These friends are sweet, but are not a part of the actual wedding...they were giving their full support for the filming of the show, giving their important input and their support was so nice! I hope they have a ball watching themselves on television.

The point is...Randy did indeed come to our rescue. I never imagined that he would be able to meet our Southern values and ideals about a wedding dress while being able to merge our differing opinions, but he did.

He is a genuine nice man who is very in-tuned with the bride and her family. I appreciate his kindness, his straight-forward attitude, and his diplomacy.

Heather and Stefie are talking to the stylist that was
on the show --- the stylist, Michelle, is in the center. So sweet!

I truly thought we'd have a nice experience on the set for filming the show, but that we'd walk away empty handed...no dress. However, Heather actually walked away with her dress on order and paid for in full. The dress ordered via on set was actually less expensive than the same dress we'd seen in a Houston bridal shop...it was such a pleasant surprise! We did not select the dress from the Houston dress shop because it needed a big change, which Randy provided...making the dress uniquely Heather's and suited to her wedding theme of "City Girl Meets Country Boy."



Heather and Henry - an engagement photo.

Yes, even if you go on the show, you must pay for your own wedding dress.

Overall, the experience of being on this show, "Randy to the Rescue," was incredible. Since we'd already been to a couple of shops to search for a wedding dress, we had a nice comparison, and I can tell you that every bride and her family should be as totally embraced during the wedding dress selection as we had been during this experience.

The entire ordeal gave us a full emotional connection to our beautiful daughter, as a bride, and it gave her a complete, honest picture of our opinions, which is crucial since our opinions actually matter to Heather.

Randy and his customized big rig full of dresses, traveling from New York to Dallas, definitely came to our "rescue" because the other dress shops had not hit the nail on the head. Plus, I cannot give away the mystery, but Randy's elegant change to the final wedding dress shocked me and touched my heart to the depths of my soul. He went the extra mile and impressed this mama in a way that I would not imagine he'd take the time to do.

He truly listens to the bride and to the family...making the upcoming wedding day something to truly look forward to with great anticipation.

In fact, the dress that Heather selected couldn't have been more magical for a girl's dreams-come-true on her wedding day. Randy specifically addressed all of our valid concerns, but thankfully, Heather didn't have to obey her mom and dad and get a wedding dress with a turtleneck and sleeves.

Of course, I do not like crying in front of anyone, but at the end of the filming, after she'd selected her actual wedding dress, I cried and cried. Seeing my daughter in the perfect dress made the wedding a reality. It didn't seem real until I saw her standing there in that gorgeous dress and flowing veil; I pictured my husband and her walking arm in arm down the aisle on her wedding day and that vision became my undoing.

As I began to contemplate that precious moment, it was a good thing that I was already sitting down or I would have probably slid to the ground wilting with emotion. As that mental picture of Deputy Dave walking his daughter down the aisle began to take place in my mind, I believe the filming was actually over, but my delayed reaction didn't miss the sharp eye of the production crew; cameras were immediately yanked back up to their shoulders as filming resumed. I thought I'd be able to cry and not be on camera, but never underestimate the endurance of a film crew!

My sweet, protective Stefie put her hands over my face to try to protect me from being filmed as I cried, but she was told to quit covering me up --- I guess it is their goal to catch such things on camera! She tried!! Eventually, Randy had to hand me a few tissues, then the ENTIRE BOX.

Heather and Randy

I told my little niece that she would see her aunt crying on television because MY BABY was beautiful in her wedding dress, and my little, wise five-year old niece told me, "Everyone has happy times when they are so happy that they cry!"

Yes indeed. I was THAT happy!

It was a precious moment for me to see my daughter in this moment that a parent dreams of experiencing with their daughter.

I am blessed, even if I am a big baby who can't stop crying at the vision of my first-born in her wedding dress.