McAllen bridal fair excites many for the special day

McALLEN – Sampling wedding cakes, comparing dozens of fancy forks and watching a bridal gown fashion show was not at the top of Ray Lozano’s Sunday to-do list.

But as his fiancé of two years excitedly skipped from booth to booth at the “I Love You” Wedding Extravaganza at the McAllen Convention Center, the 34-year-old Mission resident said he did not mind the affair.

“It’s better than mowing the lawn in this heat,” Lozano said. “We’ve put off our wedding for too long … can you blame her for being so excited?”

His soon-to-be-spouse, 31-year-old Becca Ruiz, loaded her man with bag after bag, overflowing with gift items and brochures to help her fine tune the details of her upcoming Nov. 5 wedding.

Ruiz said she’s usually not the type to gush over “girly” things like silverware and ice sculptures.

“But we finally set the date last month, and I can’t wait to show everyone I love and the world what Ray means to me,” she said. “It’s a lot of money to have a wedding, but it’s the one day that’s supposed to mean everything to you and your spouse.

“So it’s more than worth it,” Ruiz added.

Attendees like her enjoyed decadent displays of centerpieces, gowns, dance floors, towering cakes and more.

One booth even hosted a swank shuttle bus ready for a bachelor or bachelorette’s final night of being single.

“My friends would know how to enjoy that,” Thomas Alvarez said.

He had joined a buzzing group of 10 women, including his girlfriend, who were helping a friend choose wedding favors.

Alvarez said he couldn’t help but catch the wedding fever, as well.

“(My girlfriend and I) agreed not to get married until much later,” the 26-year-old Edinburg pharmacist said, but “all this stuff is so great. We could throw parties with this forever.

“I think my girl’s changing her mind, too, though,” Alvarez said, as his girlfriend tried on veils. “I might have underestimated what this fair would do to her.”

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Neal Morton covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956)683-4472.