[BimmerGuy]

Weddings. Love them or hate them, they're a part of life and we all know it. I do however think they're the one thing that can potentially cause more confusion than just about anything else. My dilemma is two-fold A) Should I bring a guest and if so is a friend appropriate B) If yes, would you recommend I ask this certain friend

So A) is pretty easy (I think). I say this because my invitation had "...and guest"� on it. Straight forward right? Well, not exactly. When I received the invitation I was with my then girlfriend of a few years but we have since split for good (that could be a whole other post all together... ). After that whole ordeal I shot a note to the couple letting them know the situation and that I was no longer with someone and that I would be more than happy to offer the "+1"� nod to another person of choice else if they'd like. They responded saying:

"Do not worry about this one bit! We are still collecting responses so we have plenty of time it is completely up to you if you want to bring someone else, or come alone. Either way will cause no extra stress, promise. I appreciate you letting me know so quickly and I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully it will be for the best. Take care!"

So we are good there. Question is, would a female friend� be appropriate (I'm male)? I don't mind going alone (and in a few ways would rather do that... ) but do have a few friends who would be a lot of fun to take. Whatever guest it would be would be new to the whole group of friends I will have at the wedding (I recently moved for work) and I know they could care less and would welcome anyone I bring, just don't want to be discourteous to the hosts.

So now to part deuce. Honestly this is more to address my TOTAL loss of understanding any and all signs of interest given from women after being in a relationship for three years. So the friend I'm contemplating asking is a co-worker that I have hung out with at a couple group happy hours before. We always get along, laugh, joke but since I was with someone I couldn't tell if she was trying to flirt with me but out of respect holding off or what. Couple examples, when at a bar one night as we're talking she touched my arm making a point for a minute (before my then girlfriend noticed... ), if we text she responds within milliseconds and sometimes with multiple replies of length (for example I was supposed to meet her and her friends out one night and got two lengthy messages about their plans and subsequent plan changes, not one or two word answers), I also texted her once joking that I was "�jealous" she got to go to the back of an aquarium to meet some turtles and in response got 3 text pictures of them, she's replied more than once to group emails to just me, joking that her and I seem to be the only "social drinkers" in the company� when no one else replied on the chain and I was one of two guys (my then girlfriend was included... ) to be invited to a somewhat girly holiday thing she and her roommates were throwing (the other guy we work with and is part of our happy hour "group"� but married).

Maybe I'm reading into things or maybe she is just an incredibly flirty person. I haven't knocked enough “singledom rust� off to tell. Anyway I'd like to ask her to the event as we would without a doubt have fun, she could hold her own meeting all my friends, etc. Question is I don't want to make things awkward (while I will admit I do have interest in her... ) or anything as I'm nowhere close to wanting to start anything right now on account of recently being out of something else. With the signs above would it be a bad call to simply ask, as a friend to join? If so is there a way to ask her as a friend without it sounding like a "date?"

So questions? Comments? Recommendations?

Thanks!

[JudyKayTee]

This is very jumbled (cut and pasted - ?) and almost too long to read and digest.

It's one event - ask her to go. It's not a lifetime commitment and all dates don't to relationships and marriage.

I think you are looking too far ahead.

She'll either say yes or no, of course, and then you can plan where to go from there.