I am on somewhat of an odd search.

It’s a search for bronze. Well, more specifically, a search for bronze shoes.

You see, my best friend from high school is getting married in September.

And – as best friends from high school usually do – I’ll be there fulfilling all of my bridesmaid duties.

Having been in my fair share of weddings, I can tell you that you learn a lot about the kind of people your friends are during the entire wedding planning process.

For example, I never would have thought a discolored flower girl’s sash could cause an emotional upheaval to anyone I call my friend.

I mean, come on, it’s just a piece of fabric.

But, alas, apparently that sash can cause a breakdown – as I witnessed firsthand just a couple of years ago.

Thankfully, Christy, the latest bride-to-be, is strikingly similar to how I feel I will be in my wedding planning (although to be fair, my dream wedding consists of nothing more than a new dress, a groom, a pastor, two sets of parents and a getaway car – my mom has her objections, but I lovingly remind her I can still cut my guest list if need be).

Anyway, the point is, my friend has been wonderfully laid back about her requests for the bridesmaids.

We got to pick our own dresses.

We can get our hair done however we wish.

We even get to pick out our own jewelry.

These may seem like small details, but they are major victories in the world of a bridesmaid.

The only real direction my friend had for us regarded our shoes.

Our dresses are wine-colored, and she requested that we wear bronze shoes.

Bronze.

Again, this may sound like a simple task, but it has proven not to be one at all.

On my own I couldn’t really nail down what kind of bronze she was looking for, so, last week, she and I went shoe shopping together to try and get an idea of what she wanted.

We found golden shoes and light brown shoes, and even one particularly shiny pair of burnt orange shoes, but not bronze shoes.

Christy, being the low-maintenance bride that she is, said I should just get the gold shoes and call it a day. But, now it has become a mission.

So, Suffolk, if you have any leads on where I should head, let me know. Until then, I’m going to call members of the 2004 U.S. Men’s Olympic Basketball team to see if they’ll let me borrow their medals for a reference point.