The Wedding Update

The news is full of worthy blog topics:

• Swine flu vs. the media – which makes you more sick?
• Changing the wine & beer distribution laws in Washington state – how do they protect us?
• The US Gov putting stronger restrictions on banks that want to repay the TARP funds. WTF!!?
• Why are there Ted Nugent songs on my iPod?

Ok, that last one wasn’t in the newspaper but it is a product of the changes in my life now that Jason and I are merging our lives. The preparations are moving along smoothly. We established joint checking and savings accounts. We will be talking to Dan the friendly mortgage lender about our options for purchasing a free standing house to live in and my condo is on target to be officially sold as of tomorrow.

Preparations for the big party are also on target. We met with the coordinator at our location and were able to secure a few extra hours before the event which will greatly improve the odds that the reception site will be perfectly decorated before any guest arrives. It also means we can do our wedding photos on site before the wedding. I was worried about trying to drive to an alternate location in “the” dress and trying to find an attractive place without other people around.

The liquor list has been selected. Jason’s parents, who live in Colorado where taxes are noticeably less, are on the hunt for good sales. They will bring the hooch with them when they drive up for the wedding. I’m sad to report that this will be a tequila free wedding. Those of you who find that to be disappointing news should know that we couldn’t agree on the quality of the tequila. We discussed a very high quality tequila and then agreed that it would be sad to see a tequila of that magnitude mixed with anything let alone made into ghetto margaritas. In the end we decided that the mixer situation was simpler without the addition of tequila. If you require shots of Patron Silver to keep you friendly during a social gathering of this type – bring your own flask.

The music selection is almost finalized. I think we have a fun mix of happy party songs and some lively dance music. There will be some sweet romantic music to sway to with your honey. I demand that you dance! Golly, that was awfully pushy. Sorry. It is my greatest dream that you will be moved to boogie at our wedding. That was a softer and yet still manipulative way of expressing my desire.

We found a calligrapher. A WHAT!? Of all the silly things to spend money on for the wedding I have skipped on the monogrammed bar napkins, matches and printed ribbons. We aren’t releasing doves or butterflies to signify the expression of our love. We haven’t rented a limo to drive us the .6 miles from the reception site to the hotel and so far, I’ve only purchased two pairs of potential wedding shoes. (I say so far because I found a different pair that are more “weddingy” and look comfortable. We’ll see what I actually end up with.) Ok, back to the justification for a calligrapher. My handwriting is horrid, Jason’s screams “dude” and I think it would be wrong to ask Yaz to address all of my invitations. A formal invitation with a pretty hand written address just says ‘wedding’ to me. It’s an expense that makes me happy – so I’m doing it!

The floor plans for the reception and ceremony have been mapped out. Some of these little decisions really mean nothing and some give me goose bumps. The placement of chairs and the “altar” for the ceremony makes my heart beat a little faster and my throat gets a little thick as my eyes mist up. I’m excited about this party that we’re pulling together, but those 30 minutes on the lawn are what it is all about. I’ve said all the vows of commitment to Jason over the course of the last ten months and nothing we say to each other in that moment will be new, but it is certainly significant to express them publicly. Significant and likely an emotional event; prepare yourselves to see your sarcastic, witty friend show emotion – but bring your own tissue because we didn’t splurge on custom monogrammed tissue either.