(no subject)
So. The van is all but packed. There is a 36 point list of things that must not be forgotten. Things like our rings, our vows, the dress... you know, things that we must not forget that are very obvious. We're down to just the dress and the rings to go in the van. Given a couple hours' time, we will be heading off to the hills of Medford.
Given three days, we will be married.
The last several months have been hectic. Adventures trying to get tuxedos, a last minute change in groomsmen, stress trying to make sure that our wedding cake reservation isn't forgotten about.. the typical wedding preparation stuff. The bottom line -- if we ever choose to renew our vows down the line in one of those "get re-married" types of deals, someone else will be responsible for all of the planning. And... I'm sick of the planning piece, and quite frankly ready for the wedding to be here and over, and the marriage itself to begin.
And the joke --- I've had minimal planning responsibilities! The really good thing in the last several weeks is that we've both given up on the small details. It has made it easy to look at the big picture and has saved us each what I can imagine would have been a lot of stress.
So... I wrote my vows over the last week. I thought I had them all written out on Thursday, just wanted to change some phrasing. That turned into an all-nighter last night. I spent 5 hours last night on and off working on vows, from 9pm to 2 am. At this point, they hardly even resemble Thursday's draft. Actually, I think the only word that stayed the same was the first one, and that's Amanda's name! Anyhow, that was more difficult than I'd assumed it would be. I try to strike a balance between my colloquial tone and the solemnity of wedding vows... but at the same time if I'm going to write my own vows, I want them to be laced with comments that my friends and family will appreciate but that my fiancée will truly understand to be jokes, or references to past experiences. At the same time, I don't want to see myself as dwelling on the past - after all, a wedding is the start of a new chapter. See what I mean? So much to say but so little time...
I tried reading the vows aloud last night. The words fit. The cadence works. The words say exactly what I mean to say. They are... right. It is weird to hear myself saying them, though. Does that make sense? The words are the words that I've seen on TV, movies, and in others' weddings. Not the exact words, but you get the idea... I feel a slight pang of nerves hearing myself say words like cherish, marriage, wife... you get the idea.
In fact, that's the first nerves I've felt in the entire engagement & marriage process to date. There will likely be more nerves to follow but so far I've been filled with the excitement of it all.
Anyway, it's time for me to help finish packing. I just thought I'd get out some pre-wedding thoughts as this is likely my last chance to do so. Next post... the wedding!
Given three days, we will be married.
The last several months have been hectic. Adventures trying to get tuxedos, a last minute change in groomsmen, stress trying to make sure that our wedding cake reservation isn't forgotten about.. the typical wedding preparation stuff. The bottom line -- if we ever choose to renew our vows down the line in one of those "get re-married" types of deals, someone else will be responsible for all of the planning. And... I'm sick of the planning piece, and quite frankly ready for the wedding to be here and over, and the marriage itself to begin.
And the joke --- I've had minimal planning responsibilities! The really good thing in the last several weeks is that we've both given up on the small details. It has made it easy to look at the big picture and has saved us each what I can imagine would have been a lot of stress.
So... I wrote my vows over the last week. I thought I had them all written out on Thursday, just wanted to change some phrasing. That turned into an all-nighter last night. I spent 5 hours last night on and off working on vows, from 9pm to 2 am. At this point, they hardly even resemble Thursday's draft. Actually, I think the only word that stayed the same was the first one, and that's Amanda's name! Anyhow, that was more difficult than I'd assumed it would be. I try to strike a balance between my colloquial tone and the solemnity of wedding vows... but at the same time if I'm going to write my own vows, I want them to be laced with comments that my friends and family will appreciate but that my fiancée will truly understand to be jokes, or references to past experiences. At the same time, I don't want to see myself as dwelling on the past - after all, a wedding is the start of a new chapter. See what I mean? So much to say but so little time...
I tried reading the vows aloud last night. The words fit. The cadence works. The words say exactly what I mean to say. They are... right. It is weird to hear myself saying them, though. Does that make sense? The words are the words that I've seen on TV, movies, and in others' weddings. Not the exact words, but you get the idea... I feel a slight pang of nerves hearing myself say words like cherish, marriage, wife... you get the idea.
In fact, that's the first nerves I've felt in the entire engagement & marriage process to date. There will likely be more nerves to follow but so far I've been filled with the excitement of it all.
Anyway, it's time for me to help finish packing. I just thought I'd get out some pre-wedding thoughts as this is likely my last chance to do so. Next post... the wedding!