Entries Tagged with wedding
May 25th, 2006
This is getting kind of frustrating. I really thought there’d be a lot more advice on the net about packing for trips to England and what to take and what not to take. Maybe I’m just not using the right search strings. So far this looks like the only semi-good site:
Some ideas on how to pack for your European Vacation
Basically, I’ve figured out that I need to go get a new raincoat (mine’s too small), some more shorts (same issue), some luggage tags (Delta ate the ones I had), and some sort of plug for my laptop. I’ve ordered “the magic bra” and the bridesmaid dress and I need to review the black flats in my closet and if none of them are suitable for a wedding, I need to go buy a new pair. Then I need to start making a pile of what’s going in the suitcase.
OMG. I’m already getting a migraine thinking about the 12 hours on the plane.
Tags: wedding, England, vacation
April 5th, 2006
So, PW is Catholic. Her first husband wasn’t. They were married by a Justice of the Peace is a Community Center and the Catholic Church was never involved or cared.
She’s divorced now of course.
The new fiance is also Catholic and they’ve kind of decided they might want to get married in a Catholic Church though she’s really not all that religious.
Here’s the catch, as I understand it.
If you are Catholic and you’ve been married before and the marriage wasn’t acknowledged by the Catholic Church, welll, then everything’s fine and dandy, and there’s no worries. Happily ever after.
However, if you aren’t Catholic and you’ve been married before and now you want to get married to a Catholic in the Catholic Church, well, they are going to cause a big stink about that. No church wedding for you.
So, what’s the problem, you ask? PW and English are both Catholic. Manchild wasn’t and the first wedding wasn’t in a Catholic Church.
Well…see, there’s this tiny piece of paper that’s missing. It’s the confirmation that PW was baptized in the Catholic Church. See, it kind of got misplaced in that big mess they called Hurricane Katrina last August; you know, when PW’s apartment was completely under water and she lost pretty much everything?
O.K. So, what about the Church where she was baptized? Surely they have a record? Well, see, they were under 10 feet of water during Hurricane Katrina too.
Well, what about her parents? Might they have an extra copy. Well, her allusive mother who abandoned her at nine is unlikely to have a copy should we be able to find her and PW hasn’t actually heard from her in years and her psychotic, abusive father has been seen since Katrina but his house was also under ten feet of water and even if someone were able to contact him, he’d likely not sign anything or give a copy of anying out of spite.
So, the Catholic Church may not recognize that she is Catholic and may hold her to her first marriage to a man who abandoned her and may refuse her a church wedding. How twisted is that?
Tags: wedding, Catholics
April 4th, 2006
Well, the bridesmaid’s dress is ordered and I sent an email off to PW to assure her it is so. Perhaps now she can relax. I did ask her if I need flats or heels. I’m hoping flats as she’s told me that the day’s activities will last 13 hours.
Now I have to find a suitable magic bra to hold everything in place for 13 hours — yeah right! At her last wedding, between dances, I kept having to run to the bathroom to pull up my strapless corset because it kept slipping down and bunching around my waist while I was enthusiastically rocking on to 80’s music. I wonder if anyone realized that’s what I was doing. I mean, I’d slide in there, yanking that sucker up and trying to stuff these babies back into those pockets. It was all fruitless. Those strapless thingies don’t actually do anything. They don’t hold anything in place unless you aren’t planning on moving. But somehow, if I don’t go buy one, I’ll never hear the end of it from my mental mother’s voice. Plus, I don’t think the bridal dress lady will let me try the dress on without a bra.
Oy.
I can’t believe she picked purple. I look horrible in purple. My red hair and that purple…gah.
Oh, and apparently this is “all my fault”. Apparently a year ago I told her they’d be getting married by now. Well, I must say that she sounds very happy on the phone and very grown up. I think it’s done her a lot of good to get away from New Orleans and the old gang and everything that was holding her back and I think that English has been good for her. Well, except for this new interest in purple…
Tags: wedding, Alfred Angelo, strapless bra
April 3rd, 2006
Well, I made two promises last night. It looks like I can only keep one.
I promised PW that I would march down to the bridal shop and order my bridesmaid dress this morning as apparently she was a little miffed and stressed about the whole thing. Apparently brides don’t like it if you put that off. Procrastination is not the bridesmaid’s friend. Well, it turns out that the bridal shop is not open on Mondays. They also have a sign that says they are by appointment only. Plus, they don’t have an answering service. You have to call between the hours of 10am and 4pm Tuesday through Friday. Like I’m going to be able to remember that.
She is going to be so pissed off at me.
So I’ve got to make a big sign or something that forces me to call at 10:01am tomorrow morning.
Oy.
The other promise I made, I made to myself and I managed to keep it, though I kind of got stressed out doing so. Yesterday I blew a gasket realizing that I’m hopeless as far as getting anywhere with my house on my own. So I promised myself to call around today. It’s frustrating because have you ever googled “personal organizer”? By the way, I tried calling Merry Maids as my first choice but they told me that they could not help me. It’s horrible to be rejected by Merry Maids as too big a job. So, finally I found a personal organizer in my area and I agonized over calling her for a bit. She’s not cheap either, but I finally called her and explained my personal situation and I talked to her a bit and I really liked her. She’s got a sunny personality on the phone. She sounded understanding and she sounded like she knew exactly what I was looking for — not someone to do the task for me but someone to work with me and help me figure out how to organize along the way so I’ll be able to maintain it later. She was pleased to hear that I want to purge too — though I think we might have a fight when it comes to the clothes closet. 
Anyway, it might take a good part of my savings but I think this is a positive move on my part.
The interesting coincidence is that as I was driving to work, I was thinking that PW was always the kind of friend who I could be myself around and never be ashamed to show how low I’d gone in my depressive states and she’d come over and help me clean up and she’d put on that annoying, loud pop music and roll up her sleeves and sing brightly and chat and we’d work together and it’d be done in no time and then I’d either cook us up something or I’d buy us dinner and we’d veg or something. Mind you, I’d done the same for her. We understood each other. It’s a rare friend you aren’t ashamed to show even your lowest moments to and who’s willing to roll up their sleeves and help you out.
O.K. 10:01am. It’s in my Palm Pilot. I’ve got stickies all over.
Tags: wedding, personal organizer, friendship, depression
February 26th, 2006
Peter and Meg have set the date for June 30th. If I understand their plan, they are using their honeymoon as an excuse to go to PW’s wedding in England. Meg indicated that it was the only way they could afford to go to PW’s wedding and get married this year as well.
Unfortunately, because I’ve already bought my tickets to leave for London on June 23rd, I won’t be able to go to both weddings. However, I’ll probably be able to do some sightseeing with them in London. Meg indicated that they planned to spend a few days alone but suggested joint sightseeing, which I’m glad for. I don’t know that I’d want to be the third wheel on a honeymoon. As it is, I’m considering staying in a hotel my last two nights in London to give PW and English some time alone after their wedding and in case they actually go out of town for a honeymoon.
I’m a little worried about El being in London for PW’s wedding. Meg indicated that she’d probably go and I’ve always said that I doubted she’d waste this excuse to go to London, but I also remember how she was at the last wedding. Granted she was much more likely to mood swing back then and she was having some sort of personal crisis about her fiance. However, she also tried to put the moves on the groom and also had some sort of drama moment at the reception about how she was never getting married and how we all pittied her. I’m a little worried that two weddings of friends so close together might send her over the edge — particularly since PW is marrying a rich Brit which is about 2/3rds of what El would like in a man.
You know, being away from home is going to be stressful enough. I really don’t want to be drenched in the old drama. Oy.
Tags: wedding, England, London, friendship
February 15th, 2006
I haven’t received the official word yet from the bride-to-be herself, but SQ saw PW and English on Monday night and claims to have seen the Fiancee Visa with her own two eyes! So, yay! I guess all that worrying was for naught. I’m sure PW is relieved that she can get on with her life now.
Tags: wedding
February 3rd, 2006
Well. It’s happened. Again.
I am a bridesmaid, possible the maid of honor.
I swore up and down that there was no way I was going to be in PW’s wedding, especially since I live on a separate continent and there’s no way I can pop over there for dress-fittings, shower plannings, etc.
I was heavily involved in her first wedding. I helped pick out the decorations. I helped decorate. I went dress shopping with her. I helped plan. Blah blah blah.
And honestly, as much as I wanted to be happy for her, even as Maid of Honor, I really didn’t think they should get married. I thought he was too young to get married. I thought he was a big kid. I was fairly sure that he didn’t want to have any children though he told her he did — I turned out to be right on that one.
Anyway, I figured that she’d used up her bridesmaid credits with that wedding.
My father has been telling me for a month that he thought it was very unlikely that I would be allowed to stay at their house for so long and not be expected to be part of the wedding. I told him that’s just how this circle of friends are. If someone was coming up to Maine and needed a sofa to stay on, it’d be theres. Same with my friend in Atlanta and my friends back in New Orleans. That’s just how we are. Su casa es mi casa, si? 
Anyway, when she asked last night if I would be interested in being a bridesmaid, I realized that there were so many reasons why I couldn’t say “no.” If we go beyond the whole polite thing and the whole thing where I’m staying at her house for about 2 weeks, there’s the simple fact that since 1993, we have been friends for the most part. We’ve had some serious long-term fallings outs, but here it is, 13 years later and we are friends again.
And I’m not sure if anyone else from the States will be going. Maybe El — I can’t imagine she’d pass up this excuse to go to London, the Anglophile that she is. Since PW hasn’t got any real family, I think there should be someone there for her that represents the life she’s leaving behind, a link to her past to share in her new happiness.
So, I’m a bridesmaid…and I’m guessing I can’t wear the same dress I wore to her last wedding.
Tags: wedding, friendship
February 2nd, 2006
I appologize for seemingly abandoning this blog. The truth is that I’ve been distracted by more than a few things in my life:
- My grandmother’s death, as you know, took me somewhat by surprise and has caused me to do a lot of self-inspecting. Plus, I want to be there for my mother who I think took it a lot harder than me. Plus, the planning for the memorial service the weekend before Valentine’s Day in Florida.
More
Tags: Faith, God, Spirituality, migraine, wedding, England, paranoia, Samuel Alito, discombobulated, fibromyalgia
