Super cool tidbit that came my way via my matron of honor.

DID YOU KNOW?

In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one can apply for a One Day Marriage Designation in lieu of a justice of the peace? It's true! You can have anyone you know officiate the ceremony. It costs $25 and requires a "letter of reference attesting to the applicant's high standard of character." Psh, yeah, right, like we know anybody ANYONE would attest to good character. Additional information kindly provided gratis by mass.gov

So this is SO super cool that I really can't pass it up, but unfortunately I don't have any good ideas on a candidate. I would prefer a family member, but I don't want someone from my wedding party, or parents or grandparents. And my attitude toward the family members I'm left with really highlights how my relationship with my extended family is awkward at best (and depraved at worst), though we're probably just average in terms of wild family craziness.

I have this cousin who lives nearby with whom I'm friendly, but we're still not bestest buds or anything, we just hang out occasionally. I have a few other cousins, but nobody really cut out for that kind of thing. My mom recommended considering my godparents, but my uncle is divorced from the family and I haven't seen him since his second wife's funeral, and my aunt has a . . . tumultuous history with my mom, though in her older age she's very nice and there haven't been any incidents in years.

I'll have to see if Groom has anyone in mind in his family. Worst case we can just find a good mutual friend, though those people tend to be the (small) wedding party. Too bad we don't know any comedians or clown school graduates.

more on the music

Songs that remind me of my dad, none of them even remotely appropriate:

Jeremy by Pearl Jam. In high school he would annoyingly sing it to me every time I got in his car and substitute my name for Jeremy.
Heaven Beside You by Alice in Chains
Super Bon Bon by Soul Coughing
Wild Horses by the Rolling Stones, because I hated "the horsey song."
For What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield
Earache My Eye by Cheech and Chong. It came on the radio when I was 12 or something and ever since he's made references to "hey man, that was my new record, I just bought that."
The Rocko's Modern Life Theme
The Ren and Stimpy Theme


Song I will be dancing to with my dad:

Not sure yet, I'll have to talk to him about that.


Songs I will absolutely not be dancing with my father to:

Cats in the Cradle by Harry Chapin
That weird daddy's girl country song Younger Sister recommended.

on our first dance

The song the Groom and I would like for our first dance: Hayling by FC Kahuna. It is absolutely our favourite song of all time, and after listening to it approximately a thousand times it still makes me cry a good 50% of the time. Also, the video is just so cool (Dan is totally into the mechanical imagery) and the singer is probably the prettiest girl I've ever seen, so even if you don't really care about the song, the video comes highly recommended.



I have a feeling our families won't really get it, but this song always makes me think of the feeling of our first summer together. Simple, clean and looking forward to the future.

For the reception we'd like to play chill electronica like Thievery Corporation, Boards of Canada, Zero 7. Is that tacky?


Music that should not be played at any wedding reception:

• Brick by Ben Folds Five
• Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead
• I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor
• Lords of Acid
• Country music

Via instant messenger:

me: hey SO: when do I get my ring? my beautiful lovely fake diamond ring?
the groom: heya -- well, it's done! so, this weekend probably!

=D

on bridezillas (the show)

My whole life I've avoided movies, shows and generalized thoughts about having a wedding. I figured that until I'm actually engaged I have no business giving a shit about that stuff, because my wedding would have more to do with my partner and our relationship and who knows what that would be like til the time came? And to be honest, I didn't really think about marriage until my early 20s anyway, and I don't want to be disappointed because the fairy tale I've concocted in my head will never come true, so better not to have one so longstanding.

But now, there are no holds barred.

So I was flipping through OnDemand the other night and saw the Bridezilla show and decided to give it a go. The yelling alone gave me a headache, nevermind the actual absurdity sprewing forth, and watching this thing made me feel like "wow, I am so freakin easy-going, I didn't even know." But I get the feeling this is kind of the point, to make relatively normal brides-to-be feel like they really got their shit TOGETHER.

You're not supposed to like the brides; they're meant to be a cultural other, the people you don't identify with in your superiority and relative calmness; you can be a real bitch and still feel this way, these ladies are clearly assholes all the time. And while that might feel good, it's cheap.

I think the show would be a lot more appealing to me if they actually humanized the brides. If they at least let you like them for a few minutes before showing how reasonable ladies turn into crazy bitches right quick when they insist on the Tiffany's jewelry, the five reception dresses (no joke, this one lady needed FIVE reception dresses, I'm not even getting ONE), the seventeen bridesmaids. It would take the show from Springer to a cautionary tale: "roll with the punches lest ye look this foolish and shrill."

on the venue

The one thing I have to focus on right now just so happens to be the one thing I care very little about--the venue. I've taken a deep, in-depth look at about 15 places (and by in-depth, I mean I had my head propped on the arm of the couch and my laptop on my chest and isn't the internet great), and actually got pricing info from three of them. Each of which was promptly rejected.

To be fair, the first two were summer camps, and it is increasingly clear that our grande idea of having a kegger at a kids' place with drownable water nearby is um, completely not happening. For reasons embedded in that last sentence. The last one was Tower Hill Botanical Gardens in Boylston, which worded their contract kind of . . . offensively. You will NOT bring your own alcohol. You WILL be monitored by staff the whole time to make sure you don't bring drinks outside. It's like Sister Mary Thomas is going to be my wedding coordinator, and I don't know if I can face 2nd grade again, even if it is more like recess.

So we can cross that off my list of awesome ideas we had in the first weekend. But hey! There's a Sportsman's club with stuffed deer head on the wall!! That Victorian place that we thought was stuffily overpriced is starting to look reasonable! The sooner I admit this is going to be expensive, the sooner I can either elope or book a place and start figuring out the other details, like colors, which I'm much more interested in anyway.

almost forgot

. . . did you know that Middle Sister dated Best Man for a few months awhile back? Because if not, you should probably never let me hook you up with anyone. Ever.

I'm terrible at it.