Wedding Plans

I thought I'd make a brief entry about wedding plans. Weddings are a funny thing, especially at age 35. For most girls they think of their wedding day, their future husband, kids...the whole fairytale dream. They look for someone and something that comes as close to their dream as possible. We make lists of the qualities we think he should have and some girls have their dream wedding all planned out years in advance.

Well, I admit I did have my future husband list and gave up on it around age 20. I wised up and realized love does work that way. I do admit however I that I ruined my babybook by writing the names of my future children all over it when I was 9 or 10. The one area I have never given much attention to is the wedding. It's odd really, because a lot of my life I have been an event planner. Even when I was a teen I planned huge rallies and conventions. So, you'd think that would be something I'd have all worked out. For whatever reason, however; I have never given it much thought. I have even been known to say, "If I ever get married my mom can plan it all and I'll just show up." I just couldn't ever visualize the event. Part of it was also practical. While I am an idealist and sometimes a dreamer, I do have limits. I'd been to and been part of many wonderful weddings, but I just thought there is no point in having specific desires for mine, since I don't even know who it will be with or if it will ever happen.

I had always expected I'd be married by the time I was 25. So when I was living in Redmond and working at St. Jude's at 25 and no marriage prospects on the horizon, I had a bit of a quarter life crisis. I think these are becoming more popular than the midlife crisis. Maybe I'll write a book about it. Anyway, It comes from thinking you should be somewhere other than where you are or who you are. So you have to resolve the crisis in one way or another and move on. The desperate resolution would be to take whatever guys comes along and fill the space...we all know what that leads to anymore. So yea. Not my style, not my option. The other option is to realize that life is what you make of it each day regardless of any other factors: single, married, children, divorced, employed, retired and the list goes on. So I accepted reality and went on living my life.

Anyway, It's a good thing that I didn't have all these plans and expectations, because they would now have to go out the window. On the other hand, I think if I had lots of expectations and ideas about how my life should look, I probably wouldn't be where I am today. So, I think being open to possibility and whatever comes makes for a great life. So here I find myself planning a wedding in a new country. I am trying to figure out how to successfully blend 2 cultures and learn about new customs while pondering my own. It's very interesting.

People here do most everything last minute. I think the maximum time to prepare for a wedding is 3 months. However, being the good North American woman that I am, I am organizing everything ahead of time. I don't want any stress the month of the wedding and I want to enjoy it all. That is really what this is about for me. A celebration and an experience. I want to remember and enjoy every moment of the process. I don't need a fairytale and I don't need extravagance, but I do want one great celebration with friends and family. Plus I will be in the states the month before the wedding. So my goal is to have all the details confirmed before I leave.

In that vain. We now have 2 big pieces secured. We have finally decided on a reception location. We have spent the most time trying to decide this detail. There are only so many options here in Ilo and we didn't want something too big or too small. It's also critical because the local tends to most of the details. So we are going to reserve La Pascana (The Inn) for the big event. It's lovely inside and a great size to fit everyone. So now we just have to work out the specifics with them. I also went to meet with the local priest at St. Jerome's this week. He's a great man and easy to work with and so we are set with him as well. He is fine with my dearest friend Padre Jorge coming to celebrate the Mass and he was willing to reserve the date now so I don't have to worry about it. As I mentioned, they usually only reserve a few months in advance, but it is also the weekend before a huge national holiday.

Anway, we are making great progress. I have my dress, veil and shoe and now the church and locale. What more could I need! It feels great and we are so excited to have my family and friends coming to join us. It's such a blessing!