Love is meant to be shared

I suppose I should provide some more context to these postings and step away, for a moment, from the less critical things (like the 2 posts devoted to cake, below).

Why a wedding?

Short answer:
Because it's just what people do.

Long answer:
When Rob and I decided to get married we had been together for almost 8 years, and living together essentially from the beginning. Many people have asked why we are bothering to get married, since we pretty much are already. We knew that despite the cost, and fuss and logistics, we wanted to have a wedding. Although it's "just what you do", we also felt very strongly that deciding to spend the rest of your lives together is worth doing publicly, worth saying out loud for all to hear. Plus, we both love to throw a great party.

We have done away with some traditions (no garter toss ... eek! not our style) and we are trying to keep things fairly relaxed. The most surprising thing to me is just how traditional some of our (my) wedding desires really are. I'll wear white (well, ivory, but still...) We have chosen bridesmaids and groomsmen. There will be a reception with a buffet dinner and dancing. Sounds like a wedding, right? Good. That's what we're aiming for.

It seems that the biggest challenge is keeping it real, keeping it "us". It is very easy to get sucked into the wedding vortex and pop out swathed in yards of tulle, kissing under a white balloon arch with a string quartet, 7 flower girls, and 400 of your nearest and dearest looking on. (not that there's anything wrong with that if that's your style). It's also easy to have complete mental breakdowns when you can't get calla lilies with 20" stems and you have to settle for 18". How will the world keep turning? It can be tough to keep it all in perspective and keep it about what matters: you are marrying the love of your life.

So why did we choose the agony of a wedding? We could have just as easily marched down to city hall, or had a marriage commissioner meet us in a local park. We could have uttered our vows privately, without fanfare and then just gone out for a nice dinner. We chose a wedding, with all it's agony, for it's ecstasy.

When all is said and done we will have spent a tidy sum, and we will have a momentous day to look back on. We will have stories to tell our children, words of wisdom for other young lovers looking to make it "official" and photos to help us recall all the painstakingly planned details. More than that, we will have an anniversary to celebrate, and memories of all our friends and family enjoying the day with us.

For us that is the ultimate: the sharing. This Love is big. This Love is deep. This Love is ours.

And, without a doubt, this Love is meant to be shared.