Inviting Dr Seuss

Back when we were doing the Prepare worksheet with the Reverend, we also went through the order of service. When he got to the part about the vows, he mentioned that instead of the traditional vows (you know, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer etc), we had the option of writing our own. The Boy was actually quite a fan of this. He thought it would be far more meaningful I guess if we were to speak our own vows inside the church. I on the other hand was not so keen.

Part of the reason for this is that in some respects, I’m quite traditional and if it ain’t broke, why fix it? People have been saying those words for hundreds of years so why do they need to be rewritten now? My other issue is that for such an important occasion, I don’t know whether I could even come up with something that I liked which didn’t sound cloying and twee. When I think about writing my own vows I get flashbacks to this scene in the tv drama Seachange (great show) where the main character is struggling and after what you are led to believe is quite a while, only comes up with “I greatly esteem him”. Or something like that. Of course she was actually in love with someone else at the time which is definitely not the case here but still, the whole self writing of the vows thing...

The other thought that sticks is my head is that as much as people write their own vows so that they can put what they want in there, I also know they do it so they can take what they don’t like out. Perhaps because of the divorce rate sky rocketing over the last couple of decades, there has been a trend for couples to drop the “Till death do us part” bit because they are anxious about making that vow in a church. I have actually seen it changed to a promise to keep faith “as long as the love shall last” which seems rather non-committal to me. But different horses for different courses I guess. I happen to prefer the traditional version myself. Of course, if you were going to do your own, you could always have a little fun with it...

Now I must admit I didn’t write all this. I pinched the Groom’s part somewhere on the net that said a Marty Blase wrote it. I changed a couple of words to make it flow better though and added the Bride’s part cause really, whats the point in having only one half? I’m not too sure that Dr Seuss wedding vows will make it into too many ceremonies but the idea does amuse me.

For the bride , do you agree
To answer me quite truthfully

Yes I’m sure I do agree
To answer you quite truthfully

Will you take this man to wed
Into your heart and in your bed
Will you love him through and through
Both when he smiles and when he’s blue

Yes I’ll take this man to wed
Into my heart and in my bed
And I will love him through and through
Both when he smiles and when he’s blue

Will you stay when times are tough
If in your purse theres not enough
Will you be there should illness call
From this day forth, to give your all

Yes I’ll stay when times are tough
If in our purse theres not enough
I will be there should illness call
From this day forth, I give my all
For I do take this man to wed
Into my heart and in my bed
And I will love him through and through
Both when he smiles and when he’s blue

Then if you swear you will stay true
To these here vows please say

I DO

Will you sir answer me right now

These questions, as your wedding vow?

Yes, I’ll answer you right now

Your questions as my wedding vow.

Will you take her as your wife?

Will you love her all your life?

Yes, I take her as my wife,

Yes, I'll love her all my life.

Will you have, and also hold

Just as you have at this time told?

Yes, I will have, and I will hold,

Just as I have at this time told,

Yes, I will love her all my life

As I now take her as my wife.

Will you love through good and bad?

Be you either glad or sad?

Yes, I'll love through good and bad,

Be we either glad or sad,

Yes, I will have and I will hold

Just as I have already told,

Yes, I will love her all my life,

Yes, I will take her as my wife!

Will you love her if you're rich?

Or if you're poor, and in a ditch?

Yes, I'll love her if we're rich,

And I will love her in a ditch,

I'll love her through good times and bad,

Be we either glad or sad,

Yes, I will have, and I will hold

(I could have sworn this has been told!)

I promise to love all my life

This woman, as my lawful wife!

Will you love her when you're fit,

And also when you're feeling sick?

Yes, I'll love her when we're fit,

And when we're hurt, and when we're sick,

And I will love her when we're rich

And I will love her in a ditch

And I will love through good and bad,

And I will love when glad or sad,

And I will have, and I will hold

Ten years from now a thousandfold,

Yes, I will love for my whole life

This lovely woman as my wife!

Will you love with all your heart?

Will you love till death you part?

Yes, I'll love with all my heart

From now until death do us part,

And I will love her when we're rich,

And when we're broke and in a ditch,

And when we're fit, and when we're sick,

(Oh, CAN'T we get this finished quick?)

And I will love through good and bad,

And I will love when glad or sad,

And I will have, and I will hold,

And if I might now be so bold,

I'll love her my entire life,

Yes, I WILL take her to wife!

Then if you'll take her as your wife,

And if you'll love her all your life,

And if you'll have, and if you'll hold,

From now until the stars grow cold,

And if you'll love through good and bad,

And be you either glad or sad,

And love in sickness, and in health,

And when you're poor, and when in wealth,

And if you'll love with all your heart,

From now until death do you part,

Yes, if you'll love her through and through,

Please answer with these words:

I DO!

You're married now! So kiss the bride,

But please, do keep it dignified.

And to this sound advice adhere,

When you’re in doubt just say “yes dear”.

Transportationally Challenged

Well isn’t it ironic? Not in an Alanis Morrisette kind of way of course because that song was not actually about anything ironic. Although the fact that it wasn’t actually about anything ironic however was kind of ironic in itself but I’m not entirely sure that was the way it was intended. Anyway, the fact that we are no longer transportationally challenged for the wedding does have a certain element of irony to it. Even though I have no interest in cars whatsoever, we have ended up with a car that I actually think is really cool and The Boy, who loves cars and other things automobile (and did have certain preferences), is satisfied.

In a lot of areas, our tastes are quite similar and our ideas concerning the wedding seem to gel well together but I have to say that this is not something we found with cars. From the beginning of this whole wedding business, I felt it wise to tell The Boy that I am not having a classic American car as the wedding car. Mustangs, Cadillacs and Chevys are out. I’ve just never really liked them. The Boy then told me in turn that we’d be getting a stretch Hummer over his dead body. Yeah, I know they’re kinda tacky but in a way, I think they’re so awful, they’re almost cool. So we started looking around at the European cars.

The Boy fell in love with the Mark IV Jag a while ago, and I have to say that I did quite like the car but I then went and put a spanner in the works didn’t I? Regardless of the tradition that says the bridal couple should have their own car to get away from the church and the bridal party should follow in another vehicle, since we are only having one attendant each, I actually want them with us. I am well aware that my sister, the Maid of Honour, and our Gentle Giant of a Best Man are both big enough and ugly enough to look after conversation on their own but since neither of them actually know the other, I thought it would be much more fun to have us all together. And three people and two dresses across the backseat apparently don’t work in a classic sedan car.

So then we had a “discussion” about why I assumed The Boy knew that the four of us together was my preference and why The Boy expected me to know it wasn’t actually practical in the first place. I then offered to just go with the Jag or even a Cadillac with the two of us if thats what he really wanted and he condescended to ride in Hummer if thats what I really wanted. Neither of us were particularly content with those options however so we looked at the limousine idea instead. We pretty much agreed that four people would get lost in the back of a stretch Chrysler so that option was nixed pretty quickly. Anything white in the various fleets around was out too cause some of the stuff I’ve seen at Bridal Fairs just look a bit kitsch. And then we found the Rolls Royce Wraith.

This car is a tank! Probably not a very effective sort of tank because the body is apparently aluminium but this thing is huge. It used to belong to the Australian Government way back when and I think the Queen may have even ridden in it. Now it has been restored by a wedding car business and has been resprayed as a two tone silver colour. I thought it was totally cool and oddly enough one of the more impressive things we’ve got for the wedding so far. The Boy just shook his head at me. He has thrown himself into sourcing flowers, veils, centrepieces, jewellery and lots of other traditionally girly things and I wasn’t anywhere near as excited about those as I was about the car. Oh well, you can’t have everything.

In case you get the wrong idea though, I think we are both happy with the final choice of car. I really was more than willing to split up the bridal party so The Boy could have the car he originally wanted but given my preference to have us together and the money to hire not only one car but two, this was decided to be the best option for our wedding. And there is definitely something stately about a Rolls Royce...

Wedding Whoops?

I think I themed our wedding by accident. And I so didn’t mean to do that. As previously mentioned on this blog, I pretty much feel that the requirement of having a wedding theme is a bit of a wank, pardon my French. As neither The Boy nor I were particularly drawn by colours, styles, locations or otherwise specifically related elements, we therefore decided we were not going to have a theme. I actually do not have an issue at all with having a theme for a wedding but the having to have a theme really irritated me. Thus the not having one. But then we started advertising. And thats the way I think of it really.

Also as I mentioned previously, in regards to our Save The Date cards, we performed a shameless infringement of copyright and created an ad for our wedding as the date reminder. And we created a website. We (which is quite a royal sort of “we” really because The Boy did all the hard work) set up a webpage where people could get “pre-sale seating information” and actually reserve their seats too. All this actually amounted to was a return email that provided an e-ticket confirmation that the person in question would come to the free public event that is our wedding and sit in a non numbered pew if they so wished but we thought the idea was cute. Then it sort of evolved from there.

With all the details and effort that have gone into this day so far, I began to see the whole thing as a bit of a production really. We don’t exactly have a cast of thousands for the affair (which is fortunate because then the whole thing would have been a lot more complicated) but there has been a fair bit going on with the making of the outfits and investigating of options etc. A lot of behind the scenes work so to speak has been undertaken and I’m sure there will be some direction from the wings once the day arrives. We intend to delegate a few jobs at the wedding I think. Especially as we’re supposed to remain centre stage for pretty much the entire day. But right now, its time to get the actual invitations out there.

A while ago I was intrigued by the idea of giving a ticket as an invitation and we looked at sourcing actual tickets through Ticketmaster or the like or merely designing our own. We were having a few issues as to how best to accomplish this however because we needed to let people know about either the ceremony and the reception, or the ceremony only. Then we came up with a better idea. For the wedding ceremony, we designed a flyer announcing that for one show only, The Boy and I would be starring in “The Wedding”, a fantastic adaptation of the classic we all know and love. Brought to you by Working Man Productions as it were. We decided to send that out with a promotional letter about how long this production has been in the making and how brilliant its going to be. And for those to whom we have decided to extend an invitation to our reception – they get a backstage pass to the after party!

So its seems with my love of theatre that I have inadvertently themed my wedding to be experienced as a short run matinee followed by an opening night and closing night party all rolled into one. There will be costumes and choreography, props, music, rehearsed speeches, programs (theres no reason why your order of service can’t be much more interesting) and hopefully really awesome food and drink. I think I draw the line at merchandise because nobody I’m sure wants chocolates with our faces carved into them or other such nonsense but still, it seems the theatrical aspects of our wedding have taken on the personality of a drama queen rather than that of a wallflower and have asserted themselves as a united front which has resulted in a theme for the wedding. Oh well. At least I’m still the Prima Donna.

On Location

We had our engagement shoot last month. On the eve of our second anniversary, we got up early, made ourselves look pretty (or as pretty as was going to happen before 7am) and headed down the harbour to take advantage of the early morning light. As part of the photography package that we went for, we were entitled to an e-session as they are sometimes known in the business and the whole thing was rather easy and painless. But then you get that when you have someone with years of experience.

Photography is something that I personally have a passion for so I knew what I wanted when we started looking. Whilst The Boy is largely orchestrating this whole wedding affair, the photographer is one of the few aspects that I would definitely exercise my veto rights over if I didn’t like their portfolio or their service. I know what good photography is and what it is worth but even for someone on a budget, the choice of photographer would be one of those decisions for me that was not primarily about money and the best option I can get for what I have. My first consideration would be that of the talent and quality that I wanted. Then you figure out how to make it fit the budget. Which we did. And I think that what we are getting will be worth it, especially after the engagement session the other morning and after seeing the proofs that were available the following week.

The process of actually taking the photos didn’t take very long at all. We were down at the harbour for about a half hour or so I think and even then, a good portion of that was taken up with chatting to the photographer about his work and experience. We wandered around a small area taking shots against different backgrounds in different poses and circled back to where we started. The Boy and I were given minimal direction but when we couldn’t manage to keep a straight face and started laughing at each other our shadow behind the lens just went with the flow. Since wedding photography is in fact something that both my sister and I have toyed with doing professionally, it was interesting to see someone else at work. After spending some time with the Grand Master however (told you he was experienced), it became abundantly clear just how much further we really have to go. It would be quite demotivating if it wasn’t also inspiring.

My sister and I actually got to put ourselves to the test at the beginning of the month too. In exchange for experience, we offered up our time and skills to shoot the wedding of some family friends. We were there for almost the whole day from some preparations at the house to the end of the reception at the restaurant. Given our lack of experience, we were happy with what we ended up with and we think that we earned our dinner but we also found some glaring holes in our arsenal. I now have even more respect for photographers who shoot large group shots where everyone stands up straight and arm to arm like pegs in a row, photographers who shoot under pressure and have but minutes to take the “location” shots with the Bride and Groom who just want to get to the party, photographers who largely run out of available light but still manage to shoot to advantage and people who just see the world differently. Ahh to be that talented...