esrosedotblog

WEDDING SLOWLY

At the beginning, when we got engaged, the wedding preparations went very fast and furious.

My fiancé went wild with plans and activities. I went somber with the responsibility of keeping it a sacred occasion and not spending too much money.

Fortunately, a quiet compromise was reached on most items and we have reached an amicable equilibrium where the words "our" and "us" and "we" have come more into play.

The slower pace does not mean that we are, in any way, inactive, uncreative, or less excited.

It just means that most of the shit we had to get through has been settled and now there is only a little bit left to do.

This week, for example, we developed a few more problems around the house that would need to be seen to if we were to create a good impression in front of our family and friends.

Only in this kind of inverted situation, where you get married after being together 33 years, does making an impression with the house and grounds become important.

People who get married at the beginning of their relationship have no house and grounds. Just themselves. Not so with us. A shave and a haircut and a crease in the pants won't suffice.

We have new sun curtains across the back sliders and, just incidentally while the guy was here, got sun covers for the skylight in the living room. That has nothing to do with the wedding but it is a collateral cost, you see.

The major thing this week was the realization that the wedding cake we ordered is simply not big enough, in our estimation, to take care of the anticipated crowd. They sold us a cake for 100 people but no matter how I figured it, we would have to have precise cuts of 1x5 inches to get that many pieces out of it.

Worry, worry. So we went back and ordered another layer. I will not tell you how much this fucking addition cost. Let's put it this way. If we put an addition on our house that was this much more, percentage wise, we would have to get a mortgage to handle it.

On another front, I am done downloading the music for the three phases of the proceedings. There is the pre-ceremony music—gay 20th Century American classical music composers—Copeland, Harrison, Rorem and others. Then there is the music for the ceremony itself—four selections from Sondheim and Bernstein musicals (yeh, they are/were gay too). Also, for after the ceremony, a selection of jazz instrumentals of various love songs. In the latter case, I give equal time to 'the straights' by using Brubeck, Evans and Jarrett who, as far as I know, don't have one gay gene in their DNA but are all old favorites of ours. I would have included Chick Corea who is gay but has no 'love song' titles on his iTunes roster.

Am I wandering?

Are you still there?

It is a bit tedious.

But soon, the action will pick up again and we will be frenetic and frantic.

For now, it is Summertime and the Living is Easy.

Labels: gay marriage, wedding