Posts from — July 2008

It’s sad, but I think Brian is doing much better at accomplishing his wedding tasks than I am. And he’s off defending freedom in Iraq. Turns out I’m a failure not only as a future wife, but also as an American.

[Side note: He just got promoted to the rank of Lieutenant JG in the Navy! I got to see the teleconference of the ceremony via the military version of a webcam. Look, there we are together. Just like a particularly bad episode of Lonelygirl15.]

Anyway, back to Brian kicking my ass at wedding stuff. Bri, being the graphic design guru that he is, will be designing all the print materials for our wedding– save-the-date cards, invitations, place cards, ceremony programs, CD covers, score cards for the reception dance-off. We looked for a good quote or poem or song lyric to set the theme for everything, but that proved harder than we’d thought. Apparently, there’s a ton of icky “Love is patient, love is kind” crap out there.

I finally found a quote we both liked and could translate well visually– “Love doesn’t make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” (Lisa, I’m pretty sure you want to make a “My other ride is your mom” comment, so go right ahead.) Kind of a fun, carnival-like theme– minus the clowns. By the way, some Web sites attribute that quote to Elizabeth Barrett Browning and some to Franklin P. Jones… anyone know the truth?

Here are Brian’s works in progress (click for bigger versions):

Colors, names and other fun stuff will come later. So… favorites? Which elements do you like the best? Feel free to mix and match.

Getting married in the Catholic Church isn’t quite as simple as impulsively buying a marriage license in Vegas and saying your vows in front of a white-jumpsuited Elvis (so I’m pretty sure Britney is not Catholic). Like all good things in the Church, a Catholic marriage requires a little work and suffering… so you know it’s good.

I wrote about the FOCCUS and some other Catholic shenanigans back in May, and that’s the last time I did anything to prepare for our rapidly approaching church wedding. When I talked to Brian today, he said, “Hey, you know that pre-cana thing? Yeah, we should probably do that…” This is why I keep him around. Registering for a pre-cana class has been on my to-do list for a few months, along with seeing a dentist, finishing “Eat, Pray, Love” and cleaning out my Gmail inbox.

For you non-Catholics, pre-cana is a course couples have to complete before getting hitched in the Church. Usually couples do it through six weeks of going to evening classes or a hardcore weekend retreat, but since Brian is in Iraq, our options are a little more limited. Luckily, in this beautiful world of the Interweb, there is actually an online pre-cana class! We’ll do the worksheets for each class topic “together” (via e-mail and Skype…how modern), submit them to our online instructor and get a certificate of completion when we’re all finished.

I like the idea of talking about important topics– religion, family, future offspring, history of mental illness– but I am wary of some random person “grading” our assignments. “Um, Gill, you got number 12 wrong. You said you don’t believe the man should make the final decisions in the household. The correct answer was actually, ‘Yes, Brian. I will always defer to your opinion. And go make you a sammich. Submissively.’” I could see this turning ugly. No, I’m really trying to stay positive and focus on how we can use this class to stay close while we’re apart (though I make no promises to curb my sass).

If anything, I did enjoy the images that went along with the registration page. So much that I took a few screen shots:

I wasn’t expecting so much nudity right off the bat, but hey, I’m not judging. I have a renewed resolve to work out before the wedding.

Our first lesson is titled “In the Beginning” and has the synopsis, “God’s Plan for man and woman, the origin of marriage and how sin distorted everything.” Sounds like a party– I’ll bring the cocktails!

As I typed the name of this post, I thought, “Jesus, that sounds so hipster.” You know, we’re so alternative and non-conformist. So we’re going to make our own wedding rings out of ironic vintage T-shirts or a Dave Eggers book we pretend to understand. Profoundly.

As awesome as that would be, I found something even better– Wedding Ring Workshop. Couples spend five to six hours working with jewelers to design and actually make each other’s rings. Like with hot metal and a soldering iron.

This is what their Web site says about the process:

• Melting: First melt your metal and cast your ingot (which is a fancy term for a piece of metal you can shape)
• Milling: You mill the ingots into square wire and then into the shape of your choice
• Bending: Using specially shaped pliers you bend the metal into a rough ring shape
• A few more steps that involve tools I’m scared of
• Polishing: Finally, you apply jeweler’s polish for that extra sparkle on your very special rings

Very special indeed. Call me a hippie, but I love the idea of making our own rings. The rings will mean a lot more to me if I risked losing a finger to make them. Brian’s crafty and good with things like saws, and they claim they won’t let you screw up these expensive symbols of your love and happiness. The workshops are offered in a few cities– including San Francisco, New York and San Diego (where Brian will be for a few weeks when he finally gets back from deployment).

I have to call for exact prices since the cost of gold and platinum changes so much, but it’s supposedly cheaper than buying from a retailer. Sweet. Let’s just pray mine doesn’t turn out all special like some of my previous attempts at being crafty (lopsided clay bowls, a skirt with a crooked hem that took me a whole semester to make, papier-mâché projects that never quite dried). If I’m feeling extra sassy, maybe I’ll attempt engraving something inside. What should the message be? (Note: “I will cut you” is not appropriate, Ide.)

Creative Commons image courtesy of DJOtaku’s Flickr page.