Tag: wedding

Reminiscing

I know most brides want to look at photos like crazy after their wedding. But I am enthralled by the videos of the music from our wedding. If we had a play count for the Ave Maria that my friend sang to start the Mass, I’d be probably close to twenty at this point. And I’ve only had the video since Tuesday night. It’s Thursday night right now. She just sang it so spectacularly and with so much love… it’s hard not to listen to it on repeat… and to play it for everyone I know. (I already played a clip of a practice recording she had sent me the other week for one of my classes… This recording is even better than that.)

I was a little worried when a lot of the photos didn’t turn out. I was very worried when the Zoom sound wasn’t set right, and I found that none of the music had registered on the computer at all, and so the recording of the Mass had no genuine music in it – just blips here and there of random sounds that make it sound like maybe music was playing somewhere in the background… or something? However, I expressed my sadness and frustration and let it go.

And then God blessed me.

My brother truly took to heart that I wanted the music recorded on my man’s phone. I only made him confirm that he would do a recording of the Ave Maria, but had expressed that I truly wanted all the music recorded, if it were at all possible and feasible. And he had made it happen. I was crying in relief watching all the videos he had done. He had basically gotten the entire service that had to do directly with us or with songs. The only one he missed was one that probably wouldn’t have turned out great anyway, as my cousin had been too far from the microphone for it in the first place. ::shrugs

But I accept happily – with immense joy, really – the videos my brother did get. And, as a special bonus blessing, he also got most of the photos I had truly wanted, too. I think my cousins got in their heads about what wedding photography was “supposed” to be, and didn’t remain present to what I had specifically requested. I’d given them a list of about twenty photographs I wanted, and they were extremely open to interpretation, but were clear and easy to make happen. But, like I said, I think they got in their heads and created a stress from pressure that didn’t actually help them do the job requested, and they missed the majority of the opportunities for the photos I had wanted. The few they did get were not of very good quality as a photo – meaning not something high enough resolution etc. that I could print for the wall… which was what I had specifically requested for these photos. So, I was saddened greatly by their photos, and also disappointed. They both do great photography usually, and this was not at their par.

However, my brother seemed to nail it on a good handful of those photos I had requested. Not just the photo framing and contents, but also the quality and resolution. I haven’t gone through them all specifically yet, but I definitely saw a handful that were just what I had hoped to get. So, we might only have five good photos, but we actually have them now, which is beautiful.

Thank you, God, for this unexpected blessing. Help me to release this depression and stress I have carried with me lately, especially around my job and finances. Help me to see clearly and to take my next step in fulfilling your will as I take care of my family. Keep us safe, happy, healthy, and holy with you. Thank you for this life and for my husband. Thank you. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2024

Here we go…

I started menstruating today. Hopefully, that will put me at the point of being far enough along that it isn’t a huge stress and hassle for the wedding and reception, but not so far that we’ll be immediately expecting a child…

Hopefully, anyway…

God, grant us these wishes we have for making our wedding and its celebration a beautiful success and the event we long for it to be and have worked to have it be. Help us to serve you with our lives and to pursue and fulfill your will, always honoring you through our love and marriage. And, please, keep me and my man, my fiancé safe. In your name, I pray. Amen.

P.S. Today would have been my great-great uncle’s birthday. He was born on 21 January in 1887, and he eventually became a somewhat famous painter, which was and is cool in and of itself. But his paintings are the really cool part. He made a plethora of just awesome work. Just beautiful stuff. And I am grateful that I was allowed to have my own collection of them as part of my grandparents’ wills many years ago. I get to have them on the walls of my home that will house this be yeti full family we are building together, being established officially this Tuesday. ❤

Post-a-day 2024

Rehearsals

Our wedding rehearsal is tomorrow. Musicians – meaning a friend and a cousin of mine – were rehearsing at the house here today. Another friend came early for the hen party, and she helped my man, my fiancé, rehearse – meaning review – waltz, since we picked a song yesterday to use for our first dance as a married couple, and it is a waltz. (And he takes coaching and correction better from not-me. And she taught ballroom and also did country waltz a bit (I do country waltz.), so was a qualified teacher-slash-reviewer.) And I rehearsed dancing in my dress shoes with him for our first dance. And another friend came early, just because of driving distances for going home then back to here for the party, and she helped touch up our wall paint that has looked hideous where the thermostat was moved – before I ever first came here – and an ugly green paint and another whitish paint were just sitting in a patch right next to the thermostat (since it was a different size, smaller than the previous one). And my mom also came and did another fitting for my dress. I’m a bit nervous about that one, still…

So.. yeah… more tomorrow.

God, help us to pursue and fulfill your will. Guide us to be our best selves. Help us to have a spectacular wedding and wedding celebration, please, and give us clear and beautiful skies all day and night Tuesday, please. Morning light showers are absolutely acceptable, of course, and would be beautiful. Please, help this day to go well with our hopes and dreams for it. Thank you for this life and this opportunity. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2024

Feeling like crap

For me, when I am going to someone’s wedding, especially a family member’s, I check in ahead of time on any extra activities that they have where I am wanted or expected to attend, separate from the actual wedding and wedding day. Before I make other plans, I confirm what all of their plans are.

It seems that almost none of my family did this, and they have almost all made other plans, to the point that some of them likely won’t even be at the rehearsal or rehearsal dinner (This includes folks who are part of the actual wedding and need to be at the rehearsal.). And some of them basically ignored what I said about plans over the weekend, and made other plans. So, I only will get to see them at the actual reception, with everyone else, even though they’re coming in from all over the place and are never in the same place at the same time anymore, which makes me miss them loads usually.

And it just feels really sh***y, and makes me not at all look forward to seeing any of them.

I feel crushed and like no one is really even coming for my or my man’s sake but for themselves and their other plans.

I had expected my wedding to be awesome and exciting and a wonderful reunion with all our loved ones…

Post-a-day 2024

Relating

It is somewhat common that people will offer to do something, and then, when it comes time for them to do it, they will back out, making some sort of excuse.

And I can’t relate to that. I just don’t do that. If I say that I will do something, I will do it. If something comes up, fine – I’ll readjust to the best my ability. But I’m still going to do it. Only something major has to come up that prevents me from doing everything else that day or whatever.

Perhaps it is that people commit to things without actually thinking through them and seeing that it actually will work for them to do them. I am often hesitant to agree to something until I confirm with all my relative family members and schedules, and, sometimes even, the weather. I actually check to see that it will work before I commit to it.

But people keep promising things, asking to do things for me, saying they’ll help by doing x. And then, at the last second, no x. Usually, with some lame and long excuse accompanying the lack of x.

And it really sucks.

And it’s a huge part of why I don’t want to allow others to help me with things a lot of the time. Even with the wedding plans, I have been very cautious handing over tasks, despite people’s offers and requests. Unfortunately, around half of those I’ve handed over have been abandoned/canceled by the other person, and I have to start again on my own. So, as with the other stuff in life, I keep a couple backup plans in place. I make sure that I will be able to pick up the slack if they fail to do what they have promised to do. I have handed off a few final yet important tasks to a few people for this next week and the following couple days. And I am fully prepared to go do each of them myself, should any individual fail to do them. And I have a way of checking that they have done them fully within enough time for me to do that.

Only one is not like that. And I have to leave that one fully up to God after this weekend. I have set it up for success. I am in charge of fulfilling the final pieces before the wedding day. And then they have to handle it themselves on the wedding day. Fortunately, I think they will be able to handle it well and will make it work, no matter what, because of what specifically it is and who they are. (But I still have a backup plan in place for that!)

I guess I’ve been burned too many times by people reneging on commitments. And I really cannot relate to them.

God, please, help me to find ease this week especially. Keep us and our home safe. Keep my grandma safe and help her to heal significantly, such that she may attend and enjoy easily and immensely our wedding and wedding celebration. Help my mom to handle her tasks efficiently and to my dream standards. Help me to look and to feel how I long to look and to feel, surrounded by and guided by your love and the love of my man. Thank you for my man and my mom, especially. Help the friends pull through and be true friends throughout the next nine days, please. Please. And please, give us good weather for our wedding morning and, especially, early evening and night. Thank you for your love and guidance. Please, continue to show me my next step clearly in following your will for my life. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2024

Wine Night

Tonight, we had our wine tasting dinner. The neighbors, one by one, ended up with a cold and couldn’t make it at all, though they still made and dropped off the planned wonderful salad. My sister-in-law was just relent not feeling up to getting out. But I managed to get my mom to come, after all, so it was still a small party of sorts with her, my brother, my man, and me. My mom and I definitely had to start spitting after a while, as, even just tasting a single small sip or two adds up like crazy when you’re tasting 18 different wines and Proseccos. And that’s excluding the five we didn’t even open. Nonetheless, we ended up having a great time testing and comparing them all together. And it was quite helpful to have two other palates and opinions to contribute to the considerations.

In the end, it seems we have selected our wines. Just need to go get them all tomorrow. Supposedly, we are doing something like 70 or 76 bottles of wine. While that is a lot, we are getting most of it at Costco, which makes they group all returnable, so long as they’re unopened. And that is a wonderful thing. Thank you, Costco. Well, same deal with the liquor store attached to Costco. Same policy and great pricing, too. Only the Prosecco we preferred seems to be cheaper at Total Wine than at Costco.

Whatever the case for all of it, I really hope folks enjoy the wines we picked. My man has an understanding of wines – because apparently you can’t not when you spend several years living in the smack middle of wine country in California, surrounded by vineyards 24/7 – and he seemed happy with the selections we made. They aren’t awesome wines, no. But they are decent wines. And they are wines that we can afford. And those two are what really matters for it all.

So, thank you, God, for this lovely evening together. Keep us all safe, please, and grant us nourishing sleep tonight. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2024

Music

Well, I’ve narrowed it down significantly for the hymns at our wedding Mass. Of course, true to form, my man didn’t register why I had been going through so much music the past week and a half, and so now has to go check his music lists and see if there is anything significant to him on them, so we can add them to the final list for pairing. Hopefully, he can find at least one song that is really significant for him that we can use. I have one that is really big for me in there as a for-sure song, so I’m hoping he can have one like that, too. And then the other two songs can be just ones that we both like. That would be a nice balance, after all.

God, guide us to find the music that is perfect for our celebration with you. Help us to be loving and energized and at ease during our final weeks of preparations for the wedding. Thank you for this opportunity and your love. Make us well, please. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2024

Creating an image, or creating stress

We still haven’t created our wedding and reception and honeymoon, so it has become increasingly stressful for me to arrange the details of them. If we had a clear image of what we’re aiming to achieve, it’s be easy to figure out how to meet that image. But I’m currently working only on what I have created, and then on what my man throws out suddenly in disagreement with upset. Not a successful method for accomplishing things, and definitely not one for accomplishing them with joy, love, and ease.

God, help us, please, to create the wedding and reception and honeymoon we both truly long to have. Help us to see clearly what we want, and to communicate that clearly, effectively, and promptly. Help us to find exactly what we need for all of this. Thank you for this opportunity. Keep us safe, please. In your name, we pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2023