In the course of searching for readings and scripts for our wedding ceremony, we came across a few selections that we considered including in the program but ended up leaving out to keep the ceremony fairly brief. I'd still like to share them, though, so I've posted them below.
We did it!
And it couldn't have been a happier, more beautiful day. Sure, there were hiccups (because there are always hiccups), but everything worked out fine and we had a wonderful time. We hope that those of you who were able to join us had a good time, too -- and thank you so much for sharing this day with us.
We do plan to write here about our experiences that day, post photos and recap our honeymoon. But we've been going pretty much non-stop since we got back, so that'll have to wait a little bit longer until things calm down. (Then again, we have a holiday weekend coming up, which will be great catch-up time.)
Speaking of photos -- We've started a private group on the photo-sharing Web site Flickr to allow folks to view/share photos from the wedding. If you want to join, let us know and we'll invite you to the group!
Meanwhile, if you're interested, you can read the ceremony script, which is a fine mishmash of language and sentiments inspired by or stolen from other scripts we found on the Internet.
It's here!
And I know it's going to go by in a blurry-eyed flash.
First things first: Breakfast. Then appointments at the salon. Then take care of some last minute-details, head over to the house, take photos.
And then the main event.
There's something very sobering about seeing your name printed on a marriage license.
We walked over to the Arlington County Courthouse this morning to take care of all outstanding legal matters pertaining to the wedding.
Back in January, we asked our good friend Dari if he would officiate our wedding. In Arlington County, ordinary citizens can be sworn in by a representative of the court to perform a single marriage ceremony. The process: Applicants submit a petition to the court requesting the legal authority to officiate a wedding, along with a copy of a court order for the judge to sign. (The clerk's office gave us an example petition and order on which to base our own paperwork.) Once the petition is approved, the court mails the signed order to the prospective officiant. Then the officiant returns to the county clerk's office to take an oath and pay a bond, which will be returned when the signed marriage license is turned in after the wedding.
We really liked the idea of having a close friend officiate our wedding rather than a minister or justice of the peace that didn't really know us. And Rob and I have known Dari about as long as we've known each other: The three of us started jobs at George Washington University right around the same time back in 2003, and in that time our friendship has evolved from lunch break commiseration to weekly outings to Kabob Bazaar and viewings of The Office.
So today we made an early-morning visit to the Clerk of the Court's office to have Dari sworn in -- as well as procure our marriage license. Everything went pretty quickly, and we left the office within 20 minutes, legally powered officiant and unsigned marriage certificate in hand. Out of everything we've done so far -- the invitations, the rings, the wedding dress -- seeing our names printed together on a marriage license has come closest to impressing upon me the "realness" of this thing we're undertaking. It's official, and it's happening soon. Still, I felt a glimmer of giddiness cut through the momentary sobriety. The big day's only three weeks away, and I can't wait.
One month and counting until the big day! It's coming up so fast!
FedEx delivered our wedding rings today.
We ordered simple white gold bands last week from Blue Nile, where Rob had bought my engagement ring. They really seem to have their act together, with great communication and super-fast shipping. (And, as a happy bonus, I found a coupon code online that got us 10 percent off the price of our rings.)
My wedding ring is about the same size as my engagement ring, but it feels a little heavier somehow. It definitely felt strange to try it on. Just like the engagement ring and the "fiancéé moniker, wearing the wedding ring and role of "wife" is going to be a bit of an adjustment. I don't think things are really going to change for me on a day-to-day basis just because I've gotten married ... but at the same time, the very notion of "wow. married." and all that marriage entails is a bit weighty.
We've had to ship Rob's ring back because his is just a mite too small. Blue Nile is going to exchange it for a ring that's a half-size larger, and we should be getting the new ring within a week or two of them receiving the original.
The last time we went through dance classes, I discovered that the foxtrot is my eternal nemesis. I do just fine when we're walking through the steps, but turn on some music, and suddenly I'm tripping all over myself.
Unfortunately for me, the song Rob and I have chosen for our "first dance" at the wedding reception is a foxtrot.
In preparation for that first dance, we've signed up for a four-week class in foxtrot, waltz and single-step swing through the Dance Factory, a studio in Virginia Square that Allison and Adam recommended to us.
I'm so glad that we took our introduction to ballroom class last spring, or else we would have been pretty lost in our first class on Tuesday, during which our teacher sped through the basic steps of the rumba and the foxtrot.
Our dance instructor also required us to periodically swap dance partners, which was a strange, awkward experience for me. (In the first dance class we took, through the city of Alexandria, Rob and I just danced with each other.) In most cases, we avoided smalltalk and, eyes fixed steadfastly over each other's shoulders, concentrated on our own steps.
The one time I tried to be friendly and congratulate a partner on his mastery of the basic rumba steps, he stumbled and we had to start over again. A few minutes later, when the song ended, he told me, "Do you know why that worked? You didn't open your mouth."
I felt no guilt when I noticed that he didn't have a partner for the next dance.
On the upside, the basic rumba and foxtrot steps came back pretty quickly. And when I really concentrated, I didn't stumble all over myself. Concentration is key.
That, and practice. We need to make a point to do that this time, or, come April, we're sunk.
Cupcake, actually.
Instead of ordering a big, fancy wedding cake, Rob and I decided on something a little more in keeping with our "finger food" theme: an array of cupcakes and pineapple buns, set out on a cupcake tree. (A Chinese dim sum staple, pineapple buns are like less-sweet custard donuts. Their name comes from the crinkly texture of the top of the pastries, not any kind of pineapple taste.)
I considered ordering the famous CakeLove cupcakes, but the per-cupcake price and the hassle of having to pick them up in D.C. on the day of the wedding led us to instead choose Heidelberg Pastry Shoppe, an Arlington-based German bakery I'd heard good things about.
There was a good bit of confusion when we got to the bakery -- not realizing at first that there was a woman specifically tasked to deal with weddings and special orders, we took a number and waited our turn in line -- but once we sat down with our sample cupcakes, all was fine. The original cupcakes we'd reserved to taste -- one yellow, one chocolate, both with white icing and blue flowers -- were actually kind of disappointing. The cakes themselves -- particularly the chocolate cake -- were splendid. But the icing -- and I'm usually a big fan of icing -- was so overpoweringly sweet, it completely obscured the taste of the cake.
While waiting in line, though, we'd also spotted an interesting cupcake with pink-flecked icing (it turned out to be yellow cake with raspberry buttercream icing). That cupcake was perfect, much less sweet than the other cupcakes, but much easier to appreciate. After we expressed our enthusiasm for the buttercream, the woman helping us also brought over a slice of yellow cake with lemon buttercream icing to give us an idea of how that flavor tasted. Yum yum yum.
The final order: 60 cupcakes, 20 each in the following flavors:
After so much sugar overload, we needed something completely different to cleanse our palates -- and detox -- a bit. Since the bakery also had a deli counter, we decided to order lunch there, with me getting a bratwurst (and suppressing a sudden craving for German potato salad) and Rob ordering a chicken curry sandwich. Good stuff -- and I'm looking forward to going back again.
I meant to post this earlier, but forgot...
I've gone out to Fort C.F. Smith Park a couple times in the past few weeks to shoot photos of the house and the park. (We've commissioned Doug to create an illustration of the house for our "save the date" cards and invitations. From the early sketches I've seen, it's going to look great!)
The first time I went to the house, there was someone else's wedding going on, so I stuck to the hiking trail on the property and tried to surreptitiously shoot the occasional photo of the house. (I did get some great nature shots, though.) The second time I visited, no one was there, so I was able to get up close.
I have tasted the food. And it is GOOD.
Last night, Rob and I met with Colleen, the catering director at Lebanese Taverna, to discuss our options and sample some potential menu offerings for the reception. Colleen seems really cool to work with -- very laid-back, very helpful and super-nice -- and all the food we sampled (some I'd tried before, some new) was uniformly excellent.
We're planning food stations for the reception -- a themed table of mostly "finger foods" in each of the various rooms of the house. We've already decided that we're going to have one table just with cocktail servings of kabobs -- chicken, kafta (beef), shrimp and veggies. We may have other table with fattoush (a type of salad), falafel, stuffed tomato and hummus / pita bread, and a third table with small portions of kibbeh, with both cheese and spinach-stuffed fatayer pastries.
If we've planned it right, we're hoping that the layout of the house and the placement of the food stations will encourage people to walk around and mix and mingle (yay for social engineering). And there hopefully will be enough food on-hand that everyone will get plenty to eat -- and hopefully try (and enjoy!) some new dishes.
We have a date! And a venue!
As Rob mentioned earlier, our visit to Hendry House last weekend went very well. He talked to Sharon on Monday about available dates, and we sent in our deposit on Tuesday. Since an official confirmation letter arrived in the mail on Saturday, it's safe to announce the official details:
Date: April 29, 2006
Location: Hendry House, Fort C.F. Smith Park, Arlington, Va.
We've rented the house from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m.. Since that time includes set-up and clean-up, we're tentatively assuming that the ceremony will begin around 4:30 p.m., with the reception to start immediately afterward. The ceremony likely will be held outside, on the patio in front of the house, while the reception will take place inside the house and on the large porch.
Our original tentative wedding date — April 8 — coincided with the end of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, so we'd tossed around the idea of going with a cherry blossom "theme" for the wedding. Now that the official date is much later in the month, we've decided to discard that idea and try something entirely different.
More details to come, as we figure them out.