#4: Wedding Planning Update

I'm all, "Hiiiiieee!" Mr. CP is all, *smug face*... or, "Quoi?" I can't decide which.

Sorry I've been an absentee blogger recently. Life has been a bit hectic, so I'm struggling to keep up with everything. Since it's been so long since my last wedding update, I figured I'd go ahead and fill you in on the wedding plans as they currently stand.

I have a confession to make. I'm not much of a wedding person. You know how a lot of little girls run around wearing pillow cases over their heads pretending to be brides? I didn't do that. I pretended to be an astronaut. Or, when I was in high school, Indiana Jones. True story. I worked on archaeology digs and learned Latin, both of which are mind-numbingly boring, by the way. But I digress. Growing up, I occasionally talked to my girlfriends (now unofficial bridesmaids!) about what The Guy would be like. In my more emo-tacular moments I even entertained the notion that no one, ever, anywhere in the whole Universe could possibly understand my pain, and wrote surly poetry about it. But on those occasions when I was thinking about The Guy, it was always vague; always unclear. Because, to be honest, getting married was never really a priority for me. I was never against the idea. I just never thought too much about it. If it happened great, and if not great. 

In point of fact, I'm fairly certain that just about everybody close to me was shocked when it became clear just how serious things were between Mr. CP and I. The post-engagement conversations I had were essentially a variation on the same theme: "You're getting married? I always assumed that you might find someone to spend your life with, but I never thought you'd get married!" I never found it insulting. On the contrary, all of those conversations were absolutely hilarious. Something in me rejoices when I have the opportunity to surprise people. ;)

Because I never really thought too much about my "future wedding," the process of organizing everything has been interesting. I've learned a few things about myself. What I've learned first and foremost is this: all the trappings of a wedding -- announcements, photographs, the dress, the groom's attire -- are largely irrelevant to me. I mean, sure, they're things I'm thinking about. But they're just details, details that will really only matter for a tiny fraction of one day that is itself just a tiny fraction of the rest of my life. The wedding, at least for me, isn't the point. The marriage is the point. Growing magnificently crotchety, and exceptionally wrinkly with Mr. CP is the point. And focusing on that has allowed me to accept, guilt-free, the fact that we just don't want a big, traditional, fancy pants wedding.

SO, here's what we've planned so far:

• I picked out a dress! Huzzah! It's not white. Double huzzah! It has six -- count 'em, six -- petticoats. Yeah, those will be getting the old heave-ho. 
• Mr. CP seems to like the idea of a natural colored linen suit. I left it up to him. He could wear board shorts, and an old t-shirt if he wanted to. I'd still claim him. =P
• The wedding date has been set for February 6, 2013 on Maui in Hawaii. We're planning on spending the weekish beforehand with our guests. 
• The guest list is itty bitty. We're currently sitting at a whopping 3 guests.
• There won't be a wedding party. Just our guests standing around us on a beach.
• Instead of a rehearsal dinner, we will be attending a luau, and gorging ourselves on delicious food. Oh, man, am I going to eat!
• Our honeymoon: a 7-day cruise that will hit all the Hawaiian islands.
• Let me preface this next bit by saying that I have nothing at all against traditional wedding vows. I think that they're beautiful and meaningful, particularly if they're important to the couple in question. They're just not our cup of tea. Looking at the vows typically used by the company we're going through for our ceremony, I can't actually imagine saying them without a) feeling vaguely uncomfortable and b) laughing. Don't get me wrong. I plan to do a lot of laughing during our vows. But they're going to be just that: our vows. We're writing our own. Because we're history geeks -- Mr. CP is about to finish up his PhD in Ancient Roman History, and I spent a couple years working towards a PhD in Early American History -- there will be a lot of bad history jokes. "You're the Julius Caesar to my Brutus" is one option, though arguably not a good one what with the whole betrayal/assassination thing. Maybe, "You're the Julius Caesar to my Brutus, pre-Ides of March" is an option. Ahem. Any and all suggestions are welcome. The more ridiculous the better.