Many of you know that Martha and I went to Antigua on our honeymoon. We stayed at a Sandals resort while we were there... Well, it was not what we expected at all, and I've tried to get some sort of response from Sandals, but to no avail. So, my recommendation to everyone from now on will be: don't go to Sandals.
Take a look at the letter I wrote to their guest liason...
My own personal D-Day is coming up. Let's call it "W-Day." I'm getting married in three days to a woman I have been with for almost four years now, so I suppose we could call this a culmination of everything good about the relationship. (Though I'm sure there will be many more great events in our relationship together - buying a house, having kids, and so on).
I haven't gotten to the point where I feel nervous yet. Mostly I feel like I'm walking through a haze. It does not seem like over a year since I asked Martha to marry me. The year went by entirely too quickly, and I find that this last week is going by even faster. Even if I didn't want to think about the wedding, I wouldn't have the chance. It seems like I'm asked if I'm nervous on an almost hourly basis. Why does it seem like people think the groom should be more nervous than the bride? I mean, I'm the one who did the asking - if I was nervous about actually getting married, I don't think I would have asked the question.
Of course, all of the questioning about my level of nerves is making me nervous, even though I don't want to be. Of course, the closer I get, more and more things are happening that are making me stop and think. Today my co-workers at Georgetown took me out for a "Groom's Lunch." It was very thoughtful of them, as was the gift that they gave Martha and I, and I was a little overwhelmed by it all.
Then I got back from lunch to find an email waiting for me from my friend Cindy regarding her most recent column. This column, The 20-something dance: Where has all the time gone?, didn't help the nerves, but it was a very thoughtful column by one of my favorite writers. She asks a good question, though. Where has all the time gone? It seems like just yesterday that Martha and I were waiting out a hurricane in Richmond and later struggling through a week without electricity.
While I am very excited to (officially) start my life with Martha, it also scares me. Not the fact that I'll be with Martha for the rest of my life - how could I be scared of that, I love her! It scares me because it makes me feel old, which is not a good feeling for me. Yes, as Cindy's article pointed out, I am the last of our 20-something group of friends to tie the knot, but that isn't a bad thing. We all take different paths in our lives, and I feel like my life matured at a different rate (read: slower) than most of my friends. I've been jealous of my friends for so long, having their happy marriages, houses, and having started their real lives long before me - that I've sometimes forgotten to take stock of my own life.
So no, I'm not nervous yet. I will be on W-Day, assuredly. But despite the occassional bump in the road, things are going pretty well for 'ol Jeremy right now.
Let's just hope that Tropical Storm Andrea stays far away from Antigua!
Well, it is starting to look like I won't be having a bachelor's party before the wedding. It's quite a bummer, actually... I was originally supposed to do something with Tom (my brother and best man) and Wes (groomsman) while I was back for Martha's shower in Michigan. Unfortunately, Tom had a graduate school interview come up, so we had to scrub that one.
Now that I'm in Richmond/Washington DC, it appears that I won't be having one, though. With all of my groomsmen so spread out across the country, it seems like getting anything together would be a huge hassle. It's unfortunate, because while Martha will end up having two showers (and maybe a bachlorette party), I won't be able to have anything pre-wedding. I was actually really looking forward to something going on.
Tom offered to come down to the area to hang out in order to do something, but I just don't know what we'd do. Plus, I don't particularily have the money right now to head back up to Michigan.
It's unfortunate, but I guess I'll have to go without....
This was cross-posted in our Wedding Weblog.
It's been a while since our last update, but things continue to move in the right direction. This week has been full of wedding-related things, so we thought we'd touch on them a bit here.
First, we started our marraige prep classes at Christ Church. The classes are called "Water Into Wine" and are sponsored by the Episcopal Church and are required of all couples who are planning to marry in the church. There are five group classes, each on a different topic, and a day long retreat. While the rush-hour drive after work through the busy streets of Old Town Alexandria was a challenge, the class ended up being interesting, and giving us some great things to think about. We will be participating in these through December.
We have decided to take registering one step at a time, and only register for a few things each time. Despite having to travel to two separate stores to get a scanning device that worked, we spent a few hours in the kitchen section looking around.
Martha has been in negotiation with the event planners at the place we plan to have our reception. Coupled with that, I have to begin my preliminary research into a DJ for the wedding, which should be fun.
While there is still a lot to do, we are taking it one step at a time. We're taking a brief vacation back to Michigan from July 30-August 5, and would enjoy getting together with anyone while we are there.
We have created a single email account for friends and family to get in contact with both of us over the next year about any wedding related thing. Feel free to send us an email at wedding at jersar dot com