I’ve always been drawn to the Queen Mary. I remember going there for my “golden” (when you turn the age of your day, i.e., turning 12 on the 12th) birthday. It was a special request I made to my parents and so there we went. We booked a haunted tour and as part of the tour we went into the ballroom and I fell in love! They were getting the place ready for a wedding and I thought this is where I would want my wedding. It did not even phase me that we were on a haunted tour and that the Queen Mary is in fact haunted. How could someone want to be married in a haunted location? My question is - who wouldn’t? They say rain on your wedding day is good luck, why can’t the eerie feeling of being watched while exchanging vows be just as favored? I came across this article, which is what brought back those memories of so long ago. Haunted or not, a beautiful venue is a beautiful venue to have a wedding - haunted is a plus.

I am a proud Target shopper. I go there, at least, every other day. With time running low, I thought I would check out the Thank You cards they had and boy was a disappointed. Not one of those cards would scream “me”. Don’t get me wrong, they had very nice cards with pink flowers and birds on branches but that’s not “me”. So I got a hold of my fav. designer (Underwood) and asked her to design a card that was “me” and boy did she ever. I said “go Gothic Vintage” and she went just there.

I’ve sent out the cards to people who sent something (though we didn’t register) and I haven’t heard anything about the style of the card but I’m sure they look at the card and say “that’s so her”.

Whoa! We just participated in our first ever Black Market at Bat’s Day in Disneyland and we can’t WAIT for the next one. Sure, I just peeled myself off my bed after being in my platforms all day long and meeting tons of great people (explanation: I’m exhausted) but I would do it again next weekend. We were so anxious to show off some of our new products. Yes, we do more than just invitations. Some of the things we had to show were some more of Underwood’s original digital artwork. No surprise, it looked like our thorny roses in a frame were our best sellers. We sold out! Man, I had the perfect spot in my house to put that. :o) Guess other people did too, which is a-o-k with me. Anyhow, I’m going to stop talking for the time being so I can gather myself and get some things done but I wanted to invite everyone to visit our Etsy store, which will have all our items from Black Market and then some….

I will write more later but for now…. VISIT ETSY!

Wow, it’s been quite awhile since I’ve written and not to say that the wedding is off or there’s nothing to write about, oh no, no, no! You’re planning a wedding. You have stuff to vent about. Let’s take for instance my “wedding party”. Ugh. Even the mere mention makes my ass twitch. I didn’t want anyone to be my “bridesmaid”. I was totally fine doing this all on my own because let’s face it, when you add more to the mix, you get more drama. Especially with women. Anyway, it seemed for ceremony purposes, I needed to have a Maid of Honor. Okay, no problem I knew exactly who I wanted and luck have it, she would be attending my wedding afar. However, there was the other friend. The one I knew longer who was ALSO going. The sucker in me said “okay, I’ll have two MOH (if you’re getting married and are on any forums, acronyms such as this one is second nature)”. BIG MISTAKE! These women, although they are my friends, really have no idea who I really am.

As soon as I made my announcement the girl flood gates RUSHED open: BACHELORETTE PARTY! BRIDAL SHOWER! You HAVE to register! We need to do this and this and that! and… Whoa, WAIT! This is EXACTLY what I was avoiding and here it’s coming at me full force. I finally took my sucker cloak off and put the big girl panties on and said “NO. No registering, no parties. NOTHING. This is not my style”. I got a moment of silence, ahhh such the sweet sound of silence, and then the reluctant “ohhhkay”.

Did I get my point across? Sure. For now. But the the wedding is still less than 2 months away. I’m sure some kind of coercion is bound to rear its ugly head. Really…is it too bad to change my mind about the whole MOH thing?

Growing up I never saw my dad wear a ring. Wait, maybe I saw him wear one, once…on his pinky. I think it was the whole invoking the Godfather persona but other than that, no ring. I did date a guy who wore a gold ring with my name (awww) and his class ring, so that was probably my first experience with a man wearing a ring. Now that my beau and I are getting married I’ve wondered, does it matter if he wears a ring or not? And the answer there is no. I have left it up to him to wear a ring or not.

The only jewelry I’ve ever seen him (beau) wear was a gold necklace his mother gave him. When I asked my newly married friend if she minded whether her husband wore his ring or not she just about knocked my head off and said “HE BETTER”! She then turned the tables on me and asked my thoughts and I told her it was really up to him - I could care less. She was speechless.

Wedding rings are symbolic of many things, everlasting love, life-long commitment, you name it. But when I really think about it, I think a lot of wives put a heavy emphasis on the ring as a symbol of “back off ladies, he’s taken”. To me it’s really his actions. A piece of metal will not stop or make him act any different. Sure, it’s nice to see some “bling” on my man but it’s not a necessity on my part.

Although, there is this ring in development that will warm up every hour 24 hours before your anniversary. That’s pretty funny and will they make it for the bride as well?

I am starting to see that the planning of anything is the bane of my absolute existence.

I thought having a “destination wedding” would be easy. You just show up in Italy, say “I do”, party with the locals and be called a Mrs.

No way. Planning is planning is planning.

After getting engaged at the end of October, I just floated through life like it was any other day. Sure, people would ask about the ring and when the wedding date was but I just replied with “next spring”; moving on. I did not possess anything that even slightly resembled a bride gene in my body. I had no desire to search for dresses or anything of that nature. My girlfriends had more excitement in their voices than I did. It’s not that I dread getting married. I’m excited to be marrying my beau it’s just that, though; being married to him. That’s the cool part. The planning and expectations of a “wedding” are what I dread. I just want to show up.

Now, here we are first of the year and the count down is REALLY on. The pressure is mounting. Everyone wants to know the deal. The problem is…I have no answers.

A backhanded nod from Bridezilla… Our “Committed” invitations made the “most bizarre” wedding invitations. Cool! We love bizarre.

There were no flowers. There was no band playing. No balloons. No extravagant, hooplah gestures. Just two people, laying in bed and one had something else in mind. He said “hey buddy. I have something for you” She said “what’s that”. He rolled over and handed her a box. A small little red box. Instantly she knew what it was.

There was no bending of the knee and there was no question. It was just known. Officially as of that night in October, I (Mathilda) am engaged with my beau of 8 1/2 years. It was short and to the point and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

People ask me “how did he propose” and at first I think Oh, they’re expecting something full of gumdrops and rainbows…and I hesitate but I say proudly “he said ‘hey buddy’” and the rest is history. I actually had one person (who was a friend of a friend) sarcastically say “oh. that’s romantic”. Well, I let it slide off my back because 1) she doesn’t know me and 2) what’s romance got to do with it. My romance (something that makes me laugh) isn’t someone else’s romance.

So I invite people to share their “engagement” stories and they can be as ROMANTIC (YOUR definition of r.o.m.a.n.c.e.) as you want.

For those of us interested in making secular weddings an option for everyone who doesn’t fit into nice, neat, packaged faiths… The CFI (Center for Inquiry) is free-thinking organization with the mission “to foster a secular society based on science, reason, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values.” CFI has recently started a program to train and certify secular celebrants. The next training workshop is in Indianapolis, IN on December 5. Be aware–the requirements for celebrants may vary from state to state. More information on the program, the benefits, and requirements for your state can be found through the CFI website: http://www.centerforinquiry.net/education/secular_celebrants/

I’ve always considered myself a giver. Sure it’s nice to get things from time to time but when it comes to specific things, I always tell people “give me gift cards”.  It’s better to get pseudo cash because then I can get what I REALLY want and not some thing that may end up at the next garage sale.

As I’ve said before, I’m in my friend’s wedding and realized that I still need to get her a bridal shower gift (damn, my presence in her wedding isn’t good enough), so I went to her bridal registry and took a gander. As I looked at everything, plates, towels, bathroom thingies, I thought Hmmmm, I wonder what I would ask for….. and really thinking about it - no bridal registry. I talked about it with my man later that night and he came up with an ingenious idea “Nah, no gifts. Ask them to donate to an animal charity”. Why yes!! What a great thought!! Hah. Apparently, others have thought about this as well. I found this website that handles it all for you. What a great, selfless act and definitely a great way to celebrate your love. Unfortunately for me, they don’t have any animal charities on there but I can always recommend that they add one.

Of course, if you have a bridal registry that does not make you selfish. Not everyone has been co-habitating for decades and has collected their fair share of mismatched tea cups. So by all means visit that store, grab that gun thing and shoot away.