Hi there. I haven't been spending much time in here... which is a shame. Work and family life is just keeping me TOO busy! But I wanted to let people know what was going on and to share a little of my experience with others. I'm not sure if anyone else here in the forum has actually got married, so I thought I'd share my experience here! I announced my engagement in this thread: http://emptyclosets.com/forum/introductions-welcomes-congratulations/39291-engaged.html That was a few months ago, and we're not into a 'countdown' of sorts. The big day is August 6th of this year - so 3.5 months to go. We're very fortunate to live in a country that allows same sex marriage, because after being together for 3 years this is something that we both wanted to do. We said from the outset that we didn't want this to be something that was too complicated or overwhelming. But at the same time, if you're going to throw a party, you might as well throw a nice one. We're planning on 60 people or so, and we're having it (ceremony and reception) at a local golf club. So location, food, cake, DJ, photographer and florist are all booked. Our kids are going to be our wedding party - 3 girls and one boy, ages 8 to 13. The dresses have been ordered, but us guys still don't know what we're wearing. It has been interesting to go through this process a second time with a man as my partner. My first wedding - with my ex wife - was all her doing. I don't recall making really any of the decisions! I'm sure I agreed to things, but I don't remember figuring many things out. My fiance was the same. This time around, we're having to do it all - and it's kind of fun. Going to the local 'bridal show' was cool - and on every form we filled out we had to cross out 'bride' and insert instead another 'groom'. While their forms aren't quite as accomodating as they could be, everyone has been very cool with it. The photographer is actually really excited about doing our wedding, which is nice. My boyfiend's family lives about 10 hours away, so we're not sure how many of his relatives will be coming. It's unfortunate that they don't seem to be as excited as we would have hoped, but he isn't surprised. My family, on the other hand, will be in attendance in large numbers, which will be nice! Again, we're just really happy that A) we found each other and we're so happy together, and B) that we're able to be married legally here in Canada. It hasn't been the easiest road for us to get to this point in our lives, but now that we're here we wouldn't change a single thing - even if we could! Again - I don't write to boast. Instead it's to give hope and encouragement to others who are following. Those people who are where I WAS 4 or 5 years ago, wondering what my life was going to be like if I came out, and whether or not it was worth it. It's totally worth it. :icon_bigg I'll keep you all posted.
Congratulations, Jim! I think it's great that you and your partner are happy, and can legally get married. I wish you two the best!
That sounds super exciting Jim I am so happy for both of you. I hope you're going to have a wonderful wedding. Keep us posted with the wedding plans and I can't wait for the pictures ! Many (*hug*) Cécile
Congratulations Jim!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish you and your fiancé many years of happiness! And like Céci said, keep us posted with the wedding plans and make sure you take lots and lots of photographs! It's not often that there is a wedding! *Many, many, many, many hugs*
Congrats, Jim! It's wonderful that you've found Mr. Right and I wish you both many years of happiness.
Thanks everyone! We're certainly looking forward to it. Last night we ordered our wedding bands. They are fairly simple: white gold bands, half polished, half brushed finish, with a small diamond set in it. Our invitations are in as well, so now it's a matter of assembling them and sending them out. They have a ribbon that you're supposed to use to tie them together, and for the life of us we can't fiture out how we're supposed to tie it! We'll have to go back to the printer and look at the example they had in their book to see how it's supposed to look...
Congrats Jim! It sounds great. My fiancé and I set a wedding date October 8th. We can exchange notes.
Oops. I'm late to the party (hope you're not!). Great news - hope all the preparations, the day and the future go smoothly for you both. (*hug*)
We were at the golf club where we've booked our reception for a tasting lunch. It was nice. I think we've decided to have the salad with goat's cheese, roasted red peppers and pine nuts to start. The main course will be beef tenderloin and grilled chicken breast with roasted potatoes and vegetables, and desert will be an ice cream crepe with raspberries. The only thing we weren't thrilled with was the house wine. The white was OK, but the red wasn't nice at all. It just sounded like it was going to get expensive if we start to substitute the wine. We'll have to think about it. The girls dresses are in as well. So we'll pick them up in a couple of weeks when my partner's daughter is back in town to try hers on. We were also out at the mall yesterday afternoon and ended up looking at shirts and ties. We both spotted a tie at the same time that we liked, so we ended up buying 2 of them. We're not sure if we're going to wear the same outfit, or something similar but different. Any thoughts on that?!? 96 days and counting.
Congratulations to you both. It's not every day you get an insight in to a same sex marriage and I for one am enjoying hearing about yours. Please keep the updates coming!
Don't wear the same thing, you're not TWINS. Well you're soul-mates (for what I know, heard, etc.) which is the closest but still, you're not to wear the same thing!!! I would advise that neither of you should wear the "classic" groom look. It's about breaking boundaries, right? So it's OK to spice up. What if, for example, one of you wears a bow tie and other a regular tie? Then you can wear a black suit with a slight different color shirt--one with a light yellow, the other with a light green (avoid falling into the blue/pink stuff!) Also make sure that any color you decide to wear will not clash with your daughters and son's colors. Please, no one wants a RAINBOWPALOOZA wedding. And last but not least, OMG YOU'RE GETTING MARRIED FOR REAL =D
^ Thanks! I agree - we don't want a rainbow themed wedding. (Not that there's anything wrong with that - it just isn't for us.) So I'm hoping that we'll find shirts and ties, to your point, that are complimentary to each other and the overall colour scheme, while allowing us to where our own thing. Easier said than done though I think. Wedding invitations are all put together. There are a couple of relatives that I'd like to invite, but I'm worried about hurting other relatives that won't be invited. I probably need to just get over that.
Invitations are in the mail! So there's no turning back now! I decided to stop sweating it, and I've invited the relatives that I wanted to invite. (Plus one that I wouldn't have, except she's very close to my grandmother and her other sister, and they are both invited. I figured one more little old lady couldn't hurt.) Next is the marriage licence. Need to get that done and overwith.