I just want to take a little time to talk a little about me.

For those who aren’t already aware, I’m getting married this year. In about 8 weeks, actually, on the 5th anniversary of our first date. Jenn and I are just having a very small wedding, so don’t feel bad for not being invited; the entire attendance will be 12 including us, and all are immediate family. Even so, it has required a fair bit of planning, and will still cost us a fairly surprising amount, which makes me even happier that we’re keeping it small. Besides, we already bought a beautiful house and committed to a multi-decade mortgage; in many ways we both feel that was a bigger step to take together.

Earlier this year, we went to the Bridal Show just to look around and see what was being displayed and offered. Wandering around between the exhibits of limos, tuxedos, white dresses, caterers and fancy dinnerware, it struck me just how much of a formula exists for “your perfect wedding.” My cognitive processes had a problem trying to process out how anyone can call a wedding day uniquely theirs while pretty much being told to follow this prescribed formula for how it should happen.

Thankfully Jenn agrees with me on this, and so we’re having a small and relatively simple wedding, and we’re doing it our way as much as we possibly can. Jenn is foregoing the white dress for this lovely number from Rowena, and purchased a custom made veil and flowers made of ribbon via Etsy. I just bought a simple but snazzy black suit, and – because footwear is one of the few areas where I actually am picky about style – these awesome shoes from Gravity Pope. (I had actually originally wanted a pair of Fluevogs since I like that brand a lot, but these turned out to be much more stylish and much more comfortable.)

We’re getting married in one of the most beautiful public parks in Edmonton, and our wedding music will be a selection of Led Zeppelin songs. Instead of renting a hall and booking a caterer, we’re just having our reception dinner in the private dining room at Creations at the Sawridge (UPDATE: We’ve moved our dinner to Tom Goodchild’s Moose Factory due to lack of communication from Creations/Sawridge), and we’re having a small but nice cake done by Custom Creations Cakes & Pasteries. Having a nice cake is the only other thing I was picky about.

Not counting the honeymoon (two actually, we’re taking one in the mountains, and another in San Francisco later in the year), the most expensive things about our wedding are the rings from Vandenberg’s Jewellers, and the photographer – we hired my buddy Jason for that task.

It dawned on me when we went to get our marriage license, filling out the paperwork for the next step toward our marriage that I had zero hesitation signing into the next phase of our commitment. I think I’ve watched too many TV shows and movies where someone gets nervous, worried, cold feet or whatever, because my experience has been the exact opposite of all of this and hasn’t wavered. Put simply: I love Jenn and I want to marry her; I love the wedding we have planned out for ourselves, I’m excited to be taking this step in our lives and our relationship, and I’m looking forward to everything that comes after.

Posted by Dave Sutherland Apr - 5 - 2011 1 Comment Categories: Blogography