I have always expected to be involved with the planning of my own wedding. Hell, I'll move high rises 10 feet to the left to make the city a better place, so how hard can a wedding be?.....
... Yeah, right. All the time I (or Kathi, or both) think 'hell, let's just elope.' The array of decisions, and parties who have an input into those decisions, is astounding. In a previous job I planned an annual fundraiser (12 months of planning, 100+ volunteers, 1000+ attendees, and well over $100,000 raised), so I have some idea of planning large events, but the great monkey in the works for weddings is family; both families in fact. Now don't get me wrong; I love my parents, and Kathi's family is great, but they all want input into the wedding (which often translates as 'you want to do it this [our] way'). And of course, being family, to say no invites the dreaded 'I'm your [insert relative here]; don't I matter? *sniff*'. Sometimes eloping looks really appealing (and since my boss is the Mayor, and therefore a JP in effect, he can do it. 5 minutes at the start of Council and then we're done. Of course I still have to sit through council [it's my job], but at least that day I could wear a tux.)
*sigh*; what keeps me sane is looking at Kathi: at the end of the day we'll be married, and together permanently, so all the family stuff I can deal with. And we're awful close to having the date and place nailed down, which will make the rest of the process a lot clearer (can't pick a hotel, or a limo, or a caterer, etc., without knowing which city and date the wedding will be). No, I'm not telling where; not till it's signed and sealed (hey! you wanna spoiler??? The ship sinks; soylent green is made of people; Cloverfield is a giant monster, and Spock dies).
--An interesting observation from the guy's side of things: wedding planning is not quite as bridalcentric as I was expecting. Oh sure, it does lean in that direction, but by and large the vendors/websites/etc. have recognized that grooms are people too. In fact, the only time I get snarky to a vendor was when a reception venue had no pictures of the outside of their building. I'm a city planner by training, remember?? This is a HUGE red flag for me; what's wrong with the outside that they won't show it (or talk about it, as I found out)? Well, having been outside their building I know the answer: most of the store fronts are vacant, and the sidewalk looks like it survived the Dresden firebombing. Score one for city planning radar!!
But in general, other than being a bit pushy (but not quite so bad as Best Buy salestaff), the wedding industry has generally treated me well. I'm still ready to turn on snark mode, but I'm equally ready to not need it, and actually get the beast planned. We'll see at any rate.
That's all folks; off to bed.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Random stuff
'Tis been a while, and thus I thought to post again.
Happy holidays all; I hope they went well. I spent mine with Kathi (well, duuh), and her parents up in long island ("lawn geyeland"), with a 3 day stint up at their cabin in the catskills (really, and no, I didn't see Jackie Mason) doing wedding planning and making googly eyes at each other (with time out for creek stomping, which you'd think would not work so well in December. When it's 50 degrees out and the sky is BLUE!!!, you'd be wrong). Just an amazing week. The catskills are real mountains; not the rockies certainly, but for a midwestern boy they'll do just fine. At one point we took a side trip to Kingston, founded in 1688 (yes, as in 318 years ago), and some of the original stone houses are still standing (despite the British's best efforts to the contrary). Met Kathi's extended family, and survived, and they all like me. the karma wheel must be going round my (our) way.
So it's back to work, and grimy snow, and cold weather, and no ocean, and no waves, and a brown river, and so on. I'd be upset, but honestly things are going pretty well, so I'll be content with my lot.
BTW: driving around NYC makes driving around chicago look like a picnic. The whole islands and bridges thing, plus Robert Moses' penchant for curving parkways, makes the experience akin to a pinball game, and you're the pinball. Trust me; if you can avoid driving, take the train. (unless you're doing the scenic route; then by all means wander about.)
OK, now for some photos:
West Shokan Reservoir (provides the drinking water for NYC: the cabin is about 10 miles away)
Downtown Kingston
Old State House; 1676
Hoffman House, also circa 1676
Kime Avenue House;
This house is 3 blocks from Kathi's parents. I don't know how many lights and decorations there are on and around the house; to say there are 10's of thousands is an understatement. There are a handful of houses in the neighborhood who all do this, and in any other city they would be the star. Compared to this house they don't even measure up. To their credit, the owners take donations for the local children's hospital; according to the papers the annual donation is well over $20,000. The Southern State Parkway runs behind this house, so you can quite literally see it from the highway.
(more photos to follow when they are uploaded)
(and yes, these are not my photos, as evidenced by the fact that the trees aren't green in december)
Happy holidays all; I hope they went well. I spent mine with Kathi (well, duuh), and her parents up in long island ("lawn geyeland"), with a 3 day stint up at their cabin in the catskills (really, and no, I didn't see Jackie Mason) doing wedding planning and making googly eyes at each other (with time out for creek stomping, which you'd think would not work so well in December. When it's 50 degrees out and the sky is BLUE!!!, you'd be wrong). Just an amazing week. The catskills are real mountains; not the rockies certainly, but for a midwestern boy they'll do just fine. At one point we took a side trip to Kingston, founded in 1688 (yes, as in 318 years ago), and some of the original stone houses are still standing (despite the British's best efforts to the contrary). Met Kathi's extended family, and survived, and they all like me. the karma wheel must be going round my (our) way.
So it's back to work, and grimy snow, and cold weather, and no ocean, and no waves, and a brown river, and so on. I'd be upset, but honestly things are going pretty well, so I'll be content with my lot.
BTW: driving around NYC makes driving around chicago look like a picnic. The whole islands and bridges thing, plus Robert Moses' penchant for curving parkways, makes the experience akin to a pinball game, and you're the pinball. Trust me; if you can avoid driving, take the train. (unless you're doing the scenic route; then by all means wander about.)
OK, now for some photos:
West Shokan Reservoir (provides the drinking water for NYC: the cabin is about 10 miles away)
Downtown Kingston
Old State House; 1676
Hoffman House, also circa 1676
Kime Avenue House;
This house is 3 blocks from Kathi's parents. I don't know how many lights and decorations there are on and around the house; to say there are 10's of thousands is an understatement. There are a handful of houses in the neighborhood who all do this, and in any other city they would be the star. Compared to this house they don't even measure up. To their credit, the owners take donations for the local children's hospital; according to the papers the annual donation is well over $20,000. The Southern State Parkway runs behind this house, so you can quite literally see it from the highway.
(more photos to follow when they are uploaded)
(and yes, these are not my photos, as evidenced by the fact that the trees aren't green in december)
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