Monday, August 23, 2021

Tuesday 4, Weddings

I'm almost a week late, but here are this/last week's Tuesday 4 prompts about weddings. Join me if you'd like. 

 1. If you are married would you share how your husband proposed to you? How long were you engaged before you got married? If you aren't married, what would be ideal for you?

There was no formal proposal. We talked about getting married several times and after a while decided to make it formal with an engagement. We were/are very practical people and the whole idea of a surprise proposal seemed strange. Wouldn't it be something you'd need to discuss? At length. However, I know that it is much more of a romantic gesture than anything else. And decades ago, it wasn't such a big thing when there wasn't social media to document everything. I'm don't remember exactly how long we were engaged before we got married--maybe 6 months. I was finishing up my thesis, then spent a couple of month's at my parents house planning the wedding.

2. Did you receive an engagement ring? Would you show us or describe it for us? Yes, I did receive an engagement ring. It is a simple brilliant cut diamond. The stone came from my husband's grandmother with the instructions that if we ever broke up, it had to come back to her. Fortunately, we've never had to make good on that promise. However, I did lose the ring once and was panicked about telling her. However, after several months I found it. If you want to read more about that and a ring Ward lost, you can read it here.

3. What kind of wedding did you have? Was it big or small, formal, informal, religious or justice of the peace. Inquiring minds want to know! Our wedding was in my small, home town church. It was a simple affair with only two attendants - one of my sisters and Ward's best friend. There were maybe 50-75 people there and the reception was in the basement of the new library with church friends making all of the food. It all went just as planned. However, I can't say that it was a comfortable day. I wasn't used to being the center of attention for such a long period of time and I found it tiring. 

4.Was there a honeymoon? Where did you go, how long did you stay? There really wasn't a honeymoon, so to speak. Ward was just a few months into a new job and didn't have any vacation time built up. His company gave him one personal day for the wedding. Time constraints was one of the reasons we got married the Friday after Thanksgiving instead of a more traditional Saturday. I also was starting a new job the next week, so the "honeymoon" was a long drive back to New Orleans from WV. We only drove a few hours the first night to a scenic spot, so I guess that was our honeymoon. But we've had plenty of time to travel since then.

When I reread this, by what you see these days, this was a very plain and simple affair, both the engagement and the wedding. But the wedding was, hands down, just right. Because we got married and eons later, we're still happily married.