The first thing this song brings to my mind is… Shrek.

It’s a cute remake of the song first made popular by the Monkees, and it’s written by Neil Diamond. How can you go wrong with that??

If you’re from NEPA, and it doesn’t matter if it’s Scranton, Hazleton or Wilkes-Barre, you’ve heard of The Office. Not everyone watches it, but everyone KNOWS it. And if you know me, you know I was watching last night when Jim & Pam finally got married.

Before watching, I was a little bit upset. The Office is set in Northeast Pennsylvania and I was looking forward to a good, old fashioned NEPA wedding. How can a show that takes so much care to accurately reflect our region go to Niagara Falls for the wedding of two of their most loved characters? Though I can certainly appreciate the thought that goes into a destination wedding – the farther we go, the less people that can follow us, LOL.

Despite my initial misgivings, I wasn’t upset about the location by the time it was over. In my humble opinion, this episode was perfect. It captured the deep and long standing love Jim and Pam share, but it also kept it light with the ridiculous antics of Michael, Dwight and Andy. Even NEPA Groom was entertained, and I know sometimes he has to humor me with the Pam/Jim stuff.

The part that everyone is talking about is the JK Wedding Dance spoof at the end of the episode. Not only is it hysterical, but it’s really touching as well. Jim and Pam had the wedding they wanted. When things got too intense, they turned to each other and found their comfort zone. The shots of them getting married in the falls are some of the most touching I’ve ever seen on the series. I can only hope that NEPA Groom and I find our own special moment like that during our wedding day!

Getting married in a Catholic Church seems like it will be an interesting experience. So far, the mounds of paperwork have been! From what I’ve read online, it seems like the requirements can vary slightly from parish to parish, and that can get purty confusing for a non-Catholic like myself. I thought I might be able to shed some light on what the Diocese of Scranton requires for all the NEPA Brides & Grooms in a similar spot right now:

• First and foremost, you both need to be baptized by someone, at some point. You’ll need to get a copy of your baptism certificate from your home church, dated within the last 6 months.
• If you are Catholic, you will need permission to be married outside of your parish. I’m assuming this is fairly common cuz if you are both Catholic, you’ve gotta choose a church! This can be a written note or it can be a phone call between priests.
• Attend a Pre-Cana Conference, Engaged Encounter Weekend, or another form of approved pre-marriage counseling.
• We are required to have 2 letters each confirming we have never been married before. This can be as simple as a hand written note, and it could be provided by each set of parents, if you are able to do so.

PHEW! Once your priest has all of these, he can begin to process the paperwork. In our case, he will also have to ask for an exception to be made to allow me to marry in the church. It’s a common thing, and is generally approved, but one you should be aware of.  Our goal is to have much of this gathered and scheduled by the end of this month.

Were you surprised by the amount of paperwork involved in getting married?

I threw my last post on Save The Dates out to the universe and actually got a good amount of feedback (in comments and via Facebook). Thanks guys! I wanted to share some of the comments because I think a lot of them were very helpful.

J on Facebook (who has an Etsy shop of her own you should check out) had a great idea for saving money on STD’s: “Have you checked out Etsy? My friend did the Alchemy section (http://www.etsy.com/alchemy/) and submitted a price and what she wanted- and got an awesome deal. She did invites there too.”

K on Facebook offered a great DIY suggestion: “Joe and I made save the date magnets — printed business cards, then attached them to business card sized magnets from Staples — like 250 magnets for about $40!”

Bridesmaid L & Bridesmaid E both agreed, if we think we can pass on them and it doesn’t cause us any grief, then go ahead and pass. There’s a lot of “oh but you’ve gotta do this” or “EVERYONE does that at their wedding” stuff that goes around, and we should do what we’re comfortable with.

And last but certainly least, Candy Pam said: “YES! Everyone does it now!!” 

Sooo…. where does that leave us? After some discussion, we’ve decided to skip the Save The Dates. Most guests are local, and it’s not summer vacation or a holiday weekend where they’d need extra notice. However, I do think they’re cute, and gosh darnit, even if you don’t need STD’s but you want them, then go out and get them!!! I just know they don’t rank highly with the NEPA Bride household, so we’ll be just fine without them!

Has anyone else decided to skip Save The Dates? Was it an easy decision?

We were at Groomsman M’s house tonight playing Rock Band 2 when this song reminded me I needed to blog today.

I have this (possibly unrealistic) vision of when this song should be played at the reception. It’s later in the evening, maybe at the start of the last hour of music. Everyone’s got some liquid courage in them and when this song starts, it pulls everyone back on to the dance floor (try and tell me it hasn’t at all the other NEPA weddings you’ve been to!). We all dance and sing along with Bon Jovi…. cause if I’m out there singing and tipsy by myself, it’s going to be a sad, sad sight my friends.

If you’re not following the Broke-Ass Bride, you had best get over there right now… cause she’s doing…

Dana at Broke-Ass Bride is giving away SWEET prizes all week long. I’ve entered about half of them (geographic limitations are all that hold me back from some) and I’m anticipating the results with baited breath. Who wouldn’t love free favors or a custom map of your wedding location? Get your butts over there and sign up now!!