A couple of days ago, NEPA mom dug up a little something for me to use on my wedding day. It’s absolutely going to be my “something old” on the day of. So what did we find?

What’s this now? Not sure?

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It feels a little crazy to say it, but here goes:

One year from today, I will be married.

HEE. On one hand I can’t wait and I’m going full steam ahead into this. On the other, I like the idea of this extended countdown and watching all the seasons come and go one last time before we’re married. Being together for over four years now, it’s nothing new, but it feels different. We know we’re working towards something a lot bigger now.

I also like this longer engagement because I think it gives us more time to plan for our future and work through any of the situations we might not have discussed yet. I think we both flourish with careful planning and structure. We don’t go on zany spur of the moment adventures. We plan ahead. And I know married life will not always be that way, but we can lay a good foundation for ourselves this way.

Some people have shorter engagements. In fact, I think a lot of people do, lol. But this is what feels right for us. And that’s what this is all about, right?

~

Some of the girls at work were excited to see what the day would look like this year so I could plan and prepare for next year. Wouldn’t you know it was 38 degrees and it snowed in some parts of the area? It was a gross day weather-wise, but I still took some pictures of the trees on my way to work so we could see what I have to look forward to next year. Purty.

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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?

All right, this has been all over all the wedding blogs today. If you’re reading those, you’ve already seen it. But I just watched this video and words fail me. So cool.

I saw it first on Offbeat Bride, so props to them.

Well, we had our first meeting at the King’s College chapel tonight, and I think it went pretty well! The priest in charge of the chapel remembers me from my time at the school, so it was nice to catch up a bit. We used the time to get to know each other a little bit, since he didn’t know FH that well, and he also let us know what we had to do next. It looks kinda (meaning SUPER DUPER) overwhelming in list form, but here we go:

• FH needs to get a letter from his parish priest saying we can marry at the college chapel
• We need to find a pre-cana course we can attend and knock that out of the park
• We both need a copy of our baptism certificates from our churches, dated within the last 6 months
• 4 letters (2 each) from people close to us who can verify we’ve never been married before
• The priest will have to fill out a request for a dispensation as I am not Catholic

It sounds like a lot. It feels like a lot, but Fr. Hockman assured us it’s a lot of paperwork but nothing that will be a problem. He’s never had a wedding denied, so that makes me feel better. He was also really open to how we want to put our ceremony together. I’ve been reading about other brides’ experiences getting married in the Catholic church, and it seems to vary a lot. Some priests are so strict with their rules! I think we’ve found a good fit and we’ll have the flexibility to have a meaningful ceremony for all parties.

So now, it’s up to FH to get things sorted with his church while I research this marriage preparation business. Has anyone else gone through this? If you know of a good course to take in NEPA, I am all ears.

I’ve been doing my best to keep my anxiety in check while I waited to hear back from King’s College and I was rewarded today with an email from the priest in charge of the chapel.

FH and I are set to meet with him next Tuesday to go over the particulars, but it sounds like our ideal date in October 2010 is available. YAY!

Doesn’t some good wedding news just brighten up your whole day?

I’ve been looking at potental NEPA wedding ceremony locations this week in an attempt to make a list for myself and FH to review. As it stands, we need something that will satisfy the following critera:

• Reasonably close to Northeast PA
• Indoors, since we’re shooting for an October date
• Holds 50-100 people
• Has some meaning to both of us
• Location is suitable for a religious ceremony

We’ve been tossing around ideas, such as having a ceremony on-site at our reception, or doing it at one of our churches. Those don’t work that well for a variety of reasons. Also, FH is Catholic and I am Methodist, which can complicate things slightly.

However, I think we hit on a great compromise!

The chapel at the college we both attended, King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, is available for alumni weddings. Since King’s is where we met and fell in love, it only seems like a fitting place to be married. Once we hear back from them and get the scoop on dates available plus what’s required of us (for the Catholic ceremony) I will be sure to do a follow up!

How awesome is this?

I WANT THIS. I’ve told a few people about my yearning for a bagpipe entrance and the reaction is mixed. Half love it, and the other half think I’m nuts. It all depends on the final location (2o people in a garden doesn’t work, but 70 in a church, yes!), but I already have a piper who’s willing to do it (hi Jim!!). Jim’s family has been with the Wyoming Valley Pipe and Drum band for a quite a while. Which means we’ve been following them on their St. Patty’s pub crawls for quite a while. They’re top notch, if anyone else planning a Northeast Pennsylvania wedding has pipe dreams like mine.