you know you have bad penmanship when ...

Your (male) fiance offers to do the calligraphy on the wedding invitations. Instead of you. And – you gratefully accept.

(of course, this means the invitations will likely be even further delayed. But you are still happy to make that tradeoff.)

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Questions for post-wedding men and women alike:

Ladies first! What song did you walk down the aisle to at your wedding? And – if you don’t mind elaborating – why did you choose it? Did it turn out to work the way you wanted? What I’m getting at here is, what elements of a song are you looking for in that moment? Because the traditional “Here Comes The Bride” moves at a bit of a clip. It’s not a slow, sweet-sounding song, really. So – if you, as just about every other bride I’ve seen in the past dozen years, chose something other than that – what? And, why?

(as a friend of mine said, when asked this question: "Heck, I don't remember! And neither will you, in three years." ahhh, how true... and yet, we have to do SOMETHING. I guess I did attend a friend's wedding in which there was no music at all. But that will not be mine.)

For the menfolk among us: In regards to wedding photos.

But first, an aside. We all know (all we women, anyway) that part of the “fun” of going to a wedding, before you’re married yourself, is to see how the couple handled certain aspects of the wedding. So we can steal ideas. And that sort of thing. It’s not a catty thing; just a reflection of the fact that there are a thousand (or many more) ways of doing wedding-y things.

Two of the things I have long vowed to do, when/if my turn came, are:

1) Have the wedding and reception at the same place. Or at least, next door. No driving necessary to get from one to the other. I realize this is not possible for some. No criticism intended for any who did differently. It’s just something I want.
2) Don’t take a jillion pictures of the wedding party after the wedding itself, holding up operations at the reception. I suppose if, as we’re doing, the reception starts itself without you for awhile, this is the less stringent of the resolutions I’m making. Still, I just don’t see why those dang photos have to take forever.

This brings me to the question for the guys: Assuming that you did the traditional thing of waiting ‘til after your ceremony to take photos, ensuring that you would see your lovely bride for the first time when she’s all gussied up and walking down the aisle toward you, was that a real “moment not to be missed”? We’re considering taking all photos beforehand. A friend of Matt's strongly suggested that we shouldn't. What do you suggest? I suppose the options are:

1) A few photos beforehand – the ones that Matt and I are not in together. Then, the rest (which is probably most, anyway) after the ceremony.
2) All photos, family and wedding party, beforehand.
3) No photos beforehand.

Also complicating the business: Matt is looking to me for what is “usually done” on a lot of these matters. As relates to the usual staged family photos, I’m not sure. I’ve never been a huge fan of those photos, to be honest. I suppose they have their purpose. For him, though … his parents are divorced, and not amicably. His mom’s family doesn’t speak to various factions of itself, as well. And (Please! Please! For numbers’ sake) might not show at all. So, who’s in photos? I suppose I could (and will) Google all this. If anyone has any comments to any of the above, do tell. Especially if your name is Ross or Pete.