Can Can't

Captain Jack Sparrow teaches us that what matters is what a man can and can't do. Planning a wedding is a great opportunity for me to see how this applies to me personally.

What I can do: Make big decisions... eventually. Ever-delayed proposal aside, now we have big decisions to make regarding ceremony details. The biggest one on my mind at the moment is where to have the wedding. We've looked at more than half the churches in town, and although there have been a couple that would work, nothing fits quite right. We're planning to look at a few more, but once that's done, that's pretty much it. Decision time. And that's ok with me, we'll have all the information we could get, and I have no problem picking something once I know as much as I can.

What I can't do: Colors. The bridesmaids are going to be wearing dresses in lilac and seafoam green. If, like me, you think that rainbows have three colors in them, the subtle shading of lilac may be lost on you. It's purple. Lightish purple. How can anyone see all these colors, much less care about them?

This is a good example of why the groom doesn't plan the wedding. If I had to plan it all, there would be four colors: grey, black, white, and blue. Blue goes with everything.

From the Right Side of the Altar

At the recommendation of my fiancee, for the next several months I am setting as my theme for this blog "A Groom's Perspective on Engagement and Wedding Planning." As she put it, hilarity can easily ensue from such a topic. For comments on my studies, primarily my research interests, I humbly direct you to my academic blog, http://sublimenal.blogspot.com .

Jessie and I got engaged on December 15th. Now, we were supposed to get engaged the night before, but Jessie postponed our date for a day so that she could study for her Russian final. Fortunately, nothing in my plans for the evening required that it be on that day. I suspect this will be a recurring theme of being engaged, and married for that matter. We are going to have to keep plans flexible in order to keep from having them smashed at every little thing. For those of you that know me, you know that I do not make backup plans. That could end up being a problem.

Unless someone expresses a desire that I write about something particular soon, next up: Decision making, colors, and one of the reasons grooms don't get to design weddings.