Dressing the Groom.

David has a tux for the wedding. Today we managed to make it to Men's Wearhouse so that he could pick out his tux for the wedding and the tuxes for the groomsmen. I think he and the groomsmen will all look very handsome come wedding day. I know he will look beautiful. He is beautiful. I find myself looking at him and am mesmerized at how much I love looking at his face. I can't wait to see him standing there at the altar waiting for me. One of the things to think about is if he'll process in alone or walk in with his father. Usually in Catholic weddings, both sets of parents walk the bride down the aisle and they sometimes walk the groom down as well... still he'll be there waiting... waiting to see me come down the aisle to meet him and make our lives one.

The day is closer and closer. I still pinch myself thinking that one day we'll be married. Tonight we realized that Christmas is just around the corner and the wedding is just beyond that. I think once January comes, all the planning and waiting will be a blur because it will be a frenzy of activity just getting us down to the wedding day. Four months ago, the wedding day seemed so far away and now that we're just a little more than half-way there, it's hard to believe how quickly time passes. I don't think I could have handled a long engagement.

Speaking of engagement, on Monday, David and I had our engagement pictures taken. We love, absolutely love, our photographer and are really happy with our decision. We had fun during the photo shoot. We felt at ease and enjoyed working with our photographer. In the end, I think he took close to 200 pictures and we ended up with 66 proofs and about half of those we liked individually and together about 20 we may order. It's funny, there are pictures I liked, some he liked, but we seemed to dislike the same ones. Before the shoot, I decided that I was going to be happy with them no matter how they turned out. Pictures are just a snapshot of a moment in time. I may not always be happy with how I look, I am always more self-critical than I should be and I know there are parts of my body that I am not happy with, but the pictures were great. The moment was wonderful. I was with David, the man that I love and I think that is what shows in the photographs. I think the love we share is obvious and that's what matters. That is the moment we captured.  We may post a few once we have copies.

Things are getting checked of the checklist as days go by. Check, check, check...

How to Get Married in the Catholic Church Part Two

Meet with a parish representative, receive a pink checklist and timeline, fill out tons of paperwork, take a test, take a family planning class, work with a sponsor couple, receive a booklet in which to pick out readings, music and prayers for the liturgy, meet with our priest to go over the booklet and final paperwork, get married.

So... at this point we have done only a few of these things. We met with the deacon in charge of the marriage preparation ministry. As nervous as we were, it went really well, much better than either of us anticipated. He went through the paperwork with us and filled it out according to "parish" standards. He took our certificates and   met with us as a couple, then interviewed us individually and again together. He told us that he thinks we're on the right track and that we are starting out our lives together well. Of course, he also told us what he felt we needed to work on-- and that is our sacramental life, most specifically Confession and Communion. I haven't been to Confession in over a year. I was in the habit of going every couple of months or as needed, and then I got out of habit. I won't receive Communion if I haven't been to Confession-- if I've fallen out of a State of Grace.

I've been feeling a lapse of spirituality lately, and I might go more into depth about this later or on my other blog, but nonetheless, I think that David and I will start growing together in our faith as we grow together as a couple. I think as we prepare for the Sacrament of Marriage, we will discover something new about each other, something about our beliefs and where faith, the Church and God belong in our lives.

That being said, we both need to make it to Confession soon.