last-minute wedding annoyances
Feb. 1st, 2012 02:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
baratronBack at home, doing last-minute wedding preparations. Things that have annoyed me today:
1) The booklet on how to get married provided by Hammersmith & Fulham Council specifically says "If you would like a particular piece of music that may be 'special' to the two of you, please bring it along to the register office before the day of your marriage." The booklet on weddings, which I don't have right in front of me to quote, even says that music must be approved in advance by the Senior Registrar! So why, when I turned up with a CD today, was I told that I could have just brought it tomorrow?
2) Whole Foods in Kensington were being sucky. Last Tuesday or Wednesday, I went there to enquire about how to order cakes. I wanted to place an order for 2 x 7" vegan chocolate fudge cakes. I was told by the Bakery assistant that not only was there not a form to fill in, but they always make several of those cakes fresh every day so there is no need to order them. Well, today I went, and there was all of ONE 7" vegan chocolate fudge cake. As a result, there is Not Enough cake. Grrr.
3) Richard forgot to buy (or tell me to buy) a pocket watch. So now he's complaining that he can't fit his wristwatch under the strange sleeves of his wedding outfit, and it's too late to do anything about it. I tried looking for pocket watches online, and the cheapest ones available in shops which exist in Kingston were £150 (and quite ugly). I only know two people who might have one to borrow, and one of them lives too far away to be any help.
For people who want to know why anyone needs a watch at a wedding, Richard always needs a watch. It's a Richard-thing. He feels undressed without one and indeed, often walks around the house wearing only underpants, a watch and his ring.
4) Our menu, which looked so good on A4 paper, looks awful on A5 paper. A5 is half the size of A4 - I've gone from formatting it as a flat, double-sided sheet to a four-sided booklet. But it just looks ugly. I have to figure that out before I can go to bed.
5) I have period pain. Gah.\
12 hours to go...
1) The booklet on how to get married provided by Hammersmith & Fulham Council specifically says "If you would like a particular piece of music that may be 'special' to the two of you, please bring it along to the register office before the day of your marriage." The booklet on weddings, which I don't have right in front of me to quote, even says that music must be approved in advance by the Senior Registrar! So why, when I turned up with a CD today, was I told that I could have just brought it tomorrow?
2) Whole Foods in Kensington were being sucky. Last Tuesday or Wednesday, I went there to enquire about how to order cakes. I wanted to place an order for 2 x 7" vegan chocolate fudge cakes. I was told by the Bakery assistant that not only was there not a form to fill in, but they always make several of those cakes fresh every day so there is no need to order them. Well, today I went, and there was all of ONE 7" vegan chocolate fudge cake. As a result, there is Not Enough cake. Grrr.
3) Richard forgot to buy (or tell me to buy) a pocket watch. So now he's complaining that he can't fit his wristwatch under the strange sleeves of his wedding outfit, and it's too late to do anything about it. I tried looking for pocket watches online, and the cheapest ones available in shops which exist in Kingston were £150 (and quite ugly). I only know two people who might have one to borrow, and one of them lives too far away to be any help.
For people who want to know why anyone needs a watch at a wedding, Richard always needs a watch. It's a Richard-thing. He feels undressed without one and indeed, often walks around the house wearing only underpants, a watch and his ring.
4) Our menu, which looked so good on A4 paper, looks awful on A5 paper. A5 is half the size of A4 - I've gone from formatting it as a flat, double-sided sheet to a four-sided booklet. But it just looks ugly. I have to figure that out before I can go to bed.
5) I have period pain. Gah.\
12 hours to go...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
The one about the arbitrary rules for handling arbitrary rules
Date: 2012-02-01 03:15 am (UTC)Re #2: Disregard anything that says you cannot do some sort of paperwork to get something done.
Re #4: Disregard paper work.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-01 09:10 am (UTC)From what I recall at our wedding, the reason for this was that they wanted to ensure that people didn't turn up expecting to be able to play Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam at a secular ceremony. That said, the Bath registrar's interpretation was pretty flexible; we were told that the Ode to Joy from the 9th was acceptable (for all that the lyric talks about gods, cherubs, angels and Elysium), and I suspect that we wouldn'thave had any trouble with an instrumental of Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring had we wanted it.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-01 09:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-01 09:22 am (UTC)Our wedding didn't go entirely to plan (we were ambitious in what we tried to do, and we ran out of preparation time; I was sewing my ushers' waistcoats on the morning of the wedding, and
If you manage to read this before the ceremony, my recommendations are as follows:
1. It's your wedding. Don't worry (or try not to worry) about your guests. The majority of them will be sensible folk who will amuse themselves. You may worry about things that don't get done, but you have a perspective that means that you know what hasn't been done. They don't, so don't worry about them. (and if the list above is all that's gone wrong, you're doing well!)
2. Guests who get irked or who complain are being awkward and thoughtless. Don't get stressed about the failure of others to enjoy themselves.
3. Brief your ushers/bridesmaids. At the reception, you'll end up circulating so that you can speak to your guests. Make sure that someone has been given the *explicit* task of bringing you drinks, and that someone has been given the *explicit* task of looking after gifts.
4. It's your wedding pt II. When you're circulating, it's great if you can aim to talk to everyone, but that doesn't mean that you need to say anything more than "I'm glad that you were able to join us today" if you don't want to. Spend time talking to the people you value.
Good luck and congratulations to you both, and enjoy yourselves!
no subject
Date: 2012-02-01 09:25 am (UTC)If Richard needs a watch, you could always write the time down on a piece of paper for him:
no subject
Date: 2012-02-01 06:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-01 07:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-01 09:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-01 11:34 pm (UTC)(Edited to totally use the userpicture that is a photo of the pocketwatch, duh.)
no subject
Date: 2012-02-03 04:55 pm (UTC)(I was very glad for my watch at my wedding, I must admit.)
no subject
Date: 2012-02-04 02:41 pm (UTC)because your fans want to make squeeing noises and yell "Congratulations!!!"