The Drama Begins...

When we got to Marni and Luke’s yesterday, Marni opened the door.

“Congratulations!” she said, giving me a hug.

“You already congratulated me,” I reminded her with a smile.

“I know, but that was over email,” she said. “Get over here, Ben!” She hugged him, hard. “You better take good care of my girl.”

“You have absolutely nothing to worry about,” he said, grinning.

Marni dragged us over to Luke, who was manning the grill, while Olivia chatted with one of her dolls on a blanket on the ground beside him. Luke gave me a hug and kiss on the cheek, and gave Ben a half-handshake/half-hug. I left the boys to the barbecue and went inside to help Marni.

“Show me this ring,” she said when we were inside. I gave her my best Vanna White, lifting my ring finger up while motioning toward it with my other hand.

“Holy crap, that’s beautiful,” she said. “Is it too late to ask Luke to get me one just like it?”

“Probably.”

While we were getting the food together, people started filing in. When Jane and David arrived, I had to show off the ring again, while Marni and Jane oohed and aahed.

“So I wanted to ask you ladies,” I began. “Would you be in my bridal party?”

“Yes!” said Jane and Marni simultaneously.

“It will probably be hard for Sarah to plan stuff from L.A.,” Marni began excitedly. “Like showers and bachelorette parties and whatnot. Jane and I can totally help with that.”

“Um…Sarah isn’t my maid of honor.”

“She isn’t?” Jane demanded. “Who is?”

Here we go, I thought.

“Jenna.”

Marni and Jane didn’t say anything. I couldn’t tell what they were reacting to – the fact that Sarah wasn’t my maid of honor, or the fact that they’d both known me much longer than Jenna. I hoped it was the former.

“Yikes,” Marni said.

“Yeah,” Jane echoed. “That’s going to be an issue.”

They didn’t seem to be mad that neither one of them was my maid of honor. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Are you going to ask her to be a bridesmaid?” Marni asked.

“Yes.”

They both winced a little.

“I’m sure it will be fine,” Jane said, regaining her composure. “I mean, you two aren’t as close as you used to be.”

When we went back outside, Ben, Luke and Mike were standing around the grill, talking. I approached them. Mike and I gave each other a friendly greeting, and after they finished their discussion about whether or not Google+ is going to beat out Facebook, Ben and I made our way over to Jen and David.

“Mike and Luke are best friends, right?” Ben asked. I nodded. “So he has to know we’re engaged.”

“Probably.”

“Don’t you think it’s weird that he didn’t congratulate you?”

I thought about it.

“Mike’s weird, Ben,” I said. “I’m not that surprised that he didn’t say anything.”

Ben seemed mildly agitated, and even brought it up again, asking if Mike and I were Facebook friends. I confirmed that yes, Mike and I were Facebook friends, and he probably saw that we had gotten engaged, and deliberately ignored it.

It’s funny. My ex-boyfriend doesn’t acknowledge my engagement, and my fiancé is the one who’s upset. I guess weddings bring out strange emotions in people. I wonder what feelings my maid-of-honor choice will inspire in Sarah.

Posted at 10:02 AM

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The Drama Begins...

When we got to Marni and Luke’s yesterday, Marni opened the door.

“Congratulations!” she said, giving me a hug.

“You already congratulated me,” I reminded her with a smile.

“I know, but that was over email,” she said. “Get over here, Ben!” She hugged him, hard. “You better take good care of my girl.”

“You have absolutely nothing to worry about,” he said, grinning.

Marni dragged us over to Luke, who was manning the grill, while Olivia chatted with one of her dolls on a blanket on the ground beside him. Luke gave me a hug and kiss on the cheek, and gave Ben a half-handshake/half-hug. I left the boys to the barbecue and went inside to help Marni.

“Show me this ring,” she said when we were inside. I gave her my best Vanna White, lifting my ring finger up while motioning toward it with my other hand.

“Holy crap, that’s beautiful,” she said. “Is it too late to ask Luke to get me one just like it?”

“Probably.”

While we were getting the food together, people started filing in. When Jane and David arrived, I had to show off the ring again, while Marni and Jane oohed and aahed.

“So I wanted to ask you ladies,” I began. “Would you be in my bridal party?”

“Yes!” said Jane and Marni simultaneously.

“It will probably be hard for Sarah to plan stuff from L.A.,” Marni began excitedly. “Like showers and bachelorette parties and whatnot. Jane and I can totally help with that.”

“Um…Sarah isn’t my maid of honor.”

“She isn’t?” Jane demanded. “Who is?”

Here we go, I thought.

“Jenna.”

Marni and Jane didn’t say anything. I couldn’t tell what they were reacting to – the fact that Sarah wasn’t my maid of honor, or the fact that they’d both known me much longer than Jenna. I hoped it was the former.

“Yikes,” Marni said.

“Yeah,” Jane echoed. “That’s going to be an issue.”

They didn’t seem to be mad that neither one of them was my maid of honor. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Are you going to ask her to be a bridesmaid?” Marni asked.

“Yes.”

They both winced a little.

“I’m sure it will be fine,” Jane said, regaining her composure. “I mean, you two aren’t as close as you used to be.”

When we went back outside, Ben, Luke and Mike were standing around the grill, talking. I approached them. Mike and I gave each other a friendly greeting, and after they finished their discussion about whether or not Google+ is going to beat out Facebook, Ben and I made our way over to Jen and David.

“Mike and Luke are best friends, right?” Ben asked. I nodded. “So he has to know we’re engaged.”

“Probably.”

“Don’t you think it’s weird that he didn’t congratulate you?”

I thought about it.

“Mike’s weird, Ben,” I said. “I’m not that surprised that he didn’t say anything.”

Ben seemed mildly agitated, and even brought it up again, asking if Mike and I were Facebook friends. I confirmed that yes, Mike and I were Facebook friends, and he probably saw that we had gotten engaged, and deliberately ignored it.

It’s funny. My ex-boyfriend doesn’t acknowledge my engagement, and my fiancé is the one who’s upset. I guess weddings bring out strange emotions in people. I wonder what feelings my maid-of-honor choice will inspire in Sarah.

Posted at 10:02 AM

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The Wedding Planning Begins (Sort of)

Last night, Ben and I hung out at his place and did something absolutely perfect: nothing. And it was everything I’d hoped it would be, and more.

It was only a four-day work week for both of us, but it was an exhausting one. Ben spent about 10 hours every day in the office, trying to get up to speed on the new job. And I spent way longer than I’d anticipated working with Radio Guy, which pushed back the research I was supposed to do for the next project and left me scrambling at the end of the week. I hate scrambling. It doesn’t suit me. I don’t even like my eggs scrambled.

I finally got to Ben’s place around 9:00, and he had just gotten home. We ordered a pizza, poured ourselves generous glasses of wine, changed into sweatpants and then flung ourselves onto the couch. He grabbed his laptop.

“Let’s do it,” he said. “Let’s change our Facebook statuses to engaged, and then turn our cell phones off for the night.”

After we did that, we stuffed our faces full of pizza, and then stretched out on the couch together with our legs and arms intertwined.

“Have you thought about the wedding at all?” Ben asked while he twirled my hair around his fingers.

“Not a ton,” I admitted. “Jenna said we need nine months to plan, minimum. Isn’t that crazy?”

“It is,” he agreed. “But at least we can space it out and not get stressed. Who’s going to be your maid of honor?”

“Sarah, I guess.”

He laughed. “You sound so excited about it.”

“She wasn’t happy for me when I told her.” I hadn’t wanted to tell Ben that, partly because I didn’t want him to be offended, and partly because I didn’t want to admit that someone who had been my friend for as long as Sarah had wasn’t happy about my getting married.

“Jenna would be a much better choice, in my opinion,” he said.

“She would be, but I’ve known her less time than all of my other friends. Arg! This is so political! Everyone is going to hate me.”

Ben cupped my chin in his hand, and slowly guided my face until it was inches from his.

“Settle down, Beavis,” he said in his Butthead voice.

I started to laugh. “Is that what you’re going to say to me every time I morph into a bridezilla?”

He nodded, and still cupping my chin, bobbed my head up and down so I was nodding too.

“Maybe we should just elope,” he mused. “We won’t have to plan anything, or deal with the politics of choosing a bridal party. We can go to Vegas and find an Elvis impersonator to marry us. It will be hilarious.”

“I’m not sure hilarity is the message I want to convey on our wedding day,” I said. “Also, do you want to kill my mother? She will literally die of a broken heart.”

In the end, we did decide on a few things. We’d like to do the wedding on a Saturday evening in May, either here in the city or no more than two hours away. We’d rather have a DJ than a band. We’d rather have cupcakes than a traditional wedding cake. And most importantly, no sensitive indie rock at the reception. Okay, Ben didn’t exactly agree to that one. But we’ve made some progress.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have about 50 Facebook wall posts, 10 emails and a handful of texts I need to respond to before my brother, sister-in-law and niece arrive. Ah, getting married in the digital age.

Posted at 10:02 AM

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