Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Magnified

Yesterday after work, my bus was late, and as I stood at the bus stop for upwards of fifteen minutes, I noticed that traffic outside my office building was unusually bad. Then I started paying closer attention and noticed that 95% of the cars backed up in the two righthand lanes were cabs, which is not normal. Then I started paying even closer attention and noticed that almost every cab was carrying one or more black women, most of them middle-aged. Then I paid the closest possible attention and noticed that almost every single one of those women was wearing pink, green, or both.

The mystery was solved when I got home and got a look at the day's Washington Post. It was, apparently, the 100th anniversary of Alpha Kappa Alpha, a black sorority. Nearly 25,000 members were in DC to celebrate it. And it seemed like each one of them had her own taxi. It must have been like Christmas in July for DC cabdrivers.

It was, really and truly, adorable. So many women--and they weren't ALL middle-aged. Some were very young and some were very old. I can only imagine how much fun they must have had at their celebration. Except, 25,000 people? How did they all FIT? I mean, you need a baseball stadium to hold that kind of crowd. I have to say that the prospect of organizing such an event makes me very glad about our plans for a humble, 75-person wedding.

Speaking of which? With my surgery and our trip to North Carolina and all, wedding planning kind of wound up taking a back burner for a few weeks there. And I know that thanks to all of our organized advance planning, we had the luxury of allowing that to happen. But there's only three and a half months left until the wedding, so the slow period has to end. Invitations have to be finished, tuxes have to be selected, favors have to be ordered, a purple guestbook has to be found.

And then it's down to the little details, the stuff that requires less gruntwork and more actual thought. Like writing our ceremony and vows. And picking songs for important moments, like when I walk down the aisle, the first dance, and the father-daughter dance. And finalizing the menu with the caterer. And making a list of photos that we absolutely want the photographer to capture.

I've been using a to-do list from The Knot that updates automatically based on the amount of time left until the wedding, and it's been very useful--but the amount of things listed for this month is starting to get a tad overwhelming. All I can say is, by the time the wedding rolls around, I think we're really going to need that two-week honeymoon.

26 comments:

  1. I think the important question is, how in the world am I going to go TWO WHOLE WEEKS without talking to you?!!

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  2. A purple guest book. Lady, you're wedding is going to be so perfect.

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  3. I'm so annoyed I used the wrong "your" in my last comment. I am my own pet peeve.

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  4. Oooh purple guestbook!
    Hope you find one - that would be so cool

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  5. The Knot's list always gave me hives. Just use it as a starting off point and make your OWN list ... you'll feel much beter, believe me.

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  6. Well just think that it will all get done...just make sure you have a few full wine bottles at hand.

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  7. I can totally appreciate the sea of pink and green - those are my sorority's colors too, although I'm not an AKA. I've got to say, I loved being Greek and wouldn't change it for the world. And there is a huge difference between historically black frats/sorors and others - but those men and women are truly and AKA, Omegi Psi Phi, or any other until their dying day. I know a lot of people dedicated to their affiliation, but not like those guys - I wish mine was like that. My grandma is in a nursing home and her roommate was 85. At Christmas 4 of her sorority sisters (they were AKAs) came and sang Christmas carols and talked about their college years one time. It was precious.

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  8. The Knot's to do list is kind of scary sometimes. There are so many random things on there!

    A two week honeymoon would be amazing! You're so lucky! :)

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  9. I used that same to-do list on the Knot and it was quite helpful in keeping me on track.

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  10. if i were in DC, i would make you a purple guest book!
    good job keeping on track and making lists! i am such a procrastinator...planning just amazes me!

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  11. Oh god, don't even get me started. I've been ignoring wedding stuff for far too long. And now I'm set to go on vacation. I fear August is going to kill me. Or make me stronger. :-)

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  12. Gahhh I want to plan a wedding and be on the Knot! Um, anyway... knowing you... you'll get everything worked out, I know it. Let me know if you need extra help searching for that guest book. :P

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  13. Ugh, I really disliked the Knot and all of the catty women on there, so I avoided it.

    My advice - don't stress about the little things. You're realize later that they don't matter, and you'll be upset at yourself later if you fretted over them.

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  14. i wish i was in a sorority i really do. i think it would have been cool!

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  15. Maybe you could find a purple scrapbook with blank pages to use as a guest book? That seems like something relatively easy to find... (maybe not!)

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  16. Oh, The Knot. It brings me down memory lane.

    3.5 months is still a lot of time, believe it or not. Most of those things seemed to take a day here, a day there for me. I was always surprised at how much we could get done in a weekend.

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  17. Oh, and as far as a purple guestbook, if you can't find one you like you could always make one! It sounds ridiculous but actually I made my own guestbook too, so it would match the invitations (we made our invitations too, so same paper). It was pretty fun to make, and not too hard. Takes some practice to perfect the cutting portion of it, but you could even find pre-cut papers and bindings too.

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  18. It's true when they say, "It will all get done." Of course, what doesn't get done, you really won't care about once the big day arrives.

    Oh, but whatever you do, don't let anyone rush you through your rehersal. That happened with Spawn's wedding and things got messed up a bit. No one noticed except us.

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  19. We wrote our own ceremony/vows, too. It is really the best route to go. But make sure your officiant practices beforehand. Ours didn't and you could tell during the ceremony that the words felt unpracticed to him.

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  20. Okay - Yay! for a 2-week honeymoon! I am so jealous that we only got five days. That's a good idea that penny had about making a guest book to match your invitations. Sounds like something you can do...especially since you're making your invitations!

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  21. One time, I rode on a Southwest flight to New Orleans where AKA was having their reunion. I was the only white person on the plane. They looked like they were having fun, but ya know, bit awk for me.

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  22. Ugh. I don't think I will be able to handle planning a wedding-- it will be like grad school, only worse (as in always needing something else to be done)! Can I hire you whenever I get around to it?

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  23. 2 week honeymoon? That sounds really great! You are well on your way!

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  24. Two week honeymoon sounds like perfection.

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  25. You will need that honeymoon! But these last tasks sounds pretty fun. Make date nights to do some of the more romantic ones - like picking songs!

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  26. I know you feel really busy with wedding stuff right now, but reading this post makes me so happy for you. Watching my SIL plan her wedding is like watching a train-wreck waiting to happen. She seems to think she can rest on her laurels and the wedding will plan itself with only FOUR weeks left to go.

    I still have no clue what happening with the cake. ARGH!!!

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