Read this BEFORE you get married

Fumare ^ | October 29, 2009 | Rev. Know it All

[Melian]

St. Dymphna is also the patron saint of the mentally ill (since her father obviously was and she suffered great mental distress because of him). I have prayed to her and asked her to help me with my children and I believe she has helped me.

[BenKenobi]

Thanks for posting this article. It is good to hear that someone cares about these things.

It drives me crazy when I hear other people say that well, she is very nice and all, but she isn’t a Catholic. I try to explain why it’s a nonstarter, but it’s difficult.

As for the thousand dollar wedding, I don’t know about that. I would want to have a simple church wedding, but I’m not sure about the travel costs for close friends and family. That would be the biggest deal. Reception, not really an issue, have it at home, serve some nice home cooked food, not the big overpriced stuff at the hall.

Can’t see the point of a DJ. I would never turn down a wedding, and I have travelled quite far to attend one. I consider it a blessing to be involved in one, and I know I’m going to a friend’s wedding in June. I just hope he has the sense to make sure I’m all up to speed in the planning. :)

[T Minus Four]

Hey now.....!!!!

[MrPiper]

But if you are a Catholic, you do not have a valid union/wedding

Does that mean I can tell her I'm tired of dating and leave? ;-)

[ExGeeEye]

"Dear Rev.,

"Soooooo......the aisle is how long, exactly?

"Thank you,

"The Bride, whose Dad is a loooooooaded general contractor who was going to dontae $45,000 in cash or at-cost construction, but will now donate a freshly killed goose and a single gold-colored egg to the rectory kitchen."

[Miss Marple]

Our daughter's wedding cost us almost $20,000. That was with a clearance dress, bargain rates at the reception area and with the caterer because it was a slow time of year, cuts in flowers because we had floating candles instead of flowers for centerpieces, and an amateur photographer who gave his services as the wedding gift.

Could it have been cheaper? Yes...if it had been an afternoon wedding we could have done with hors d'ouevres instead of a buffet, but our daughter wanted an evening wedding and my opinion is that if people are driving in for an evening wedding you should FEED them.

I don't regret spending the money, because she is our only daughter and most of her friends had never been to a nice wedding.

Anyway, the point of this is that if you are having a wedding ceremony with guests, as opposed to en elopement, you are likely to spend more than you think. And I live in the Midwest, not in a coastal large city.

[JoeFromSidney]

wedding vendors?

What on earth are they?

[ctdonath2]

We considered eloping, figuring that flying ourselves and a couple witnesses to the Austrian Alps would be cheaper and much easier to arrange.

Good thing we didn’t.

We later discovered, pawing thru all the immigration legalese involving her being not a US citizen, that doing so would have prevented her entering the USA for two full years.

As it was she ended up in legal limbo as anyone entering on a “fiancee visa” has that visa revoked upon utterance of “I do”, making it unwise to leave (say, for a foreign or US-territory honeymoon) until the then-started permanent resident paperwork clears some months later.