This Is Us*

A few nights ago, I was up watching Sex and the City DVDs, and it was the episode where Miranda and Steve get married. Miranda was saying that she didn’t want the cookie cutter wedding, didn’t want someone else’s idea of a wedding, that what she wanted was a wedding that represented them, and who they were. I liked that. I liked it, because it resonated with me. I felt like we had that, a wedding that represented us, 13 years ago today.

When faced with the idea of a big white dress and a long walk down the aisle, I thought, “Well, that’s nice for other folks, but not really what I want for us.” And Ted agreed. Although he’s not a practicing Hindu, meaning he doesn’t go to temple or anything like that, he wanted to have a Hindu wedding, to celebrate his Indian/Guyanese heritage. I was all for it. So, July 3rd, 1993, we got married in a beautiful ceremony in his parents’ back yard. The pundit who performed our ceremony was Ted’s second cousin, who flew over from England to officiate. Ted’s stepdad has a license to marry people in CA, so he performed the legal duties. It was SUCH a hot day, and there we were, sitting in front of a fire, going through a ceremony that I didn’t completely understand. It was great. When it was over (1 1/2 hour ceremony), my first thought was, “Can we do that again?” It was great.

Then we changed our clothes and went to our reception, which was on Treasure Island. Back then, it was a military base, so we got a pretty darned good deal on the price. I think our reception, for 125 people, was under $2,000, and that may have included wine. Amazing. And best of all, it was beautiful. Did things go wrong? Sure. The flowers were pink instead of peach. The cake was UGLY and dry. Did we care? Not really, because what are you going to do? At that point, all you can do is go with it, not let it ruin your day, and enjoy yourselves. Which we did. What a great reception…I’ve never been at one, before or since, where people danced so much, or had such a great time. So fun. And the next day was the 4th, so we went to a bbq. The 5th, we flew to England on our honeymoon. Ah, such fun times, and really, really nice to look back and remember.

But even more than that, I like to think of our marriage…how much it has grown and changed since that day 13 years ago. We have been through a lot, some of it wonderful, some horrible, and having Ted there with me, knowing that we are a team, and he is on my side, that has meant more to me than I can ever hope to express. I love you, Q. Happy Anniversary!
*Sorry…since I just dissed this song yesterday, but like I said, I like the ideas in the song, and they kind of fit. 🙂