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I’m still a lot confuzzled as well. Things like “Who gives this woman?” and the bride’s first dance with her father need to be stricken entirely for various reasons. Some obvious and some not so obvious.
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Shopping around for rings was an intersting experience. We encountered one salesperson who was so pushy and “I really need a sale. If you buy these today…” so we walked out. At another store, the person seemed a bit uncomfortable with us. Finally, we found someone who was comfortable with the idea of two guys looking for rings and was more than willing to work with us looking over designs and whatnot, and also was able to work it so the jewelry manufacturer can use the diamonds from DH’s mother’s earrings. Nothing flashy - just a period-sized bit of sparkle.
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I’m in a hetero relationship, and dealing with a lot of the weirdness of not quite fitting into the Wedding Industrial Complex mold right now, and a lot of those stem from not being all that interested in American traditions. Within the last two years, I’ve discovered that I intensely dislike buying jewelry because of the smarmy salespeople and the expectation that I “need” or “expect” something that’s unnecessary. I just find that a lot of the cultural expectations that many of my peers heap on jewelry is alien to me.
To me, a wedding is a party where we celebrate a commitment that two people have made to each other out of love for one another. They’re supposed to be fun and not stressful for those involved. How we got to these giant “you must do this or else your wedding will be a DISASTER/TACKY” modes I’ll never know.
Just go with whatever works best for you and don’t worry so much about what’s supposed to be “the proper way to do things”.
Aww, LiLi, very cute vid of Nat; you definitely need to get one of those bouncers! Cute pics of Doggio’s pup and kitteh, too. Glad to see they are getting along now.