Wedding Planning

Marco and I had interview on Friday with the father who is going to marry us. He is a nice man and he approved our request for a dispensa por disparidad de culto. I don't have to convert to Catholicism to get married in the church. His first question was if I was atheist. I think it is interesting that he assumed I was atheist instead of asking if I believed in God first. I told him that I am agnostic because I don't believe that there is only one right way to believe or practice faith in something larger than ourselves. I do believe in an energy that flows in all of us and that energy is what connects us all. That is my version of God. Love is at the heart of it all and he agreed with me. He asked me if I was being coerced into marriage which of course I am not. Libremente entro el matrimonio. The last question that he asked me was about abortion. I told him that I don't believe in abortion for myself but I cannot judge others who choose to have one. It is a personal choice. He offered me some pamphlets but I told him it was OK. I am appreciative that the Catholic church is open to inter-faith marriages. They do ask that the non-Catholic agree to raise the kids in the Catholic church which I was already aware of. I grew up going to church as well and I don't think it did any harm. I always liked the stories in the Bible and while I don't believe that the Bible should be taken as historical fact, I like the message behind a lot of the stories. Our kids will learn about all sorts of religions and come to their own conclusions about how they believe in God (or if the believe in God). As Marco says, we get to pick and choose how we want to be Catholics (referring to Peruvian Catholics). I like it.

So we are on our way to getting things all in order for the ceremony. We have to attend two Saturday counseling meetings at the Obispado. They are two all day activities. I am intrigued by what they include. I will definitely relate my experience. We have to have two testigos de solteria  each or two witnesses of our singleness who will attest to our character. They are supposed to know us for 5 years but 3 is good enough. The only thing is that they have to have an interview with the father as well. Other than that we just need 4 witnesses for the actual wedding. I am working on getting all the music/musicians together for the ceremony as well. If all goes well we will have some of the girls from the chorus I sing in.

I found a salon called Voce on Benavides that has suites for brides and a packet for S/. 350. It includes hair, make-up, mani-pedi, an anti-sweat shot (no thanks). Sounds good to me and the place is super nice. There is another packet that allows you to have an appointment to try out hair styles and make-up. I will just have to have faith that whoever does my hair and make-up doesn't screw it all up. Haha. Worst case scenario, I do my make-up myself!

We have to get invitations made and deliver them (by hand) to everyone (in Peru) at the end of this month. We would send them in the mail but that costs more and it is not guaranteed that they will reach their destination. The mail service here is not great and the only things that are sent to your home address are the water and electric bills. (You have to go to the bank/store where you have a credit card to see what your statement is. There are some online services but it is on the customer to know what he or she owes.)

We have a cake maker! Jessica Cure. I found her on the Expats in Peru group and she has a website www.ohjesscakes.com. She is going to make a fondant sword and violin to put on the top of the cake instead of a bride and groom. Cute right?

We have to make an appointment with the circulo in order to have a tasting and make sure everything is good to go for the reception. That will happen sometime this week or next at the latest.

I think I am doing a good job of not stressing out about everything. I am lucky to have the majority of my mornings during the week to run errands and go do things that are necessary. I really want to make sure that my family and friends enjoy themselves while they are here in Lima. I know that I can't do everything and I also realize why people have maids of honor who help them out with all the planning. Haha! Fortunately, Marco is taking up that role quite well by putting in his two cents about things. :)

My mother-in-law is in town and my awesome niece Patty is here so I am off to play with her and eat lunch with the fam before reviewing what I am planning on doing in class tomorrow. It was a nice three week vacation but it is time to get back to work teaching music to the kiddies!