Mr. Sanchez

Is it wrong if I'm not consumed with redecorating the house like some other spouses I know? I don't know if it's exhaustion from two months of preparation + taking care of stuff that I put off during those months, + a headlining gig (comedy) + a writer's conference -- but I can't really pretend to be fascinated by moving the furniture around just so.

Besides, there are still a lot of repair projects (remodeling seems a bit grandiose) to do on the house.

Mrs. Saltveit

While Mark was posting to the blog like wildfire, I was busy getting married.

Actually we both got married, to each other no less.

Yet, somehow, I became consumed with wedding prep, in a way that Mark did not ~ and the reason I write about this is that I wonder if it's a girl thing.

We agreed to create as simple yet meaningful an event as possible, and it was as DIY as could be ~ but I still found myself counting the silverware and glassware in order to calculate the number of wine glasses and forks (not to mention tables and chairs) I'd need to rent so our families and closest friends would be comfortable. I created the invitations and announcements, designed and purchased the gifts for our wedding party and guests, took care of shopping for Mark's daughters as needed, and coordinated with our bridesmaids and ushers about what to wear. I bought the bubbles instead of rice.

It thought provoking and time consuming and I enjoyed every second of it.

Mark did his share of the most important things; he rented the park site, downloaded a tons of songs for the dance party, and was in charge of all the food shopping and cooking for the reception (thank heavens!). We went ring shopping together.

It wasn't out of laziness that he didn't tend to the minutiae; he had decided he wanted to do quite a bit of remodeling before my parents arrived for the wedding, and he went at it full force. In the final week before the wedding, even after my parents arrived, he was still busy sanding and painting while I went shopping for fabric with my mother and my cousin.

My mother made my veil and my cousin made the flower girl basket and my bouquet. Together my mother and my cousin sewed the cushions for our two ring bearers. Our friends Maya & Maria helped decorate for the dance party, our friend Dañel created our cake topper, and my friend MaryHelen volunteered to decorate for the reception...

Happily.