Game time

I am not a big sports fan, but I guess this is what “game time” feels like.
After a planned 16-month engagement, hours of planning and countless debit card transactions – the wedding is almost here.
I am pretty excited and have had a lot of fun along the way.
When I first proposed to Ashley in November 2007, I swore I was not going to be one of those fiancés who step back after giving her the ring and showed up on the wedding day to give her another one. I wanted to be a part of the planning process, and after some recent self-evaluation, I can safely say I was.
We decided April 18, 2009 would be our wedding day. The Catholic Church requires the wedding occur at least one year from the engagement, and winter nuptials were out of the picture since both of our families live several hours away and Mother Nature does not have a schedule.
I helped find a deejay, a tux, a photographer, a reception hall and a church. I secured the photographer for our invitation picture and I was supportive when Ashley understandably almost went through the roof while trying to print the invitations herself. The wedding ceremony will be in a church, but I saw a woman who is probably paid minimum wage perform a miracle at Staples.
The hardest part was probably her bridal shower. Her sister, Amber, did a wonderful job at planning the affair but it was me who had to see Ashley every day for six weeks while knowing when and where the event was going to occur. I delivered her to the restaurant without spilling my guts, and I celebrated my silence with my brother and her uncle.
There were some aspects of the process in which I could not have possibly been more useless. I accompanied her to the flower shop twice, but once I aimlessly wandered around the store and the other I went next door to find birthday cards for family members.
Even though it may have been the two of us doing most of the actual work, we had a great support staff – parents, siblings and friends. I must also give credit to my parish priest who assured Ashley that she and her non-Catholic family were more than welcome at the wedding without having to fear he was going to attempt conversions.
Now it is time to relax, I think. The bachelor party on the first weekend in April will be a simple, but fun, affair with a bunch of close friends drinking some suds in a Poconos cabin. The only stripping that will occur will be the cardboard being removed from the beer case.
Friends will start to arrive in Gettysburg the Wednesday before when I pick-up two of my five groomsmen from BWI. I have not seen these two in a while, so I am looking forward to seeing them.
The wedding itself will be an awesome affair. People who have known Ashley and me through many different stages of our lives will be gathered in one church to see us join together.
The Hilton Head honeymoon will undoubtedly be a great time and the future will be fun, exciting and unpredictable.