The Foreign Affair: Let the Pudding Recaps Commence!

I know that it's been more than 6 months since our wedding, and I am just now beginning the Pudding recaps.  Still, I'm not going to make excuses - I'm here now, so ON WITH THE SHOW!

The day before the wedding was a hectic one - actually the whole week before the wedding was no picnic.  Despite the almost 2 years we had to plan this wedding, we were seriously behind!  There were escort cards to prepare, and napkins to fold, and programs to print!  Thank goodness for Sister Pudding.  I was ready to give up most of the tasks - who needs pretty belly bands for napkins, right? - but Sister P just kept pushing.  She knew that I wouldn't be happy if my visions weren't realized.

I'm not going to lie; these days were extremely stressful.  All of us were big balls of nerves - Sister Pudding refused to talk to Mama P (she can hold a grudge like nobody's business), Mama P refused to stop ironing Brother P's shirts (seriously, all of them - and he has a lot of shirts!  Why Mama P, WHY?), and me?  Well, let's just say that my craziness culminated when Mr. Pudding called to ask me if he could borrow a tie from my brother for the rehearsal.  Needless to say, I had a screaming, crying fit, during which I questioned our entire relationship, and Mr. Pudding managed to find plenty of volunteers to lend him a tie.  I am not proud of this, but I'm just trying to keep it real.  It was CRAY-ZEE!

Amidst the sobs of "how-am-I-going-to-marry-a-man-who-can't-even-dress-himself-without-me" and "mom-will-you-stop-ironing-Brother P's-shirts-we-have-to-leave-in-5-minutes!", I managed to get myself dressed, and get everyone out the door.  By the time we arrived at the church though, we were 15 minutes late, and everyone was waiting.

The "crew" - and look, Mr. P found a tie!

They didn't hold a grudge though. Upon seeing me, Mr. P's grandma compared me to Jackie O - "You may be late, but at least you know how to make an entrance".  What could be better than that?

With so many out of town guests (almost 100!), I had some "hellos" to get to.  I was especially excited to see my Godfather, who had arrived from Poland just that morning!

 An excited wave - "Hello, wujek (uncle)!  So nice of you to fly half way across the world to join us!"

Mama Pudding saying hello to my uncle.

Finally, we got on with the rehearsal.  We didn't have a wedding planner, so I was left in charge.  Not that I minded - I love being in charge!

A short introduction, and we were ready to roll!

  Walking down the aisle with Mama and Pudding Pops!

 We can do this!

Once we got going, the rehearsal actually went quite smoothly.  No major mishaps, no major concerns.  We practiced walking down the aisle, and saying our "I do's".  And, somehow, magically, the stress went away, and happiness began to set in.  In 24 hours, we would be husband and wife!

Up next, our Polterabend - less drama, more glass breaking :P

***All photos courtesy of Grandpa P

In Defense of Polygamy?

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With the premiere of TLC's "Sister Wives" this weekend, there has been a lot of talk on television/radio about polygamy.  It seems that many people (my self included) are fascinated by the inner workings of such a family.    For a feminist like me, the first reaction to such an arrangement is disgust:  Why would these women want to share their man?  How do they deal with jealousy?  Don't they have the self esteem to say "I, alone, am enough for my husband"?

While listening to an interview with the "Sister Wives" on the Today Show, a light bulb went off in my head.  As a nation, we have judged polygamy quite harshly, while at the same time making apologies for divorce and sexual relations outside of wedlock that result in the birth of a child.  A man who leaves his older wife with no financial means to take care of herself because he is no longer attracted to her is more noble than a man who takes on a younger wife, but continues to provide financial and emotional comfort to the first wife.  In the same vein, is a man who commits to taking care of his multiple lovers and their children really worse that a man who fathers children with multiple women but refuses to make any commitment to them?   

The fear of polygamy seems to stem from the many abuses some followers of the practice inflict on women and children.  But isn't it a little unfair to judge the whole by the actions of a few?  Being a Catholic, I would be truly upset if someone were to judge me responsible for some of the crimes committed by members of my church.  

Now, to make myself clear, I would never practice polygamy.  It wouldn't be right for me, being that I am jealous, opinionated, needy, overly judgmental, etc.  I just think that maybe it's time for us to let people make their own decisions about how they live their lives and what brings them happiness.  It just seems silly that relationships like those portrayed in "Sister Wives" and "Big Love" are considered illegal, but Hugh Hefner can have as many live-in girlfriends as he wants.

(source)

Have you watched the new TLC show?  What do you think of it?  What do you think of polygamy in general?  Is this a type of relationship that you would ever consider?

Our Unniversary

Two years ago today, Mr. Pudding and I legally declared our commitment to each other.  For those who are new to the hive, you may have missed my post about our "Engagement Party".  Here is a little refresher:

We have always known that we would not celebrate the anniversary of our legal marriage, choosing to commemorate what we consider to be our real wedding date:  the day we stood in front of our family, friends, and God, and promised to love and honour one another.  Still, it feels a little weird today not to even acknowledge this event, you know?


I know that there are more couples in the Hive that have had a civil ceremony before having their "real" wedding.  Which anniversary do you celebrate?

Wedding Day Amnesia

You've heard of PWD (post wedding depression) from the likes of Mrs. Lab, Mrs. Meatball, and Mrs. Beagle, but I am here to tell you about another terrifying post wedding condition:  Wedding Day Amnesia.

Symptoms of WDA manifest themselves in a very simple way - they simply prohibit you from remembering anything of major significance from your wedding day.  A sufferer might remember the timeline of the particular event, but will not be able to recall the details.  For example, he/she might remember that there was dancing, and that they danced, but not who they danced with or what songs were played.  Or, the patient will remember being very touched by a particular toast, but have absolutely no idea what was said during said speech.

Some common causes of WDA include:

• The rush to complete last minute projects
• Family stress
• Lack of wedding planner
• Guest list approaching 200
• An overwhelming outpour of love from friends and family 
• Euphoria at finally being married to your best friend 

It is believed that when one or more of these causes combine during a person's wedding day, the patient is unable to properly absorb everything that is going on around him/her.  The excitement of the day is so overwhelming, that it fails to register in one's long term memory.  This can be compared to cramming for a big exam the night before the test:  you store all of that data in your short term memory, and forget everything right after the test is over.

Unfortunately, WDA doesn't just affect brides.  Grooms have been known to suffer from it, and it can affect anyone with close ties to the organization of the event.  Poor Sister Pudding is also a sufferer...

If, like me, you suffer from WDA, have no fear!  Although there is no immediate cure, there are things that you can do to reverse the damage caused by this awful ailment. Make sure to review pictures taken by your photographers and friends on a daily basis.  Listen to the stories of loved ones who attended your wedding but were not afflicted.  Watch your wedding video over and over again.  Listen to the music playlist from your wedding.  Slowly, the symptoms will fade.

My name is Mrs. Pudding, and I suffer from WDA.  Am I the only one?

An Ode to Our Photographers (and more Pudding wedding sneak peeks!)

I have yet to receive all of the pro photos from our wedding, but if I had to choose one picture to sum up the whole day, it would be this one:

Top reason why I love this photo?  Sister Pudding having the time of her life!

We (and by "we" I of course mean Sister Pudding and I) hired our wedding photographers for two reasons:
First of all, they seemed to understand the style of photography we were going for (candid capturing of real
moments, with some formal shots thrown in).  Secondly, upon meeting Clint from Renaissance Studio Photography, we knew that we would get along with him, and that he would put us at ease.  Being that Sister Pudding and I (and the rest of our family for that matter) tend to be rather loud, very demanding, and quite strong headed, we really needed someone who would understand our "rough edges" and look past them.  When we received our wedding teasers a couple of weeks ago, we were very happy to see that there was absolutely nothing "rough" about them.  See for yourself:

Here's a little tidbit that most brides don't realize:  You actually spend more time with your photographer on your wedding day than you do with your husband.  Clint spent the morning with me (tense moments and all - will fill you in later), and practically followed me around all day long.  He was constantly by my side, so it's a very good thing that I actually enjoyed hanging out with him!  Our second shooter, Erin, was practically Mr. P's shadow, so he was happy to find out that she was quite enjoyable too!  Both of them were calm and collected, and up for anything (see the beautiful, serene shot above?  Well, we had to hike through some pretty rugged terrain to get it - all my brilliant idea.  It was hot and sweaty, and there were bugs everywhere.  My dress doubled as mosquito netting, and Clint suffered many a bug bite.  He did not complain one bit).

So here is my advice to all of you brides and grooms looking for the perfect wedding photographer:  Do not make your decision based on a website, blog, or portfolio alone.  Meet your photographer.  Chat with them about your vision.  Make sure that their personality meshes with yours.  The last thing that you will want on your wedding day is to be constantly followed by someone who annoys the stuffing out of you :P

Did you get along with your photographer as a person?

"So, what does it feel like to be a married lady?"

Since getting married over a week ago, I get questions like this a lot:  "Does it feel different?", "Do you feel more like an adult?", and so on.  To be perfectly honest, there is only one answer that I can come up with when probed like this.

"So, what does it feel like to be a married lady?"

Well, I mostly feel hungry.

Confused?  Well, you know how people always say that you need to remember to eat on your wedding day?  Well, amongst the lists and schedules that I created for our wedding, I forgot to make a conscious effort to eat.  On the day of our reception, I had half a bagel on our way to the hairdresser, and than didn't eat anything until dinner was served at our reception (at around 6:30pm).  Of course, when I received my soup course (a delicious cream of mushroom) I had about three spoonfuls before my poor shrunken stomach yelled at me to take it easy! I had a couple of bites of the main course, and than nibbled on the midnight buffet.  I had about two bites of our delicious wedding cake.  All in all, I would say that I consumed under 1000 calories that day.

To make matters worse, my eating habits were pretty much just as dismal during our polterabend/rehearsal dinner, and our Sunday Poprawiny.  That means that I spent a whole three days celebrating, dancing, socializing, and stressing, but not really eating a whole lot.

When the rest of the guests left on Monday, I found myself devouring everything in sight.  We had quite a lot of food left over from the wedding, including a lot of cake.  I swear for the first three days after the wedding I ate an average of 5 pieces of cake every day.  Everyone kept telling me that I looked very thin on our wedding day.  I didn't really believe them.  But on Wednesday night, I decided to weigh myself.  I stepped on the scale, and was completely shocked:  After three days of binge eating, I was still 7 pounds under my regular weight.

I am a total cautionary tale, ladies.  Make sure to eat on your wedding day!  Write it into your schedule!  Force yourself to put some of the delicious food that your guests are consuming into your mouth!  It seems easy enough, but it is the hardest thing to remember!

And since this is my first official post as a MRS (!!!), I couldn't leave you without a little teaser pic. Enjoy!

Photo courtesy of Renaissance Studio Photography

No Day but Today

It's 4:26am.  I am at Mama Pudding's house on the morning of our wedding day.  The whole house is still sleeping, but a slight noise from outside woke me up.  Going back to sleep is out of the question:  Today is my wedding day after all!

Mr. Pudding's family have all arrived safe and sound.  My family from Poland is all here, sans some missing baggage.  The rehearsal dinner has come and gone, and my makeshift polterabend was such a big hit (who new that breaking a beer bottle on the eve before your wedding could be so cathartic!).

The last couple of days have not been without tense moments, capitalized by a few stress driven tears yesterday.  Even this morning I feel slightly unprepared, since there are still about a half dozen loose ends that are on my to-do list.

But it doesn't matter.  Today is our wedding day.  Today, I am the bride.  Today, I feel determined to be relaxed and happy, no matter how many things go wrong.  Today is going to be the perfect day.

Mr. Pudding, I love you with all of my being.  You are my rock, and I am so excited to embark on this journey with you.  I'll meet you at the end of that aisle with bated breath and a joy filled heart.

Love,

Miss (for the last time) Pudding