Days 123-134
The more observant among you will notice the lack of recent updates to this site. There are two reasons for this. The first is that the site has attracted a lot of negative comment from some quarters, quarters which I did not expect to be entirely enthusiastic but from whom I did not anticipate quite so much approbation. I usually don't give a flying one what people think of me, but, you know, this is about the most important person and the most important thing in my life and I want to make sure I am getting it right.
Fortunately, I have had at least an equal number of positive comments - and even the odd complaint about the lack of updates this past fortnight - so for no better reason than to really annoy the people I refer to above, I'm going to carry on for now.
The reason for the absence of posts has largely been the arrival of Goth Girl's parents and the subsequent announcement of our engagement to both families.
What can I tell you about Ma and Pa GG? Not a lot, really, as I doubt that they would appreciate having their personal details spread all over the Web. Suffice to say, though, that they were every bit as wonderful as their daughter led me to expect them to be and that I lost no time in pointing out what a credit she was to them. What they thought of me is an entirely different matter, but I hope they liked me, seeing as they are stuck with me from now on.
We introduced the parents to each other on the Saturday. Fortunately, they had a number of things in common and we could make them talk about those rather than us.
On Saturday evening we dropped our little bombshell on them over drinks, just before going out to dinner. I proposed a toast to Goth Girl's parents and then she proposed one to mine. And then I proposed a toast to "Goth Girl - or, as I like to call her, my fiancee". There was a brief moment of silence, followed by smiles, hugs and handshakes all round. And a very nice French meal.
This is all wonderful, but there I have one slight concern, which is that I have no idea what either set of parents really thinks. They are all such lovely people that there is no way they would let on that they disapproved in any way. In our favour, though, is that neither set claimed to be surprised. I guess they must have seen from watching Goth Girl and I together that there was a certain inevitability about it.
[For the avoidance of doubt, my parents adore Goth Girl. My mother said after the announcement that she had "...given [them their] son back." - I didn't know I had been away!]
The next step was to tell my siblings. My mother made this easy for us by telling one of my sisters in an unguarded moment. Again, Goth Girl is a big favourite with at least two of them [the third lives abroad and has not met her yet] so there was much excitement and a good deal more surprise than the parents showed. My brother did point out that it was unfair of me to leave him to sow the family's wild oats, but I know he is man enough for the task.
This just left the formal announcement. Again, some people were upset - this time that we set up a joint email account to do this. I really don't understand this one at all. Lots of people have joint accounts and the only reason was so that we could be sure that the same message got to people and that each person only got the announcement once. The vast majority of the responses we got were entirely positive and in some cases very touching.
We've also had the very lovely Flame Haired Angel over from Paris this week. We were at her apartment when we got engaged and it was good to be able to return the favour, at least so far as accommodation was concerned.
The actual planning of the wedding has continued, although most of it has been ruling out venues rather than making any firm decisions. From the oppressively expensive (£3000 just to hire a room) to the downright mendacious (an extra £10 a head for the same menu because it was a wedding rather than corporate reception) it was as if potential venues were falling over themselves to be crossed off the list. We'll find somewhere wonderful soon, we are confident of that.
Fortunately, I have had at least an equal number of positive comments - and even the odd complaint about the lack of updates this past fortnight - so for no better reason than to really annoy the people I refer to above, I'm going to carry on for now.
The reason for the absence of posts has largely been the arrival of Goth Girl's parents and the subsequent announcement of our engagement to both families.
What can I tell you about Ma and Pa GG? Not a lot, really, as I doubt that they would appreciate having their personal details spread all over the Web. Suffice to say, though, that they were every bit as wonderful as their daughter led me to expect them to be and that I lost no time in pointing out what a credit she was to them. What they thought of me is an entirely different matter, but I hope they liked me, seeing as they are stuck with me from now on.
We introduced the parents to each other on the Saturday. Fortunately, they had a number of things in common and we could make them talk about those rather than us.
On Saturday evening we dropped our little bombshell on them over drinks, just before going out to dinner. I proposed a toast to Goth Girl's parents and then she proposed one to mine. And then I proposed a toast to "Goth Girl - or, as I like to call her, my fiancee". There was a brief moment of silence, followed by smiles, hugs and handshakes all round. And a very nice French meal.
This is all wonderful, but there I have one slight concern, which is that I have no idea what either set of parents really thinks. They are all such lovely people that there is no way they would let on that they disapproved in any way. In our favour, though, is that neither set claimed to be surprised. I guess they must have seen from watching Goth Girl and I together that there was a certain inevitability about it.
[For the avoidance of doubt, my parents adore Goth Girl. My mother said after the announcement that she had "...given [them their] son back." - I didn't know I had been away!]
The next step was to tell my siblings. My mother made this easy for us by telling one of my sisters in an unguarded moment. Again, Goth Girl is a big favourite with at least two of them [the third lives abroad and has not met her yet] so there was much excitement and a good deal more surprise than the parents showed. My brother did point out that it was unfair of me to leave him to sow the family's wild oats, but I know he is man enough for the task.
This just left the formal announcement. Again, some people were upset - this time that we set up a joint email account to do this. I really don't understand this one at all. Lots of people have joint accounts and the only reason was so that we could be sure that the same message got to people and that each person only got the announcement once. The vast majority of the responses we got were entirely positive and in some cases very touching.
We've also had the very lovely Flame Haired Angel over from Paris this week. We were at her apartment when we got engaged and it was good to be able to return the favour, at least so far as accommodation was concerned.
The actual planning of the wedding has continued, although most of it has been ruling out venues rather than making any firm decisions. From the oppressively expensive (£3000 just to hire a room) to the downright mendacious (an extra £10 a head for the same menu because it was a wedding rather than corporate reception) it was as if potential venues were falling over themselves to be crossed off the list. We'll find somewhere wonderful soon, we are confident of that.
posted by The Skiver at 12:28 am
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