Licensed to Wed

After a little bit of a delay, we are now officially licensed to be wed in the State of New York.

We ended up being able to use a baptismal certificate in place of a birth certificate (since Michael did not have one with the required raised seal). We didn't have an extra copy of his baptismal certificate lying around, but we were able to get one. And unlike the birth certificate, it was FREE... so we figured we might as well go that route for now. Michael still needs to get a certified birth certificate to have, but at least we didn't have to do it right now, when every little extra expense is sort of a big deal.

So off we went to the town hall on our lunch breaks... and thankfully, we didn't have a problem! We went in, showed the town clerk all of our required documents, and filled out the form. She said it would take a little bit for her to type it up and print it out, so we left to go get some lunch at Bruegger's (it was actually nice enough to sit outside today) and then went back.

Signed, sealed... and delivered right into our waiting hands. It felt really good to finally walk out with the piece of paper that makes it all official.

Now I just have to make sure that it's added to the "must-take-to-the-church" list. *sigh* So much to remember.

A few pics to capture the momentous occasion (haha):

16 days!

Snafu

This afternoon, the plan was for Michael and I to meet over the lunch hour and get our marriage license. We were all prepared (or so we thought). Birth certificates in hand, driver's licenses, etc.

Around 11:40 a.m., about five minutes before we both would have been leaving our offices, it occurred to me that we were going to have to pay $40 for the license, and that I had not gone to the bank for cash. I called the town clerk's office to find out if they could take a check or a card. She said they could; good news all around.

But then she started asking me questions about whether we had this, and whether we had that. She asked about our birth certificates, and I said yes. Then she asked if they had raised seals. I explained to her that no, mine doesn't have a raised seal because it's from Washington State, and they don't do that there. She said that was acceptable. And she said, "What about your fiance? Was he born in New York State?" I said yes, and she said, "Well, does his certificate have a raised seal?" I had left it in the car, but I knew that it didn't. I said no.

Sooo... to avoid the risk of boring you with the rest of the conversation, I'll make it short. As it turns out, Michael doesn't even have a copy of his birth certificate. What he has is a "birth registration," which I guess is commonly given to new parents (instead of a certificate) in our county. It's good enough to get your child into school, to use as identification, etc. And I guess Michael even managed to get his driver's license with it. But you can't get a passport without a raised seal, and as we found out yesterday... you certainly can't get a marriage license.

*sigh* This was supposed to be easy. Now we have to jump through yet another hoop just to be allowed to be married! Michael has to submit a request for a copy of his birth certificate (which is NOT free, by the way) before we can go get the license. Luckily, it sounds like if he submits the online request this week, he'll get the certificate next week because they process them within two business days and mail them out. So it's not a TOTAL disaster.

Just a little snafu.

It's May! It's actually May!

Our wedding is officially "next month."

*squeal*

It makes my heart rate skyrocket. I can't even believe it.

I'm currently working on preparing and researching a number of things.

I'm trying to decide on and finalize a design for the bridesmaid jewelry (which I'm making), because then I have to order all of the supplies. And not to mention--I have to leave myself enough time to make them all.

I need to finally bite the bullet and just pick and order a garter set.

I'm waiting on more RSVPs so I can make the last-minute decisions on the "extras"--favors, personalized cocktail napkins, etc. I don't really want to order anything until we have a more accurate estimate of how many people to expect.

We're going to start gathering photos and scanning them into our computer so we can get started on creating a photo slideshow/montage for our rehearsal dinner.

And also, in the next week or two... we're planning to go get our marriage license! Eeeek!

I'm sure there is more that I'm forgetting right now, but it's good to keep the list short, complete the things on it, and add more. When I look at a ginormous to-do list, it gives me major anxiety!

51 days!