#88 Webcam Wedding
There usually is a great deal of planning surrounding the accomplishment of Richard Horne’s 101 Things; however, getting married unusually just seemed to happen “naturally”. My (now) husband and I were planning on getting married in a quiet beach ceremony in September 2004. Hurricane Ivan, one of the strongest storms ever recorded, devastated our beach just days before our big day. My parents jumped to the rescue and purchased tickets for us to “elope” to Las Vegas. With only two days to plan, I was certain our wedding was going to be a disaster. That is, until we found Always and Forever Wedding Chapel online. After a few questions, our wedding was planned.
Do you want your wedding indoors or out? Indoors.
What is your favorite color? Pink.
Do you want pictures and/or video? Yes.
Would you like a limo? Cool!
How many guests? Umm…none.
Would you like friends and family to watch via webcam? HUH?
How did we go from a semi-traditional beach wedding to a completely non-traditional webcam wedding? At the time, very few people in my family had even heard of a webcam. Nevertheless, it was the perfect way for my entire family to “attend” without having to coordinate a massive military-style maneuver.
Fast-forward two days later - my husband and I are getting ready in our fabulous hotel room. His “getting ready” consists of watching a football game; my “getting ready” consists of a long shower, painting my fingernails and toenails, taking an hour to do my make-up, and prancing in front of the mirror in my bridal gown. There’s no pressure today. The limo arrives to take my husband to his tux-fitting. This means that I have another hour to flat iron every strand of hair while belting, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” at the top of my lungs. He turns, right before he leaves, and gets down on one knee and takes my hand. Awe! What a special day.
The limo arrives at the hotel again with my husband dressed to the nines. We laughed and flirted all the way to the chapel. Upon arriving, I’m handed a gorgeous bouquet in my favorite color. We waited outside a quiet room where another couple was preparing for their ceremony. As soon as they left the room, we were escorted inside and met by the wedding officiant. He spent a few moments getting to know our personalities and asking questions about our religious preferences for the ceremony. I began to get nervous that I would mess up the ceremony, since we hadn’t done a rehearsal. The officiant assured us that we would be instructed every step of the way. A few minutes before show time, we heard another couple lined up outside the quiet room. We realized this is why Always and Forever does weddings so well - they do them all day every day.
Our ceremony was perfect…for us. The officiant was humorous (and quick), the chapel was adorable, and we hardly noticed the photographer snapping away. And when it was over, we waved to the webcam and thanked our family for “attending”. We celebrated the rest of the day the way marriage was intended to be - just us.
I love this!!! Thanks for sharing!
Comment by Miranda — March 21, 2010 @ 10:19 pm
I agree with Miranda. What a beautiful ceremony and what a gorgeous bride! To your comment in the previous post: I think what I formerly called “childlike-innocence”, and why I love having conversations with you, is that whatever you do is well-intentioned. (Have I said this before?) I think having good intentions, along with letting things happen naturally, is the main ingredient of doing the 101 things Mr. Horne suggests and / or whatever else we want / came to do with our lives. So far, you seem to be doing great and I wish you to keep on the good work. Be assured, if there is any adventure I will feel I need to share with someone, you will be one of the first to be informed.
P.S. Are you familiar with James Redfield’s “The Celestine Prophecy”, “The Tenth Insight - Holding the Vision” and “The Eleventh Insight - The Secret of Shambala”? If not, I think you should read them along with the experiential guides to the first two books. It gives you a completely different idea about what life is all about. (I hope I am not making illegal advertisement here.)
P.P.S. I always was laughing at the idea of people feeling close or having made friends through blogs or the internet. Since my encounter with Gina Lewis, however, I now know what it feels like. (Usually, what you laugh at you get showered with, but for this “shower” I am grateful.) A couple of days ago, I just realized how rare these kinds of friendships are. I used to go to hang around a bar-cafeteria in my neighbourhood which, unfortuately closed, where I used to talk with the girls behind the bar, especially two of them, opening them my heart by talking about everything, often paying them a coffee or a drink every time I found a new job, dedicating them poems or cartoons and sending them all flowers on Valentine’s Day (that’s just my style). In return, I would get often free drinks or coffees myself and once, Giouli even gave me a mini radio-alarm clock as a present, my espresso was always ready even before I entered the bar and they still remember me. Looking for a similar hangout place, I found it a couple of blocks down further the same street, and on Saturday, they had a party. I made the mistake and went there. I probably haven’t felt lonelier before in my life, and I realized that not every barwoman is like Giouli or Aliki, that they were EXCEPTIONS. That’s the kind of friendship I feel I am having with you, I can feel your warm kindness up to here and please know how thankful I am for this. And, of course, I am lovingly returning that positive energy you sending in the same or maybe even bigger amounts.
Comment by Manos — March 23, 2010 @ 8:42 am
Hey! I didn’t know we had this in common - I didn’t know you had gotten married in Las Vegas too! Of course, yours was a bit different since it was decided at the last second (and that’s so cool that your parents got you the tickets to do that). Rehearsals are over rated anyway. I guess I need to put my wedding video up on YouTube too, to be cool like you! Yay!
Comment by Jessica — March 26, 2010 @ 11:56 am
Completed another task yesterday: Had a role on television! Since listing up 101 things to do, even though I may not have agreed with all of them, almost by coincidence I got barred from a bar or pub, quit a job, took place for a second time in a movie, witnessed a lunar eclipse that had been unpredicted, made dinner for friends, came across an article that said what diet to follow to live up to a 100 years or more (of course, there is always the possibility to die of an accident the next day, no matter what diet one follows) and, even though it isn’t my favorite TV series, had a small role - of course that is my job so chances are I will have more proposals in the future. The shooting took place in January, but the episode was released yesterday on Greek tv! There is still a lot I have got to tell you, but my lunch is getting cold! Happy Easter!
Comment by Manos — March 30, 2010 @ 7:24 am
I completely understand the reason for this worldwide things-to-do-list-frenzy, we are looking for more fulfillment in life. I can also understand what Mr. Horne is trying to say: That we can achieve what we want, that we should savour every moment of life and that in the face of death every experience in life is worth making. So far, so good. But the question goes over and over again in my mind: Aren’t there moral boundaries - not by society but by our very own conscious? Isn’t there more to life than fulfilling mere materialistic needs? How is creating a bad karma “taking revenge”, committing crimes “getting arrested”, intoxicating ourselves with alcohol “Monopoly Pub Board Crawl”, becoming unpopular “getting barred from a pub or bar” or polluting the environment “car at top speed” going to help us move on with our lives? (And I only mention a few examples.) I don’t say I disagree with everything Mr. Horne suggests. I just think he can do better. Wouldn’t it, for instance, to FORGIVE instead of revenging? And in “Up in the Air” when George Clooney and his partner suggested they crash an A-list party, she said yes out of politeness, he was her boss, after all. Once again I come to the conclusion: It is the INTENTION because the action. If, for instance, the rock god/goddess someone wants to get backstage with and hit it off, doesn;t want to, then it’s no fun any more, it’s sexual harassment! As an actor, I have many celebrity friends, and believe me, they are just humans like us, too, and they don’t like it to be pestered! (And if anyone dares to bother them against their will, I will fight with teeth and nails to protect them.) So, there has got to be a line SOMEWHERE!Don’t we all want to do the things we want to do because they are part of our life process? I will mention the example with Ifigenia again: I wanted to get to S.F. since I was thirteen. Then, I meet this girl, she leaves, and about a year later I decide I want her, I don’t know how to state this differently, for reasons bigger than myself. And then, I learn she is in a place I dream of going to since decades - conclusion: I wanted to get there because it’s part of my mission as a human! Sorry, Mr. Horne, but sometimes I wonder: Don’t you have any scruples suggesting people to do those paranoic things? And instead of revolting. protesting, saying: “Enough with this madness! Let’s stop listening to what others tell us to do and listen inside us what our heart and our conscience tell us to do, what we truly want to do, let’s find out what our purpose is”, we say “Thank you!” And I must be paranoic, too, wanting to be part of this insanity!
Comment by Manos — April 4, 2010 @ 1:43 pm
Thanks, Miranda!
Manos, I’ve never heard of James Redfield, but I’ll have to look into those books. I love your story about the bar in your neighborhood. Have you ever heard of the television show, “Cheers”? That’s what your story reminds me of. I agree with you about morals. The beauty of the book, to me, is that you can twist the TTD to fit your life goals. I can assure you, if I ever get arrested, it will be by mistake, a practical joke (#61), or standing up for something I believe in. There are various definitions for “getting off” with a rock god…so you can pretty much make all of these experiences morally sound.
Jessica, I knew you got married in Vegas b/c I got to participate in the countdown to your wedding via your blog
I would love for you to post your video…I’ve been going back and adding You Tube videos to some of my old entries that I wish I had posted videos for in the first place.
Comment by Gina — April 8, 2010 @ 9:47 pm