Partying with the In-Laws

Now that you know the story of our engagement(s), let me tell you the story of the first real wedding-related event we attended - thrown by my incredible future sister-in-law!  Not only have she and her husband given me and Mr. FW the most amazing niece ever (just in time to be a flower girl, no less!)...

{a picture I took of Flower Girl S, just a few hours after she was born}

... but she organized the sweetest engagement dinner for us shortly after we made it all *official.*  Just to clarify - this would've been amazing no matter what, but it's particularly meaningful because it was the first time I truly realized the emotional big deal-ness of this whole engagement/marriage thing.  I guess I thought that because we'd been together for so long, and because everyone knew we were in it for the long haul, and because it doesn't seem like the marriage part of our relationship will concretely change anything about our day-to-day lives, the engagement would just feel like normal life except we would have rings on our fingers and I could be more unabashedly open about our wedding planning.  But I was so wrong.

{us, with FBIL}

{FBIL with niece/flower girl S}

{FSIL and us}

{FFIL, FMIL, and Flower Girl S}

I don't know the words to describe the feeling that washed over me during that dinner, but all I can say is I became aware of this...  beautiful emotional weight...  the heaviness and the awe of this historically-valued institution of marriage that so many before us have entered into.  And I felt so very, very loved. 

Among other thoughtful gifts (*yay* for a big stack of weddings mags, that I wantwantwanted but needed like I needed a hole in the head), FSIL organized other family members to provide us with individualized 'words of wisdom' cards that were both touching and hilarious to read aloud during dinner. 


{"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person."  - Mignon McLaughlin; from FSIL}



{To keep your marriage brimming with love in the wedding cup, whenever you're wrong, admit it.  Whenever you're right, shut up.  - Ogden Nath; from FMIL}



{Realize that your spouse is looking at every situation the two of you face with completely different eyes than you.  If there is any area of agreement, it's usually a mistake and you need to embrace the mistake and treat it as you would a rare flower, for it may not come your way again.  - FFIL}

I am so lucky to be marrying into such an ah-ma-zing family. 

When did the the historical and emotional weight of marriage hit you for the first time?