When November started, I asked Alex if he would be willing to write a guest post for The Table Has Shoes (and Other Ambiguities) to help me out, since I should be focusing my writing energies on NaNoWriMo.  I gave him few guidelines – only that it might be entertaining if he wrote about our wedding preparations.  The guy’s point of view is always interesting, right?

So the following is Alex’s take on our wedding plans thus far.  Enjoy!

The Groom’s Point of View: By Alex

Our wedding is nearly 7 months away and I am already nervous.

I am about to marry the girl I have been looking for all my life, but I am apprehensive about the reality of what that entails.  Don’t get me wrong: Christina is beautiful, articulate, and passionate about many of the same things I am.  I am not worried about spending the rest of my life with this wonderful woman, or even getting up in front of our family and friends and publicly declaring our love for each other. No, I am afraid of the celebration that directly follows our nuptials.

In my eyes, the ritual of marriage is a joining between two people who want to share a life together. It is not done for anyone but the two people taking the plunge. You shouldn’t worry about what other people think, but I do. And I just hope when it is all said and done with, my worrying will have been for nothing.

The problem is that I always shy away from being the center of attention. It is going to be hard enough when we exchange vows in front of everyone, knowing they will be listening to our every word and watching our every move.  I can cope with this because I am looking forward to the ceremony; it is going to reflect Christina’s personal tastes and mine. But most important, I am going to finally let Christina know how much she means to me. Every word I speak that night will be the truth.

Having said all that, if I had my way I would prefer to fly some place tropical like Hawaii–our honeymoon destination– and marry my betrothed on a beach under the stars with only our most cherished friends and family. To me, modern day marriage has become part of a mechanism to further a thriving cottage industry that self promotes itself on cable television and multiple magazines.  But I digress.

What really has me restless is how I am going to be perceived at the postnuptial party, the reception.

Here I have to be in front of the white hot spot light for an entire evening, making small talk with many people I have never met.  Top that with the fact that I suffer from “Chandler Bing” syndrome of taking poor pictures.  This night has the potential to be problematic for me. I want this night to be memorable, not a bad memory.

But I know deep down that I can’t let the controlled chaos of hosting a social event get the better of me. For, Christina was brilliant at orchestrating the details of everything from the floral arrangements to the color of her bridesmaids’ dresses to the type of photography that will best capture the essence of the evening. I will not let her down.

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