If it were just the two of us, we'd go to the courthouse and get hitched. But we have all these kids who wouldn't miss the chance to see their parents get married for the world, so we are having a small ceremony here at the house.

I started filling up a calendar of summer events: 4H camp, science camp, VBS, birthdays, orthodontist appointments, vacations for various relatives who'd want to be there, and it became apparent that a real honeymoon was going to be difficult both because of child supervision and finances. So we shoehorned the date on a weekend between events that happened to be Gothgrrl's eleventh birthday -which she isn't too happy about. I will make sure she gets a cake, and the wedding party will all sing for her.

Counting up just the very closest relatives, there could be a couple dozen people here. There's no place to move furniture, so we will have the ceremony out on the porch. Anyone in the neighborhood, or who happens to walk by, will have a ringside seat.

What to wear? My girls want to dress fancy, but Mr. Perfect insists on jeans. He'd have a redneck wedding if it were up to him! We went to a western store to get him a nice shirt. No, he didn't want anything with embroidery on it, nothing with filigree, and he didn't want a white shirt. Oy. So he bought a red shirt, plus polish for his cowboy boots. He says he will borrow a hat for the pictures. Now I had to find something that looks OK with a red shirt. In the back of my mind, I had planned to wear one of my churidar-kameez outfits, but I can see all the "cowboy and Indian" jokes down the road.

I looked at several stores, and found there is a dearth of decent dresses for women my age and size. In fact, there is a dearth of dresses at all in my small town! The dresses I found were all either sleeveless for young women or made of ugly polyester for old women. I found a few really nice styles and fabrics I liked, but those came in huge sizes. I tried a couple on, thinking I could alter them, but a size 22 makes me look like I'm wrapped in a blanket. Geez, not all well-dressed older women are fat! I might be possible to get a nice dress for a 50-year-old woman in a size ten, but I'd have to drive to a bigger city and pay more than I care to spend. I finally found one that looks good, but its black. Princess said, "Mom! You're not a widow anymore!" That's what I bought, and I'm satisfied with it.

The entrance to my neighborhood is flanked by a bakery on one side and a florist on the other. I shall be using neither. The local grocery had a cake in the freezer that caught my eye. It's big, chocolate inside, with raspberry icing and flakes of white chocolate covering it all. I had to have it. So now it's in my basement freezer. I don't need flowers since my front yard has a good-looking garden and there are hanging baskets of petunias all around the porch (just as I imagined it when I bought the house). The municipal walking trail is on my block, and the semi-famous old bridge is decorated with lovely flower beds and flower boxes. On prom night a couple of weeks ago, there were half a dozen families down there taking pictures of prom couples, so we have a free backdrop for photographs.

We've got the rings, minister, license, clothing, and cake. Does anyone know how long champagne stays good? I have a bottle that was given to me five years ago, but I'd hate to open it if it ruined. I'll have a second cake for Gothgrrl's birthday, cookies, punch, and whatever else looks good for snacks.

If posting is a little thin here, or I don't answer some questions from commenters, that's why. I'm a bit busy. The story of how I got to this point is at YesButNoButYes.

Update: The first picture of the wedding is here.