Monday the 6th
- 11am: FedEx delivers Michael’s ring. We decide we ought to marry sometime during the week;
- 3pm: The family center (my place of work) irons out plans for the next day’s filming of its monthly public-access show. Its hosts (our friends) decide to demonstrate flower arranging for the show’s entertainment segment, donating the results to make a more festive nuptial celebration. We all decide to meet at the courthouse after the show.
- 6pm: We post to the log an announcement of our plans and an invitation to join us.
Tuesday the 7th:
- All day: Family center staff spend much of the day being sneaky behind closed doors;
- 11am: I call the Clerk’s office to see if they will allow Nisa in the courthouse. “Good dogs are welcome,” they say;
- 2pm: Staff leaves to film Kultural Kaleidoscope. They arrange flowers, creating a bouquet for the bride, a small spray for the groom’s pocket and an additional vase of blooms;
- 3:30pm: I reserve a dog-friendly room at a posh lodge for the night. Nicholas and Laura arrive to take us to the courthouse in Breckenridge. We stop along the way to pick up Elizabeth’s veil;
- 4pm: We enter the courthouse to a small but boisterous group of friends bearing fresh flowers. Christina puts a bowtie on Michael…
the old: Grandma’s pearls
the new: my Patagonia skirt and Christina’s gift of sapphire earrings
the borrowed: Elizabeth’s veil
the blue: my ring, my earrings and my underwear; - 4-5pm: We fill out a marriage license in the Clerk & Recorder’s office. Meanwhile, the merry group waits in a (previously quiet) room upstairs. We join them to discover what born party planners can do with 24 hours and a bag of treasures from the family center thrift store: a cute little two-tiered (chocolate and carrot) cake, champagne, glasses etched with the names Fred and Lil, and a little red boom box that plays the wedding march. Cheering ensues. Onlookers witness the signing of the marriage license. Susanna Virden becomes Susanna Sharp.* We kiss. We dance. The groom dips the bride. People deliver toasts and eat cake. Someone arrives to scold us for making merry in Commissioners’ Chambers.
- 5pm: Closing time for the courthouse. We adjourn to the front steps for bubble-blowing and a few photos. Eight of us continue on to food hedz, our favorite restaurant in Frisco, where Michael’s father Al treats us to a celebratory dinner.
- 8:30pm: Michael and I return to Breckenridge, check into our lovely room with a view, soak in the hot tub, cuddle with the dog and turn in.
Yep, we’re married. It was just right.
Stay tuned for yet another low-key opportunity to participate in ceremonial bliss
*a shock to some, Susanna changed her name upon marriage. Many have asked about this, so here’s a brief attempt in answer: She assumed the Virden name at age 7 when her mother remarried. After the divorce several years ago, Mr. Virden went on his way. Henceforth, Susanna stopped feeling an affinity to the name. She’s thrilled to join the Sharp family. And Susanna Sharp has a nice, mystery-novel-heroine ring to it, don’t you think?
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