On Sunday December 21st 2003, Tom and I were married in our home, standing near our Christmas tree, with bare minimum of friends & family as our witnesses. One thing we didn’t count on was for the Reverend to be so hurried that he made a couple of mistakes. For one, he asked if I would take Rick. My husband’s name is Tom. Secondly, and probably the greater offense, the Rev. performed the dreaded White Rose ceremony.
Forgive me if you are a fan of the White Rose ceremony. Hubby and I did not request it, and couldn’t believe our eyes when those artificial flowers appeared. Two bogus, long-stemmed roses which must remain together as symbols of our love. If either of us were angry with the other, we were to remove one rose from the vase. Hold up! Vase? These plastic perennials were not getting their own vase! But I digress. Our partner would surely notice the single rose and clear the air.
Over the years the roses have endured much abuse in the hands of our two daughters. The girls have devised their own sport. Fencing with flowers. Invariably each night I mend the flowers and place them atop my dresser mirror.
Somehow the flowers have weaseled their way into my heart, and as strange as it may seem, I am comforted when I see them together. Perhaps they do represent our life. Exhausted and abused by our children daily, finding refuge in our bedroom each night.
Haha! The White Roses made it into this picture!
• Are you a fan of fake foliage?
• How do you know your partner is miffed?
Comment By: Jim
October 27th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
What happened at your wedding that you didn’t foresee?
– Getting a divorce 5 years later.
Are you a fan of fake foliage?
– Love it. The day before we were supposed to fly to Vegas to get married (at the Excalibur, dressed in medieval clothing), we realized we didn’t even think about the flowers. A stop at Michael’s art & craft store fixed that. We made such a bouquet that most people thought it was real, and even tried to sniff it.
How do you know your partner is miffed?
– whenever I would ask “What’s wrong?” and her answer was “Nothing!!” It usually took about 10-15 minutes of me begging aas asking questions before she opened up, and we talked about why she was mad.
Comment By: Jean Has Been Shopping
October 27th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
I found your comment, Jim! It didn’t get eaten. 🙂
LOL. Ya, those divorces are hard to spot. Two of them got me.
Hey, you have a talent with fake foliage! Maybe a side biz?
Yep, I’m fond of the classic, “Nothing”, all the while getting angrier. Good for you for not giving up. Nothing is usually something!
Comment By: Tasneem R
October 28th, 2009 at 3:59 am
I’m not married yet! anyway I just love the picture of the trio! the baby is super cute!
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http://www.3smartcubes.com/pages/tests/madeforeachother/madeforeachother_instructions.asp
Comment By: Jean Has Been Shopping
October 28th, 2009 at 8:02 am
Thank you Tasneem! That lil’ baby will be 7 next month. How time flies. Thanks for the cool quiz too! 😀
Comment By: Tasneem R
October 28th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
7 ! gosh ! means the pic is almost 6 years old. Happy b’day to the lil princess in advance.:D
Comment By: Gary
October 28th, 2009 at 7:59 am
Thankfully nothing unforseen happened at any of my weddings. LOL
I am definately not a fan of fake foilage.
As a wedding photographer, I have seen many unforseen happenings that I have really wanted to laugh at. LOL
Comment By: Jean Has Been Shopping
October 28th, 2009 at 8:03 am
Oh, I’ll bet that’s a blog all in itself, Gary! Any chance you’ll spill the beans on some of the wedding bloopers? LOL!
Comment By: Gary
October 29th, 2009 at 8:18 am
That’s a good idea! I will have to do that! 😀
Comment By: Just a Mom
October 28th, 2009 at 8:06 am
What happened at your wedding that you didn’t foresee?
At my first wedding when the minister asks “Who gives this women away?” We all looked at my mom, my dad wasn’t there, and she said “Not Me!” I wanted to die but she was soooo right! That marriage lasted 5 very long months!
Are you a fan of fake foliage?
No not really even though I at least can’t kill it! 🙂
How do you know your partner is miffed?
When he starts slamming doors!
Comment By: Jean Has Been Shopping
October 28th, 2009 at 10:52 am
LOL! Your Mom’s response was priceless!!
My first marriage lasted 1 year if you include the 6 months we waited for the divorce to become final.
A door slammer, eh? My 6 yr old loves to slam doors.
Comment By: Era
October 29th, 2009 at 3:04 am
That’s a sweet story. We had two candles from which we lit one candle. I am not a big fan of fake foliage but it does serve a purpose. When Hubby gets grumpy and withdraws I know he’s angry. Otherwise he’s the happiest person I know. I’m the naturally grumpy one. And when asked what’s wrong… I will say “nothing”.
Comment By: Jean Has Been Shopping
October 29th, 2009 at 8:26 am
I have to admit, I’ve got some fake foliage too. 😀
Your hubby’s Happy and you’re Grumpy? I think I’m hearing High-Ho, High-Ho off in the distance. LOL!
Comment By: Era
October 31st, 2009 at 2:56 am
Hmm, maybe I can call the kids Sleepy, Happy, and Doc 😉
Comment By: Nadezhda Konovalova
October 29th, 2009 at 3:35 am
Interesting story. Never heard of Rose ceremony before, and I liked it. But i’m really no fan of fake foliage, I would prefer to have them natural and then after some time “herbarized” *not sure if I use it correctly here :)*.
It’s so obvious when he is miffed 😀
Comment By: Jean Has Been Shopping
October 29th, 2009 at 8:28 am
Maybe herbarized is dried. I’ve seen bouquets hung upside down drying out to preserve them.
I think the blooper at your wedding was your Mother In Law throwing bread at your feet. Was it bread or rice? Your wedding blogs were great, Nadezhda!
Hope hubby isn’t miffed too often.
Comment By: Tammy
October 29th, 2009 at 8:10 am
I’ve never heard of the white flower ceremony, but I recently saw a couple have a sand ceremony. They poured two different colors of sand in a vase to symbolized them uniting as one. Sand can’t be separated so that was cool.
At our wedding, I hired an ex-weather man/Irish/Leprechaun looking guy as our photographer. During the beginning of the ceremony, he was at the front hiding behind a fern taking photos of us as we stood near the Rev. He bumped the giganitic fern, and it began to fall over the banister. Suddenly, there was a little red headed man holding the fern by it’s fronds leaning over the banister to lower it to the floor. We all paused to look at him. What can you do at that point?
I like some fall/winter fake foliage to decorate with, and my husband is miffed when he won’t talk to me.
Comment By: Jean Has Been Shopping
October 29th, 2009 at 8:30 am
Ooooh, sand! That would be really cool!
LOL @ the leprechaun holding onto the fern! That WOULD be memorable!
Oh, yes, winter garlands are lovely! Thanks for the reminder Tammy!
Comment By: Sherri
October 29th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Jean,
I think that’s a lovely story. Did I read that right? Have you also had 2 previous divorces? I think I’m gonna be like Elizabeth Taylor without the bank roll!
My second marriage ,while standing in the Bahamas in front of our minister I knew that I wasn’t really in love but thought I could “grow to love”…um yeah…that doesn’t work. I left days after our 1st anniversary which I didn’t even celebrate. I knew 6 months into the marriage that I wanted out.
I’m a fan of real flowers. I love flowers. They always brighten my mood. However, I’ve been known to have a few fake ones around. Fake are better than none. Fake flowers are better when they have special meaning such as yours do.
I can’t say that my boyfriend of a year has ever yelled at me. In fact, I’ve never even seem him angry. But I can tell when he’s agitated…he gives me short answers but usually after a cooling down period will apologize to me for being grouchy. I never mind it’s not ever directed at me. It’s usually me who’s more bitchy and whiney. I really have a super b/f. Not one bad thing to say about him.
Comment By: Jean Has Been Shopping
October 31st, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Yes, you read that right Sherri. Two divorces under my belt.
Awww, your boyfriend sounds super sweet!
Comment By: Gary
October 31st, 2009 at 6:39 pm
Don’t feel bad Jean….I have two divorced under my belt too and I’m a wee bit younger than you! LOL
Comment By: Gary
October 31st, 2009 at 6:40 pm
That was supposed to read “divorces” and not “divorced”. I’m a dumbass sometimes. *shrugs*
Comment By: Sherri
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:22 am
Haha…me too Jeanie Beanie! (and Gary) I don’t know if I’ll ever take that plunge again. But “never say never.” I think they say the more marriages you have the greater your chances of success. (Eventually.) That’s cuz I guess after going through all the rough spots you figure out what you don’t want.
Comment By: Tony
October 31st, 2009 at 1:24 pm
I don’t like fake foliage. Plastic is for tupperware
etc, not for plant material.
The celebrant said at our wedding “Personally I don’t think you two have known each other long enough to be getting married” Can you believe that??? What a nerve??? Michelle & I were more shocked than offended, the offended came later after the shocked bit wore off, We just couldn’t believe someone would say that in front of all our family & friends on our special day. We had been seeing each other for a bit over a year but only had a short engagement of 3 months once we decided to get married. We have been married nearly 14 years now.
Even though I’m not a fake flower fan I really like the 2 white roses thing, a great idea & a great blog post Jean
Comment By: Jean Has Been Shopping
November 1st, 2009 at 9:32 pm
That was incredibly rude of your wedding guest to blurt that out, Tony! You two have had the last laugh.
Thank you, Tony. I’ve just told hubby tonight how the roses are actually special to me. 😀
Comment By: Tony
October 31st, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Forgot to say, I konw she’s miffed when she goes all quiet & grumpy
Comment By: Jean Has Been Shopping
November 1st, 2009 at 9:33 pm
Being quiet seems to be a common sign. I’ll bet she’s not miffed often.
Comment By: thegirlfromtheghetto
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:12 pm
Funny when they say the wrong names. I eloped, but I went to a wedding once where the priest said two wrong names and it was my name and my boyfriends name, so he kept trying to be funny and made us stand up and we said I do. I had forgotten about that story!
Comment By: Jean Has Been Shopping
November 4th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Oh no! He got both of your names wrong! LOL! Glad he (and you both) made light of it.
Comment By: Jean Has Been Shopping
November 4th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Oh wait, duh! I just realized he said your names INSTEAD of the wedding couple’s!!! Oh zoicks! That is TOO funny! ROFLMAO!
Comment By: Leese
November 7th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Hmmm… wedding blunders? Well.. nothing that wasn’t expected from getting married by a judge… but the funniest was what happened AFTER my divorce.
I had jury duty and the presiding judge was the same one that had married me. We had to fill out this questionnaire asking if we knew the lawyers, judges, etc. So I marked off the box next to “judge”
During open court, the answered were reviewed and the judge said, “.. Oh? You know me? How?”
I told him that he had married me.. he giggled and said, “…well, are you going to hold that against me?”
And I said, “absolutely”!
… and no, no fan of foliage at all ( fake or other wise)
… and how do I know that Tim’s pissed at me? Oh come on.. he NEVER gets pissed at me!! I’m always pissed at him so you might want to ask him that question!! LOL
Comment By: Jean Has Been Shopping
November 10th, 2009 at 8:45 am
Hahaha, Leese! Did you get out of jury duty?