Marriage by a 'civil priest'

(this one is by me, all the rest by Matt)

After our Blackberry Nuptials, Garrett didn't really feel married. I don't blame him at all, it's hard to feel married when no one would recognize you as such, except for the room service guy who referred to me as "Mrs. Cummings", which was delightful and made me quite giddy.

The morning of the 14th, we waited around for our overnight package with Garrett's passport in it and got ready for the day. I ditched the long dress for the short Jessica Simpson number I purchased the day before we left for San Francisco, with the intention of changing into it after our ceremony to go to lunch on the 13th. I left my hair down, straightened it with my new straightener (apparently appliances go bad right before you get married, because my hairdryer passed on about a week before the reception), and opted for the same makeup with subtler lips. I was a little more incognito, and Garrett dropped the tie and jacket.

If they couldn't tell we were trying to get married, they couldn't stop us.

Garrett's best friend, Matt, skipped out on work another day (luckily he'd been sick the week before) and took pictures for us after a very brief tutorial. I haven't had the holga pictures developed yet, but if any of those come out it'll be fun.

My favorite part of the civil ceremony was the officiant saying that no one had the power to marry us, that us being married was based on the vows and promises we made to each other. That made me feel like our blackberry ceremony was a little more legit. I meant it, and that mattered. We didn't re-exchange rings. We had our first legal kiss and as far as San Francisco was concerned, we were hitched!

(the clock so that we'd know the time. suggestion of our 'civil priest' [garrett's term]

(first kiss!)

...

Here we are, much later, without our marriage certificate because the courthouse has struck again. My check wasn't good enough (being non-CA) and now I'm headed to get a money order so I can finally change my name and make this thing permanent everywhere! I wish the SS office was immediate. Like, check a box and they send your info to Social Security and they'll send you a new card. I'd pay a lot for that option. *hint hint, I have good ideas that could get the government out of the poorhouse*