Wedding Preparations

I got a call today from a Dutch woman who announced that we passed the inspection of the immigration department and we can proceed to the ondertrouw, or the next step in our preparations for our wedding. The only thing Fred has to do is get a copy of his birth certificate from the city hall in Haarlem.

Having never gone through the preparations for a wedding in the US, I'm not sure how different it is to do it here, but my suspicion is that it's a bit different. Brittany Spears had already married Jason Allen Alexander and had that marriage annulled in the time that it took the city hall of Amsterdam to approve me. Of course most fresh fruit last longer than that marriage did (55 hours).

So step one was the immigration inspection. Step two will be ondertrouw, or registering and step three will be actually doing it.

We also met with the notary for the prenuptial agreement. I learned a lot in our meeting. I know that prenuptial agreement sounds sort of pessimistic to a lot of people, but it's what most people here do these days. One thing that the notary said that really struck me is that in the Netherlands, a prenuptial agreement is more about the marriage whereas in the US, a prenuptial agreement is more about the divorce. Oh well, it's practical and the Dutch are nothing if not practical. (That said, Dutch friends of ours who've been married for...a while don't have one. It's a newish thing.) And anyway, we don't plan on getting divorced.

Of course, I imagine even Elizabeth Taylor thought that each one of her eight marriages would work out, so I think most people go into it thinking that it's forever. But I did hear an interview the other day - on Sexy Beijing, in fact - where a Chinese woman said, "You know, if it doesn't work out, you just get a divorce." But I know from most people I've talked to that divorce is generally a gutting experience, so I think she's probably in the minority.

There's a few things, preparationwise, left to do. Someone suggested the other day that I need a wedding planner. I can't imagine with this low-key affair that it's going to come to that. This is just a little more involved than planning a big dinner party. It's more about looking at the boat, getting a cake, reserving a restaurant, getting our rings re-polished and engraved, etc. It's manageable. I hope.

I'm thinking of knitting something for us to wear at the wedding. The only think I can think of is socks. Black. Socks. Pardon me if I don't squeal with excitement. And of course it would be four black socks. Snore. I'm open for ideas. Knit ties are out. Fred wouldn't be caught dead in a knit tie.