The Wedding March

Still a bit apprehensive from last week's Church debacle, Joe and I decided to visit St. Patrick's Old Cathedral. I wasn't feeling up to it but Joey convinced me to get my lazy ass off the couch and do something. So we did.

And I'm glad we did because if I was looking for some sort of big, bold sign, I got something akin to a big, flashing, arrow that says, "You're Here". My sign was a 158-year old grand pipe organ that started playing Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" as soon as I started walking down the aisle.

Well, the organ obviously wasn't playing by itself, the organist happened to be up there practicing. But I thought for a second that the music was all in my head, like in movies when the two lovers run towards each other in slow motion and then a cheesy Barbra Streisand song starts to play in the background.

So I turned around and saw Joe laughing. He heard it too! Well, of course he did. Everybody did because it wasn't all in my head. It was real. Joe goes, "You should practice your walk!" And so I kept walking. This is how everything should feel--certain and destined.

When I reached the end of the aisle, I sat down with a silly grin on my face, thinking, "If that wasn't the sign, that gut feeling I was looking for, then I have a whole 'nuther issue I should be worrying about."

Fun Facts About St. Patrick and St. Patrick's Old Cathedral (But not as fun as St. Lucy's)

1. It is the oldest cathedral in NYC and was elevated to the status of Basilica after celebrating it's 200th birthday in 2009.
2. The pipe organ is still fully functional at 158 years old.
3. St. Patrick's parents were Romans and he grew up in Scotland.
4. As a boy of fourteen or so, he was captured during a raiding party and taken to Ireland as a slave. 
5. The Baptism scene in The Godfather was filmed here, as was the scene in The Godfather, Part III in which Michael Corleone receives an honor from the church. 
6. And, the first time I visited this Church, which was yesterday, the organist was playing Mendelssohn's "Wedding March". 

St. Lucy's... Still Undecided

Little fun and not-so fun facts about St. Lucy and the St. Lucy's Catholic Church in East Harlem: 

• Built in the 1900's for the Italian community in East Harlem. FUN.
• The first Ana and Joe DeVita were married there (Joey's great grandparents). FUN.
• My mother's nickname is Lucy. FUN.
• The pastor is a tiny, little Filipino and so is most of the Church parishioners. FUN. 
• St. Lucy is also known as Lucia of Syracuse, Italy. FUN.
• She was denounced as a Christian to the governor of Sicily by the man she was promised to marry because she didn't want to marry him. They tried to drag her into a brothel, burn her, and gouged her eyes out.  NOT FUN.
• But, they couldn't move or burn her. And God gave her a new set of eyes. FUN.
• They killed her. NOT FUN.
• St. Lucy is the most "kidnapped saint in paradise" because her remains kept getting stolen throughout history and she was finally returned to Syracuse in 2004. NOT FUN.

A Little Bit of FATE

"He was a rationalist, but he had to confess that he liked the ringing of church bells."
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

This weekend's assignment is to find the right church. I don't know what that means yet, but I'll know it when I see it. It'll be a matter of fate...

I know it sounds a bit pretentious being that we're not religious at all and when it comes to religious preachings and practices, I'd be the first to admit that a lot of them don't make any sense and maybe even hypocritical. But for reasons that I cannot explain, I've always felt at peace when I'm inside a church--and this is one mystery that I'm happy not to question.

The Basics: Timeline and Budget

Like any other plan, it's important to know what kind of timeline and resources you're working with or are willing to work with. I've always expected planning a wedding to be overwhelming, stressful, and exciting all at the same time. And from what I've heard from my friends and seen on TV, it could certifiably drive people crazy. But I guess I didn't know how all that really felt until Joe and I started really getting into it yesterday.

We're Engaged!

October 29th, 2010 - After I said yes. Still weird but ecstatic!
Right after dinner, Joe suddenly developed a stomach ache so he suggested we go home. I wanted to stay and finish my wine but he insisted that we really had to leave so I go, "That bad, huh?"

And I Said, "Yes, of course!"

October 29th, 2010 - Friday.
The day before we left for Mexico, numerous e-mails went back and forth between me and Joe. I had big plans that Friday. I wanted to get a manicure and a pedicure, maybe a little grooming, or buy a couple of new outfits. But as the day progressed, it seemed Joe had plans too--apparently, his was more important than mine.