Just One is an online journal written by Kelly. You can find the Just One archives here or access all of Blissfully Domestic’s online journals here.

I want to like weddings. I really do. I cry at TV and movie weddings. I like the whole idea of celebrating love and eating cake, but real weddings terrify me.

My wedding anxiety is two-fold. First of all, most of the big weddings I’ve been to have not resulted in long lasting marriages.  People in my life who have eloped (myself included) seem to be much happier married folks.  Second of all, the behind-the-scenes drama of any family wedding invariably ruins the magic for me. I begin imagining what it might be like to organize food and entertainment for 200 people and before I know it my heart is racing and sweat is running into my pantyhose.

Of course, as a child I LOVED weddings. The mere mention of a reception got me excited and my mouth began to water for parsley potatoes, rigatoni, cake and unsupervised quantities of soda.  I danced like a maniac. I looked forward to the time when all of the adults suddenly got the liquid courage to join me on the dance floor.  Some of my best memories are from weddings.

On Valentine’s Day we attended a wedding for an old friend of my husband.  It was a Catholic ceremony followed by a simple reception in the church basement.  My daughter Violet was mesmerized by the ceremony. She sat and stood (and sat and stood again) quietly the whole time.  There were a lot of children at the reception and watching her dance and carry on with total abandon reminded me of being kid again.

I had a good time because of Violet.  I only wish that we adults didn’t have to drink our weight in cheap champagne to enjoy the Chicken Dance as much as the kids do.

photo by JPhillipson