One mother, two sons, three months, four weddings

So, allow me to explain how 1 + 1 equals 4. But before I do, here are the planned wedding dates for 2012:

• Saturday, 23^rd June 2012
• Saturday, 7^th July 2012
• Thursday, 9^th August 2012
• Sunday, 12^th August 2012

Ryan and Amy were the first to start with wedding plans when they got engaged on Sunday, September 4th 2011. After much internet research, and visits to a couple of wedding venues, they soon found the place they knew was right for their special day and a date was set … 12th August.

Ryan & Amy

That in turn set the ball rolling for Kyle’s Finnish girlfriend, Tiia, to fly to South Africa for Ryan and Amy’s wedding. With Kyle and Tiia wanting to get married too and their both being in South Africa in August, I suggested the 9th to Kyle as it’s a public holiday. With family needing to travel to Johannesburg for one wedding already, we figured it would be a good idea to do both weddings over that long weekend.

Kyle & Tiia

 

Wedding plans were then set in motion for my youngest son, even though the engagement had not yet happened. Kyle's plans were to get engaged to Tiia when he returned to Finland on Missions sometime this year, but all that changed in the twinkling of an eye on the 18th December 2011.

It didn’t take long for us to realise though that a wedding in Finland would also be necessary for Tiia’s family and friends that could not come to South Africa, and so Tiia set about sourcing a venue. The date they had set for the Finnish wedding was 14th July, but due to the venue being unavailable, the wedding was moved forward by a week … and Kyle did not complain at all. Fortunately I’m not involved in planning that wedding, but I’ll be very involved in arranging for my husband, Noel, and I to travel to Finland to attend.

Well, that explains three of the four weddings, and I’ve run out of sons. In fact, I've run out of children.
 

The fourth wedding belongs to my “adopted” (not literally) Indian daughter, Satja*. I’ll share more of her story another time, but to cut a long story short, Satja has recently adopted me and calls me “Mom.” Although, again, this will not be a wedding that we will be involved in planning, it’s exciting to have Satja bouncing wedding plans off me via BBM. Rikesh* proposed to Satja at midnight on 31st December 2011, so I wonder if their official engagement date is 31st December or 1st January 2012. I will have to ask her on my next BBM. Their wedding, the last to be planned and yet the first to take place, will happen in Durban on 23rd June. So, before Finland, a trip down to KwaZulu Natal.

Now you’ve had a brief introduction to my wonderful sons, Ryan and Kyle and my wedding belles, Amy, Tiia and Satja. I’ll tell more of each of their unique engagements in my future blogs.

* (Names changed to protect their identities as Satja and Rikesh plan to go into Missions in the Muslim world.)

Proverbs 18v22: "He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord."

FOUR WEDDINGS ...

I know, I know ... it does sound like the start of a movie title, but believe me, it's true. And at this point in my life, I would love to change that famous title to "Four Weddings and a crazily busy Mother."

Most would agree that it's more than enough for the average parent to cope with one wedding in a lifetime, but four in the space of just seven weeks? - seems quite unbelievable.

This blog is my journey and how I cope with, and hopefully survive, Wedding Fever 2012. It's the stories too, of my wedding Belles (and Beaus).

So come along and join me for what promises to be one crazy year.

And just in case you think my maths doesn't add up, ie. two sons, four weddings, I'll shed more light on that next time.


Reminder to myself: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time ...


Philippians 4 v 12-13: "I have learned the secret of living in every situation ... for I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength."