Short Form, Long Form, No Form?

Choosing a wedding date was not terribly easy. My sister is getting married on June 11^th of this year as well and I did not want to totally overwhelm my parents! We also did not want to wait until 2012 to get married. When all was settled we were planning for September 17^th.

So begins the conversations with the church. Chad is Catholic and I am Lutheran. Chad’s preference was to get married at St. Aloysius in Calmar. I was open to that as I am in the process of joining a new church and don’t have the established relationship that he has. And having grown up Catholic I was more than willing to go along with his wish.

So first we make sure the date is available with the church – yes! Next we must meet with Father Hawes. I’ll admit I was more than a little nervous as I had heard that the process may not be as easy as we were hoping for. Turns out I had reason to be nervous. I honestly feel as though I may have been better received had I been to prison and back rather than being divorced. I further complicated the situation by growing up Catholic and marrying Lutheran the first time.

I was going to need an annulment. The question was did we need the short form or the long form? The short form is easy - $25 and a couple of weeks and it could be done. I needed a copy of my marriage license and my certificate of baptism. Easy enough. The long form was more expensive (I don’t recall the amount) and it could take 9-12 months with out a guarantee of approval. What?! Really how many people are willing to wait for that?

We left that initial meeting feeling pretty disenchanted. Lucky for us within 24 hours of that meeting we were told we could file the short form and all turned out well in the end. I plan to stay with the Lutheran Church as my boys are being raised Lutheran and I would like to worship with them.

I am happy that Chad is able to be married in his family’s church as his brothers were. Don’t interpret this posting as a religious battle. In my opinion we are both Christians and it is more about making our wedding what we want it to be.

We will be married on September 17, 2011 at St. Aloysius with the reception to follow at Jewel’s Skate Country.

Of course there are more details to come!

Cheers,

Kristina