matriarch
Rotund retiree
- Joined
- May 25, 2003
- Posts
- 22,743
OK, visitors have gone, house has settled back in to peace and quiet - kind of. We posted some pics and a little information in the 'Affirmation of Love' thread, but thought it would be nice to start a new thread and tell you a bit more about the whole weekend......nay, the whole run up to the ceremony.
The first hiccup occurred when we delivered ourselves, as required by law, at the regional registrar’s office to lodge our intent to partnership. We had to go there, rather than the local office where the ceremony would take place, because Min is a foreign national, and all sorts of checks had to be made to make sure she could legally come to UK for the ceremony and continue to live here.
We had gone there a couple of days after arriving back from Az, no appointment. First mistakes. Make an appointment, and Min had to be living in UK for 7 days before we could register. The ceremony could not take place for another 15 days after that. PANIC!! We had already booked the ceremony for 2 September, people had bought plane tickets, booked hotels and we’re being told the earliest the ceremony could happen is 3rd. That’s a Sunday. I didn’t think ceremonies could take place on Sunday, but apparently they could. A quick call to our local registrar confirmed she’d be happy to move the date from 2nd to 3rd. Phew!!! First panic over.
We made some quick adjustments to the timetable for the weekend, let everyone know that the ceremony would now be on Sunday 3rd, and decided to still have the planned post-ceremony bbq on the Saturday, and merely provide light refreshments for those who could come back to the cottage, because of travelling back home for work the next day.
Next hiccup. Arizona does not provide an original copy of divorce documents as is the norm in UK, merely a photocopy with a dated stamp. The registrar wasn’t too happy, so we had to contact Min’s lawyer and ask him to Fedex us a notarised/certified copy of Min’s divorce documents for us to take with us when we returned to the office on the following Friday, the requisite 7 days after Min’s arrival in UK.
So we troop back home to start preparations, wedding outfits, food, getting the spare room ready for our visitors to actually be able to sleep in, and start work on the wilderness masquerading as a garden after our 2 month absence.
One shopping trip later, Min is sorted for clothes….I’m still pondering.
On Friday 18th as required, we present ourselves at the superintendent registrar’s office nervously hoping there will be no more holdups. The procedure was finished painlessly, the money handed over. Min’s visa had been checked and the Home Office had confirmed its legality. The Registrar General’s office in London appeared to be OK on the divorce papers. Fingers crossed all would be ok, but they could still come back and refuse to do the ceremony if any problems arose with the documentation.
Sheesh!!
Next day, after a lot or rain, which had at least softened the ground for weeding, we coerced my bestest buddy to come spend the afternoon with us to help us with the garden. It was hard work, but we made some headway, with still lots to do. We managed the bulk of it on the day before Min’s folks arrived for their 10 holiday. We rewarded her with supper eaten whilst watching the Edinburgh Tattoo on tv (she’s a Scot and proud of it.)
On 29th August, we undertook the first of 4 very early trips to Gatwick to collect and deliver folks. It was Min’s folks’ first trip to England, and we wanted to make it memorable. They stayed with us the first night, tasting their first real fish and chips for supper, then moved to their B&B the next day. We did sight seeing, we worked on the final parts of the garden to try and get it ready for the BBQ we were holding the day before the ceremony; dad in law and Min assembled the brand new grill; the awning I had ordered in case of bad weather finally arrived, and I began assembling it.
On Friday 1 Sept, I took my next very early trip to Gatwick to collect Lucky, Vella and Becca. Traffic was crap - again, but I still managed to be there before Lucky and Vella got through Immigration and Customs. Becca came in half an hour later at another terminal, so she, poor girl, had to wait around until the first two got free and clear.
The drive to home was interesting, with a stop off at a pleasant wooded rest area. Very relaxing. When we finally arrived at the cottage, it was time for hugs all round, remove luggage from the car, and show the visitors round 'the estate'. My hire car arrived, and Min's dad and I drove to the local store to pick up a few items, leaving the rest of them to finish assembling the awning.
The first hiccup occurred when we delivered ourselves, as required by law, at the regional registrar’s office to lodge our intent to partnership. We had to go there, rather than the local office where the ceremony would take place, because Min is a foreign national, and all sorts of checks had to be made to make sure she could legally come to UK for the ceremony and continue to live here.
We had gone there a couple of days after arriving back from Az, no appointment. First mistakes. Make an appointment, and Min had to be living in UK for 7 days before we could register. The ceremony could not take place for another 15 days after that. PANIC!! We had already booked the ceremony for 2 September, people had bought plane tickets, booked hotels and we’re being told the earliest the ceremony could happen is 3rd. That’s a Sunday. I didn’t think ceremonies could take place on Sunday, but apparently they could. A quick call to our local registrar confirmed she’d be happy to move the date from 2nd to 3rd. Phew!!! First panic over.
We made some quick adjustments to the timetable for the weekend, let everyone know that the ceremony would now be on Sunday 3rd, and decided to still have the planned post-ceremony bbq on the Saturday, and merely provide light refreshments for those who could come back to the cottage, because of travelling back home for work the next day.
Next hiccup. Arizona does not provide an original copy of divorce documents as is the norm in UK, merely a photocopy with a dated stamp. The registrar wasn’t too happy, so we had to contact Min’s lawyer and ask him to Fedex us a notarised/certified copy of Min’s divorce documents for us to take with us when we returned to the office on the following Friday, the requisite 7 days after Min’s arrival in UK.
So we troop back home to start preparations, wedding outfits, food, getting the spare room ready for our visitors to actually be able to sleep in, and start work on the wilderness masquerading as a garden after our 2 month absence.
One shopping trip later, Min is sorted for clothes….I’m still pondering.
On Friday 18th as required, we present ourselves at the superintendent registrar’s office nervously hoping there will be no more holdups. The procedure was finished painlessly, the money handed over. Min’s visa had been checked and the Home Office had confirmed its legality. The Registrar General’s office in London appeared to be OK on the divorce papers. Fingers crossed all would be ok, but they could still come back and refuse to do the ceremony if any problems arose with the documentation.
Sheesh!!
Next day, after a lot or rain, which had at least softened the ground for weeding, we coerced my bestest buddy to come spend the afternoon with us to help us with the garden. It was hard work, but we made some headway, with still lots to do. We managed the bulk of it on the day before Min’s folks arrived for their 10 holiday. We rewarded her with supper eaten whilst watching the Edinburgh Tattoo on tv (she’s a Scot and proud of it.)
On 29th August, we undertook the first of 4 very early trips to Gatwick to collect and deliver folks. It was Min’s folks’ first trip to England, and we wanted to make it memorable. They stayed with us the first night, tasting their first real fish and chips for supper, then moved to their B&B the next day. We did sight seeing, we worked on the final parts of the garden to try and get it ready for the BBQ we were holding the day before the ceremony; dad in law and Min assembled the brand new grill; the awning I had ordered in case of bad weather finally arrived, and I began assembling it.
On Friday 1 Sept, I took my next very early trip to Gatwick to collect Lucky, Vella and Becca. Traffic was crap - again, but I still managed to be there before Lucky and Vella got through Immigration and Customs. Becca came in half an hour later at another terminal, so she, poor girl, had to wait around until the first two got free and clear.
The drive to home was interesting, with a stop off at a pleasant wooded rest area. Very relaxing. When we finally arrived at the cottage, it was time for hugs all round, remove luggage from the car, and show the visitors round 'the estate'. My hire car arrived, and Min's dad and I drove to the local store to pick up a few items, leaving the rest of them to finish assembling the awning.
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