There's nothing like a wedding to get relatives crawling out of the woodworks.
My mother and I were just working on our invitation list, and you wouldn't believe how many relatives we have that I've never even met. Sure, I know Great Aunt Sophy, and I vaguely remember seeing a 20 year old picture of her husband who died 15 years ago when I was about 6 years old. But I have zero recollection of ever having met her assorted nieces, nephews, and grandchildren who apparently all have to be invited to my wedding.
And that's just Aunt Sophy.
We mustn't forget about Great-great-Uncle Louis. Great-great-uncle Louis vanished from the family tree 60 years ago when he came to America and cut off his peyos to work on Shabbos, but suddenly we have to invite all 60 of his grandchildren even though we haven't seen hide nor hair of them since 10 years before I was born.
And the list goes on ... Aunt Shirley, Tante Faigy, Bubby Suzanne, ...
They come from all sides and corners of the globe. They come in all shapes and colors, all streaks and designs.
And they all need to be invited to the wedding.
I wonder if we'll be able to invite anyone we actually know to this wedding of mine. With all these related strangers, we'll have no problem hitting even the largest minimum at any hall.
The only question is if my parents and I can make it. Will we fit???
(Just so you know, I'm totally exaggerating. I don't have that many relatives. Almost, but not quite. But we are inviting plenty of family members that I've never heard of.)
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How Can This Be?
3 months ago
3 comments:
So exciting!
You are working on invitations so soon? Wow, I'm impressed!
What if you add bloggers to your wedding invitation list? Hmmm...will they also be invited?
Some of these relatives will turn out to be a lot of fun, or really inspirational, or something else great in an obvious way. Others will allow you to use your simcha for mitzvos.
I like to think of these unknown relatives as the modern version of inviting all the poor to the simcha. Not that they're poor, but we don't invite strangers anymore, and some of these relatives (particularly the elderly ones)thrive on the spiritual food of the simchos of their mishpacha.
Deep enough for you? A story:
At my wedding, two women showed up early from out of town. My mother hugged them and introduced them as cousins of some sort, or maybe descendants of my grandmother's war friends (which is the same as family). I kissed them hello and went back to my dressing room with my bridesmade and mother.
One minute later, in they both walked after a polite knock. They dropped their stuff and proceeded to change, right there in the small room, with no attempt at privacy. I was a little shocked.
They turned out to be a lot of fun on the dance floor! And by then, I felt like somehow I knew them.
@itsagift - I'm having a very, very short engagement. We finally set the date and it's going to be a few short weeks after succos. That means that I essentially have about 5 or 6 weeks to get everything ready. So, yes. We are already working on our invitation list. Im lo achshav, eimasai?
To my readers at large: If you want to come, you're definitely invited. Email me, and depending on who you are, I'll give you more specific details. It would be nice to actually meet some of you in person.
@stayingafloat - I hope no one does something like that at my wedding. I would absolutely chalish. But I do hear your point. Except for having to dance with them during the first dance before I dance with my friends and having the traditional air kiss during the bedeken, I probably won't see them all that much. I guess we'll see...
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