I’d Like a Do-Over, Please…

I’m getting married – and this time it doesn’t involve a green card!

Some of you may recall my first marriage. It didn’t have a happy ending. Actually, it probably had many, MANY happy endings, just none of them involving me.

So why, why, why, would I even consider crossing over to the dark side again?  Because of a perfect storm consisting of three people – Angelica Huston, Vera Wang and my partner David.

Angelica: I was reading about Angelica’s new memoir and someone asked her why she married her husband Robert Graham after being with notorious womaniser Jack Nicholson for decades and never tying the knot. She said something along the lines of, “Because he called when he said he would call. He did what he said he was going to do.” He was solid. He was reliable. He was a grown-up. And then I had my light bulb moment. I had been avoiding getting married because of my experience with my ex-husband and not basing my decision on my current partner.

Vera: I recently finished a writing project that I’ve been working on for YEARS. I had time on my hands. I started tiptoeing around wedding websites just to see what was out there. I knew I didn't want to spend gazillions on a wedding and there was no way I could possibly find the dress of my dreams with my budget. And then I saw it. The gown that made me gasp. I was on a website for “pre-loved” dresses and it was a Vera Wang worthy of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy herself.

A young bride had gone to New York, found the ultimate dress in the Vera Wang salon and then flew back to Sydney. She showed it to her mother, who forbid her to wear it at her wedding because it was “too sexy.” So she bought a $20,000 Oscar De la Renta ball gown instead. And Vera was set free at one-fourth of her retail price. Come to mama…

David: And let’s not forget the groom – quite possibly the kindest and most amazing man on the planet. He encouraged me to do “the script thing” and then “the book thing” and now “the blog thing.” Every day he tells me how proud he is of what I’m doing. Plus he buys me countless pub meals, bottles of wine and never says no when I ask for fifty bucks and promise to pay him back when the book gets published, script gets sold, or when I get a “real job” again.

So Chickipeas, that's it in a nutshell.  The wedding isn’t going to be a schlock-fest with hearts and Celine Dion songs and poems about soul mates. But it will be a super-cool party overlooking the Opera House with all of my friends and I get to take home a new husband. SO much better than a gift bag.