I Got Married

[Alicorn]

I am now a married Alicorn. If this prompts lots of questions/comments I will move the thread so Announcements doesn't glow red too much; it just occurred to me that probably not all of you read my tumblr.

[Shoal]

Congratulations! were there groats?

[Alicorn]

Nope, no groats!

[Bluelantern]

Nope, no groats!

I hope that at least no one was attacked by ranging newborn vampire brides.

Also, Double Congratulations!

[jalapeno_dude]

Congratulations!

[Tamien]

:D Congratulations! The picture on tumblr was very cute! I kinda want to know all the details of the ceremony but that seems like a bit much to ask. I'm not sure how to whittle it down, though. Were there flowers? Was there cake? Did you do the throwing-the-bouquet thing? What sort of vows did you make? I feel all full of squee and curiosity like a girl at a slumber party. I don't even know how the two of you met and I'm so curious about everything. What is even okay to ask questions about? I feel like I may be asking rudely-personal questions >_>

[Rayketh]

Congratulations!

[Alicorn]

There was no cake (just catered noms, including brownies, at the reception in a friend's house), there were no flowers, there were no bouquets. There were plants; we had the ceremony at a botanical garden. We met in early 2010 when I started working for what was then called the Singularity Institute and moved into the house out of which it operated, where he already lived. You can ask questions :)

I'll let you have the text of the ceremony. I wrote it (references in the first person as spoken by the officiant were cleared thereby).

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the marriage of Hannah Finley and Michael Blume.

If you have reservations, the time to say so was in January of 2013, when Hannah and Michael sent out an email asking if anyone had pessimistic expectations about their proposal, or wished to air any dark secrets, or cared to advise them against this course of action.

They found nothing more dissuasive than statistical conservatism, in reply to that email or in their relationship since then. And in spite of the specter of statistical conservatism, they have chosen to invite you here to witness their commitment to each other.

The statistics may at first glance be sobering, but they could have been worse. We find ourselves members of a species that does love at all, and can do it well, and can, under the right conditions, do it for a lifetime - longer-term experiments are still waiting to be tried. We are neither entities who find close intimacy alien and undesirable, nor easily-pairbonded creatures who mate for life as a matter of routine, effortlessly. To have a tie to another person like this one is precious and worth celebrating.

They have already served as a relationship model to many of their friends, including me, and there is every reason for optimism that they'll continue to do it while sharing health insurance, surnames, and family.

[give us rings]

[officiant feeds us vows]

I swear:
To love, respect, and cherish you in all our days together,
To seek to make your life easier, stabler, and fuller,
To conceal nothing that you would wish to know,
To treat you with charity, affection, and regard,
To prioritize our partnership and our projects together,

"And I take you, Michael, as my husband, to have and to hold, till the stars burn out or into eternity, while our love holds."

"And I take you, Hannah, as my wife, to have and to hold, till the stars burn out or into eternity, while our love holds."

"With this ring, I thee wed" x2

Let it be known to all people everywhere, from this day forward and forevermore, Michael and Hannah Blume, you are now husband and wife.

I have a draft text of the phenomenal toast that my boyfriend gave at the reception, but he departed considerably from the script and I don't have permission to give it out anyway. I think the photographer got some of it on video but I have nothing to point you at yet.

[Alicorn]

Apparently boyfriend posted the text of his toast all by himself. Here it is, but again, he departed from script.

[Anya]

That was adorable. You are adorable. Mike is adorable. You both will be extra adorable together. I'm really happy for you both. :)