5 days to go!

It’s going to be a pretty low-key wedding and my outfit is very basic. My dress comes from one of H&M’s concept stores, & other stories, and was on sale for $18. The shoes are from H&M and were $10. But both are absolutely perfect. I will wear my late future mother-in-law’s pearls and my grandmother’s earrings, and carry a bag from Ur&Penn which cost $8! The strange thing with my outfit is that I was prepared to spend a whole lot of time and money on finding things to wear. I was not looking forward to it because I hate trying to find specific things in shops. They never have what I am looking for and I end up ruffled, sweaty, and irritable. The changing room mirrors always make me look like the wreck of the Hesperus and my size is always sold out. But…I found everything in minutes without even looking, and it is just perfect.

We will be getting married in the Oval Room of Stockholm’s City Hall at 2.05pm on Saturday 20th July, and our after-wedding party will be at Hotel J in Stockholm, where we will be spending our wedding night. Both our names start with J so it is a bit cheesy but…

I met my partner in a professional capacity in 2013. We were contractor and client for about 2 years, until he changed positions within his organisation. We had sporadic professional contact for another couple of years. Nothing ever gave me any inkling of what was to come.

In 2017 he contacted me and asked me to dinner. I said no. He asked me to lunch. I said no. He asked me for coffee. I said no. He asked me to go for a walk. I said no. This went on for months. Finally I agreed to one hour for coffee in the middle of the day on a Sunday, thinking that would get rid of him. The joke was totally on me, because after that hour I was totally and utterly in love with him. After our coffee I suggested tea, and after the tea I made him come with me to wait for my bus. We have been together ever since that coffee date. I had loved before, but I had never ever been in love before. I did not know I could. We started living together after 6 months, got engaged a year after that, and now, 9 months after our engagement, we are getting married – 14.05 on 20th July.

My great love did not hit me like a bolt of lightning, changing my life forever. Somehow the old pieces of me shifted, and this new piece of me settled in place with a gentle sigh, and my life went on the same, just richer and more complete.

I was so happy being single. I adored my life. I had a job I loved, my life was all sorted, I drank up my solitude and my single life as though I were the thirstiest person in the world. I did not want another relationship. I felt totally inconvenienced when love came out of nowhere and messed up my plans. But when I came to accept it, I realised that sometimes life throws a spanner in your works, and that not getting what you want can be the most amazing stroke of luck. As John Lennon famously sang in ‘Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)’ Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”, something which was originally said by Allen Saunders in a 1957 Reader’s Digest article.