Catching the Bouquet

My best friend got married a few weeks ago. I would have never expected her to be first. I mean, I am not trying to be selfish, but Marie just didn't seem like she was ready. Then out of the blue, this great guy walks into her life and sweeps her off her feet. The wedding was like some fairy tale - absolutely gorgeous! It was everything that I would want at my wedding. The bride made everyone there look mediocre. The radiance exuding off of her bounced from wall to wall. Secretly, I dreamed of my day. . .

Halfway through the night, it was time for the traditional "throwing of the bouquet". Apparently in more ancient times, it was considered good luck to get a piece of the wedding gown from the bride. Women would tear at the bride's dress as her and the groom left. In order to save their dresses, brides began tossing their bouquet back at the savage women tearing at her dress. The woman who caught the bouquet would be deemed with the good fortune of being the next to be married. Now that we have become more orderly (I guess), the bride now stands in front of a group of not-so-patient single women to toss her bouquet. No more tearing at a thousand-dollar dress - thank God! So, I stood awaiting the tossing of this good fortune, when the brightly colored pink and orange bundle landed right in my hands. It was fate! However, I was thinking more along the lines of, "Oh, cool. That was cute." I didn't begin planning a wedding.


A few minutes later, another tradition was played out - the tossing of the garter. Marie's new husband slide the garter off of her leg and shot it, rubber band style, to a group of not-so-eager men. In the middle of the group stood the man of my life. As the garter flew over heads, it seemed like I could feel the room take in a breath as the garter went straight for Ryan. Even if he didn't want to catch it, it would have landed on his head.


Now, this has to be fate, right? We both caught the item that says, "You're next!" But, what if we aren't ready? Can we stop the stars from aligning? Can we stop fate? We've been together for 2 years, but marriage isn't exactly on our horizon. We have a lot to accomplish prior to marriage. It all sounds romantic, and I definitely would spend the rest of my life with Ryan; however, I think I like the sound of a diamond on my finger and the ring of "my fiance" in my ears more than I like the idea of actually getting married. Is that bad?


So, to the gods out there, to the aligning stars of our fate, could please press pause? I know we are next, and out of all of the other non-married couples at the wedding, we probably were the best bet on the next marriage, but it may be a while.