So this is the thing. Me and the other half have been together for three and a half years, and we've managed to fit a surprising amount in to that. Together with the usual couple anniversaries, our time together has been punctuated by a variety of holidays. Not all of them together I hasten to add, that would be all too normal. In our first year the other half had already booked a holiday with the lads in Malta and was going to a mates wedding in Cyprus. Just after a year together we went to Madera together. He proposed over the tanoy on the plane on the way out and it was a good job I said yes otherwise that would of made for an awkward week. A year later we got wed. A low key affair at the registry office and a do at the rugby club at the end of our street. Lots of drinking and dancing followed by a honeymoon in Egypt which was lovely, even when we became volcano refugees and had to stay for an extra four days.
Life continued, I got pregnant, The other half's best mate announced he was getting married in Malta (what is it with bloody Malta?) which left us with a small dilemma. We are not blessed with tons of money as a couple, we both work in very averagely paid jobs, and we have the usual outgoings that lots of couples have - two car loans, I've got a loan, credit cards along with all the usual monthly expenses. So the other half was worried about the cost of going to Malta with a baby on the way, also I would be too heavily pregnant to fly so this would be another holiday we hadn't been on together. The other half pondered it for a good long while and in the end came to the conclusion that he might regret not going to his best friends wedding so saved hard, stuck to a tiny budget and ended up feeling a bit aggrieved at having to use up his annual leave and spend his cash going on a holiday that he wouldn't of chosen.
My turn to go on holiday without the other half. My nine year old has moved down south with his dad and to make the most of our time together before he went, me and my mam took him on holiday to Scotland. The other half had to save the rest of his leave for parental leave which meant he couldn't come. So with just three weeks until my due date we headed off (I waddled) to the middle of nowhere in the wilds of the highlands. The boy had a fantastic time doing lots of activities with my mam while I was to official photographer. We made it back in one piece and just to complete our separate holiday record, I took my son to my dads house at the seaside for a long weekend while the other half had to stay to look after the dog.
When I got back from the seaside, myself and the other half made a pact never to go on holiday separately again. Not that we were planning any holidays, my idea of hell is travelling to abroad with a tiny baby in tow. We had a vague idea that in a couple of years we could get some kind of last minute deal somewhere hot when loans were paid off and the baby was old enough to enjoy paddling in the sea.
Now to the ranty crux of the matter. The other half has a sister who has just announced that her and her chap are getting married. Now guess the location of where they plan to marry. No, not Malta, Florida. Fucking Florida. All be it in two years, but even so that will mean us attempting to save two hundred pounds a month for two years to be able to afford to go. *blood boils* I DON'T WANT TO FUCKING GO TO FUCKING FLORIDA. There, I've said it. I hate people who get married abroad and assume that everyone is perfectly happy using up their precious annual leave and vast quantities of their own money to go on a holiday not of their choosing. The baby will be a toddler in two years time and when I think of taking him on a long haul flight the word that springs to mind is torture.
When the other half's sister left having made her announcement I could visibly see my lovely husband's shoulders take on the weight of the world as he tried to fathom how he could afford to go to his sister's wedding. In the end we've had to say we can't go. Short of taking out a loan to pay for it which would be downright stupid, we just can't afford it. Don't get me wrong, if they want to get married at Disneyland and have several Disney characters at their wedding, then I'm very pleased for them, just don't put family in the position of trying to work out how they can pay to attend.
When I am queen of the world* the first law I will pass is as follows:
Those who plan nuptials in far flung places must pay for the travel and accommodation of guests.
* its only a matter of time.
No comments:
Post a Comment