one more voice in the human choir

We have clearance to marry!

James was issued the fiance visa by the US Embassy in London yesterday. Yippeeee!!

He said there was a lot of sitting around and waiting - some of it which felt rather pointless and inefficient. But it all went smoothly, the embassy official who interviewed him just asked a few routine questions, and James was done with everything (the medical and interview) in just over four hours.

So where are we going from here, you may ask?

James is planning to fly to the US on May 23 (details yet to be worked out with Expedia). My father will marry us in a little ceremony on our back deck on May 29. James' mum is also hoping to fly here on May 28 so she can be with us for the weekend. We're so glad she's going to be able to come!

We're still planning to do the big ceremony and celebration on October 22 complete with wedding dress, attendants, flowers, music, vows, and the whole bit. We'll just be legally married before then. We see ourselves as fitting into traditions - both current traditions from other cultures (including Persian) and more historical Western traditions - that stretch out the wedding celebration and often include more than one ceremony. James promises to blog about it at more length soon.

We're going to do our best to be intentional about celebrating each step in the process and making each special in its own way. With our families and dear friends by our sides, we're confident that we will and excited about what's to come!

UPDATE: James' mum has reserved her ticket and is in fact going to be flying to Chicago on the 28th, going back to the UK on the 31st. It'll be a quick trip (not much hope of adjusting to the time zone...) but we're really glad she can come at all!