Spreading The News
December 18th, 2007 @ 2:09 pm by Mrs. Toucan
A few weeks after our engagement, I brought Mr. Toucan with me to New York to meet the extended family (dun dun dun!), and to “announce” our engagement (everyone already knew via email, but this time it was in person). In six years of dating, Mr. Toucan had met very few of my relatives since most of them live in New York. Needless to say, he was nervous. He was afraid he’d embarrass himself. As it turns out, I was the one that should have been more prepared for this trip!
I didn’t think news of our engagement would be such a big deal. While I expected my relatives to be excited for us, I didn’t expect them to be THAT excited. They were SO excited, that within 30 minutes of arriving to my aunt’s house, I somehow ended up in this:
Me in a Chinese wedding kwa taken by my dad’s cellphone camera
(as a side note, this picture is now my dad’s cellphone background - I replaced a picture of a roast pig…)
My uncle had climbed up into his attic to pull out a traditional Chinese wedding dress (they referred to it as a kwa), and he and my aunt asked me to try it on to see if it “fit.” The skirt part of this outfit, interestingly enough, is ONE SIZE FITS ALL. It had an expandable waist, and SUSPENDERS so one could adjust the length (and since I’m short, the skirt was almost pulled up all the way to my chest!).My aunt mentioned that both my cousin, and my cousin’s wife wore this particular kwa to their Chinese Tea Ceremonies. It made me realized why everyone was so excited for our wedding - Mr. Toucan and my wedding will be the first in my family in about 10 years!
In your families are you among the first, middle, or last to get married? How did your family react to the news of your engagement?
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14 Responses to “Spreading The News”
I’m the first to get engaged/ married in my family. It’s going to be a long engagement, and my mom has started talking about ideas every day since 
On his side, he will be the second, his brother got married last year. But they are excited on both sides, but maybe my mom is more excited than everyone else
oh man, “baby machines.” haha. Surprising enough, none of that here!
P.S. I just realized now that it’s posted, that I look about 12 years old in this picture.
I’m the only daughter, but I am the second child (and last!) to get married on my side. My parents are thrilled to have more input this time.
My fiance is the oldest son and the first to get married on his side. We’re trying to include his mom as best we can since she has no daughters.
Our families were shocked! We didn’t actually date (but have been best friends for about 10 years).
That’s so great they’re all so excited for you
Aw, that’s cute!
I’m the third child in our generation, the second to get married, but the first wedding the family will be going to though. My older brother’s wedding was in Germany since that is where he lives. My cousin who is a couple months older than me is getting married about 2 months after me.
My fiancé is the oldest on his side of the family, but two of his cousins are already married. His mom is really happy that he didn’t get someone pregnant prior to marrying them though.
It’s cute that your family is so excited! And I love that you’ve replaced the picture of the roast pig.
My family is pretty small so there aren’t many weddings in general Yes my family was excited I had found the one - but nothing over the top. I think hubby’s family was just happy he found someone to put up with him and that they liked me. Apparently they weren’t too fond of the last few
It’s funny my brother had called me last fall to let me know I was going to be an Aunt - which is very exciting news for our family! Who doesn’t love babies! The youngest cousin at the time was 15 - so it was def time for a baby!! They were due in early March. Even though we weren’t engaged yet - I knew I wanted to be married in early 2007 - so I kinda had this ‘wow, it’s going to be a busy year’ thought. I didn’t want our wedding to take away from their exciting news - but gosh darnit I wasn’t putting it off either!
My mom had a very exciting spring with her first grandbaby being born March 3 and marrying off her baby on April 28
FH and I are both the first of our generation to get married so everyone is very excited. I was really surprised to see how much my mom has gotten into it. Her first wedding was awful for her, so I think she wants mine to be happier. (She was brilliant, going to law school at UChicago, but her old aunts kept asking “How’s the happy little bride?”)
wow you look awesome! i wanted to wear my mom’s qi pao, but she was soooooooooooo tiny when she got married. so i’m getting a custom made one. i’m the second one in my immediate family to get married. everyone was excited when we got engaged, but my family loves him so it was expected. however, he’s the first one and the oldest son. everyone is going crazy on that side of the family…especially his mom. hehe!
he’s the oldest son/cousin and will be the first in our generation to marry while i’ll be the first in mine where there was actually a ceremony to attend [my sister eloped] so i’m sure there will be tons of excitement to be had
I am the oldest grandaughter but 2 of my cousins have gotten married and 1 eloped. I will be the first in my immediate family. Including my steps there are 8 of us.
i was the first to be engaged and third to be married. how does that add up!?
Mrs. Toucan, Boston
Age and Occupation: 25, Full-time Research Assistant, Part-time Graduate Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Actuary
Engagement Date: February 18, 2007
Wedding Date: June 7, 2008
Blogging Since: November 07, 2007
Venue: St. Catherine of Genoa, Jin Asian Cuisine Restaurant
About Me: I’m a Gemini to the extreme. On one side, I’m a girly girl. I read countless bridal and fashion magazines, and have an obsession with keeping up with the latest Hollywood gossip. On the other side, I’m a sports fanatic. Despite being a full-time bride-to be, full-time research assistant, and part-time student, I’m also a full-time Red Sox fan from spring training to October, and a full-time Patriots fan from mini-camp to February. I devote almost as much time researching my for fantasy football team as researching for our wedding!
Not only are we the first to get married, both of us are first borns in our generation. FI is also the only male in that branch of the family, so he needs to “carry on the name” (which his grandfather reminds us about all. the. time.) Needless to say, our families were thrilled to get the “baby machines” running again.