By our guest blogger Laura Lowe
They say the apple never falls far from the tree, and in my case, the proverb was right. My Mum has been a single mother for years, and has done a brilliant job, probably due to her personality: she’s ballsy, opinionated, extremely feminist and believes that no woman needs a man. Something ringing a bell here?
So with my whole family wondering what the hell was making me so uncharacteristically subdued, we broke the news as gently as we could: primarily by shoving my sparkly ring under their noses and waiting to see what they said. Perhaps not the wisest idea in hindsight, but after picking their chins up from the floor, and looking at Rob like he’s a madman, they were very happy for us.
However, this was just the beginning... did I mention our families are both Irish Catholic?!
My parents, his parents, my grandparents, his grandparents, aunties, uncles, friends... I won’t go into the details, but this process involved a few bottles of wine and an expensive phone bill. For all those thinking what a wonderful, smiley time this was for us, don’t get romantic: me, being me, invariably forgot someone and panic ensued. The best bit of this whole messy, emotional scenario? Definitely the presents!
Girls, if you ever need to go through the hellish process of telling hundreds of friends and family the joyous news, perhaps take the precaution of writing a list first, just to make sure you don’t miss out Great Auntie Ethel?!
Step 1: the proposal... done and dusted.
Step 2: telling the parents... survived. Just.
Step 3: let the planning commence!