Yesterday, we took the first steps towards legitimizing our union in the eyes of the state. Damp, bedraggled and footsore steps they were too. Allow me to explain.
Last week I rang up the exceptionally friendly folks at the Oxford Registry Office and booked an appointment for JTA and me to give legal Notice of Marriage. This is a hoop you have to jump through if you aren’t having a church wedding, and allows people the option to say things like “Wait! I have documentary proof that she’s his mother!” and thus put the kibosh on the whole thing*. We were booked in for yesterday lunchtime at 12.30, which should have given me plenty of time to cycle the 3 miles from my office into town.
Things started to go wrong when I got out to the bike shed at 12pm and found that someone else had put their lock through my brake cables, preventing me from getting my bike out. I borrowed the key for one of our crappy old office bikes, only to discover that the wheels were flat.
By now slightly panicky about making the appointment, I headed for the nearest bus stop. One of each of the types of bus I could have caught passed me on the way there. The rain, which had been a light trickle, had escalated to something akin to a monsoon and I was soaked – in spite of my umbrella – by the time another bus showed up ten minutes later. With 15 minutes to go until our appointment time, I was nervous but optimistic, since the bus journey usually only takes about 10 minutes.
Did I mention the rain? It was still getting worse, and as a consequence no-body wanted to walk anywhere and we stopped at every single stop between my office and the city centre (one particular loud group of foreign students got on at one end of Summertown and off again at the other end of Summertown, a mere two stops later). The journey ended up taking a little over twenty minutes, and poor JTA spent all of that time waiting for me in the street.
We raced across town as best we could, dodging the massive puddles, and made it to the registry office (an impressive old building near Worcester Street) fifteen minutes after our appointment time. I had no idea what to expect, and was rather afraid that we might get told off and have to reschedule.
In the event, though, it was fine. They were very friendly, and after a five minute wait a really nice lady took us upstairs and asked us the same few questions several times. I guess that was to make sure we weren’t signing up for a marriage of convenience, but it was slightly odd all the same. Especially during the bit when we were each questioned separately, and I nearly couldn’t remember JTA’s birthday…
So, yeah. Our details will go up online somewhere, and if no hysterical fantasists have come forward by the 24th of August we’ll be issued with little blue pieces of paper and have legal permission to wed. Exciting or what?
When we came out of the registry office, it had stopped raining. We went to The Mission and had delicious burritos. I don’t think that’s a legal requirement, but it felt right.
* Please don’t, though.