Weddingbee boards

My fiance and his family are from Russia, and have been living here twelve years. Often in our wedding planning, my fiance laughs at me for insisting on doing things he has never heard of. Things that I thought where just normal parts of wedding. Like, everything. His parents had a ceremony with just their parents in their own home. I did not realize that I was having a "North American Wedding" until my FMIL told my mother how excited all her family was to attend one. Who knew?

This has not really been a problem until very recently. Mostly my fiance just goes along with me in good humor. However, I am planning on sending out my STDs in the next couple weeks, so when we were at his parent's house last week, I asked my FFIL if he could maybe start gathering the mailing addresses of some of their friends and family so I could send them wedding stuff (STDs, invites, thank you notes...) but he just laughed and started talking about something else. I dunno.

I can not get the addresses myself because most of these people do not speak English much or not at all... not to mention we don't have their phone numbers either.

So, yesterday when my FMIL was over for a nice little visit she immediately picked up my wedding magizines and begain gushing with me about my amazing North American Wedding. As the days go by, she is only getting more into it! I politely asked if perhaps she could get me some of the addresses for half the people coming to my wedding, and she said... "Aren't e-mails much easier? Yes, I think so." And I said something like, "Oh...um..?" And then she started talking about something else.

Is this a cultural thing? Does Russia not have invitations? I asked my fiance and he said she just didn't believe in mailing things. But... but... I already bought half the things to create my amazingly beautiful and heartfelt STDs and invitiations! I have been working so very hard to speak and write Russian and include my future inlaws... My FMIL has said the same thing again when my fiance asked her later if she could please just get the addresses for us. Sigh. Now all my beautiful heartfelt STDs written in Russian might go to waste. :(

My FMIL doesn't speak english super great and I don't speak Russian very well, so I wonder if this is a communication problem. Has this ever happened to anybody else or is it just me? And am I the only one who things every little hiccup in wedding planning has only happened to me and is a much bigger deal than it should be? I often have to tell myself things aren't as bad as I think they are... Me and my crazy North American Wedding!

@Meowkers: Haha, thank you, I was wondering.