Love in Theory and Practice: Chapters 1-13

Nurnberg, Germany

I have been on the phone all day. I have been in contact with caterers, Callie, Anita, Pappa, Isak, Bo, party planners, rental companies, travel companies, the University of Helsinki, the bank. Just about everyone I can or could possible think of. The wedding is only 20 days away and so far everything is going off perfectly.

Ville and his friends will be flying out of Helsinki on the 21st for Bulgaria and their concert is on the 22nd. They are seeing ‘The Big Four’ made up of Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer and Megadeth.

Ville is sending Callie, Anita and Jason and me on a 5-day/4-night cruise in the Western Mediterranean. We fly to Barcelona on the 17th and will be flying back into Stockholm on the 22nd.

Mrs. Valo is just going to stay in Sweden until the wedding and my Pappa is picking up Mr. Valo and Ville’s brother, Jesse, on the 22nd and meeting us on the island. The rest of the guests should be arriving either on the 23rd or the 24th. Most of our friends and family decided to view the wedding as an excuse for a mini-vacation. It will be nice to have so many loved ones around for a few days.

It’ll almost be like we’re making the wedding celebration into a few days worth of festivities.

Ville and I have decided to wait and take our honeymoon after all the touring is complete towards the end of August. We still haven’t decided on a place to go.

All of the dresses, suits, etc, are ready and just need to be picked up from their locations.

I’ve been in a little over my head in the last few weeks because I have deadlines for the wedding and with the university. The papers I’ve been editing are due on the 15th. Luckily, I’m a planner and they are in the final stages a good few days early.

Ville and I decided that we’re not going to get new wedding rings for each other. It still stands that we love the rings we’d already picked for each other. So that managed to take one task off the wedding checklist.

We have music, catering, set-up and take down, travel, accommodations, clothing, hair and make-up, and seating/reception arrangements completed. We’re just going to be married by the local priest in my father’s area. It means a lot to my father to have a religious wedding.

Even though I don’t spend a lot of time in the church as an adult, I was raised in the church and it reminds me a lot of my mother. I know she’d be happiest if the leader of the congregation she and Pappa had attended together, married me. Ville agreed and thought it would be ‘rather interesting’ to be married in a religious ceremony.

The ceremony starts at 4:00pm. There will be a short break in between the ceremony and the reception just to give everyone enough time to make sure everything is ready.

Nothing about the wedding is going to be fancy. I’ve specifically chosen simple, low-key decorations and settings. Ville and I really are not flashy, luxurious people. We’re rather quiet. I want our wedding to reflect us as a couple and as individuals.

It was quite easy for me to plan things that reflect who I am. But it was a bit harder to find things that reflect Ville. There are many things that come to mind when I think of him but none of them really fit into a wedding. I included some of our favorite poetry on the invitations and on the place cards.

We’ve also decided to maybe show some of our favorite films on a large screen on the lawn. Pappa used to play movies for us as kids this way and we thought might be fun to have something similar at the wedding.

We also decided to plan our wedding around the time of Midsummer in Sweden and Finland. In Sweden, Midsummer is the time when people believe magic is most powerful and that is it a good time to look towards the future. Young girls will pick 7 different kinds of wildflowers and sleep with them under their pillows, in hopes of dreaming of their future husbands.

Families and friends collect greens and flowers to cover maypoles. We sing and dance traditional songs. Some members of my family will inevitably wear traditional costumes. Most Scandinavians spend Midsummer in the country so it’s a perfect time for a country wedding.

It gives me an excuse to wear flowers in my hair for the wedding.

And we’ll have a bonfire in the late evening.

Bam is with us here in Germany and despite how busy I am he’s managed to rope me into doing a sort of interview with him. He says he wants to have videos to post after Ville and I are married so fans can get to know me. Ville thought it sounded like a fun idea so I agreed. (I would never have done it on my own accord.)

So I set aside all of my planners, papers, my laptop and my blackberry and turn my attention to Bam for the 30 minutes I promised him.

“Alright, are you ready, Elin?” he asks with a wicked grin. I should have known that his agenda would be devious and underhanded. But I sigh and nod. “Okay, for the record, state your name, age, and home town.”

“Elin Blix, 24, Stockholm.” I answer. I can’t help but smile. I feel completely silly and wonder who would actually care to hear what I have to say. “Bam, I feel silly.”

“What do you do for a living?” he asks, ignoring me.

“Up until February I was an independent financial advisor but now I work for the University of Helsinki. I’ll be teaching in the fall but right now I’m working on editing art historical papers for publication.” Bam sits silent for a moment.

“Well shit, Ville and Callie told me you were smart but damn woman.” He shakes his head in disbelief but I just smile.

“What do you have to say about your Maxim shoot with Callie?” he asks, narrowing his eyes as if it’s a controversial question. I laugh.

“The article was about Callie and what’s made her strong over the years. So she said she wanted me to be in it with her because we’ve been friends for nearly 20 years.” I say with a shrug.

“Are you comfortable with nudity, or almost nudity?” he asks.

“Yes. In Scandinavia nudity isn’t a big deal. Most of the beaches are topless or nude. It’s not controversial or obscene here. I don’t particularly love to be naked all the time but there’s no hesitation or shyness.” I reply. Bam just nods his head as if what I’ve said is groundbreaking.

“You’re very down to earth. Why is that?” he asks.

“Well, in Sweden we have this little word: “lagom.” There is no real English translation but it basically means ‘just the right amount.’ So we’re not the kind of people who are flashy, extravagant or boastful. We don’t really tend to praise achievements the same way Americans do. We are all right and we have what we need. It’s the Swede in me that allows me to be down to earth.”

Once again, Bam stares at me in disbelief. “Christ,” he mutters. “No wonder Ville loves you. Is there actually anything wrong with you?”

“I’m very stubborn and independent.” I reply. “I don’t like to give away control of anything but I also don’t like to control other people. And I can be a bit of a brat.” I laugh.

“What is your favorite sexual activity?”

“I’m not going to answer that.” I say with a laugh. Bam snaps his fingers and says “well damn.”

“Okay, if you’re not going to answer that, how about…”he scans his list of prewritten questions. “I don’t really have any more good questions. You’re too good at answering things!” he says with a sigh.

“It’s in my business training to answer questions concisely and efficiently.” I say with a smirk. At that exact moment, Ville walks into the room.

“Dude, your fiancé is hard to interview!” Bam cries. “She’s too good!”

“Ask her about her tattoos.” Ville says after kissing my forehead but before walking back off the bus.

“Okay then,” Bam says with a smirk. “Let’s see your tattoos!”

I roll up my sleeves and begin to explain. “I have Bernard Berenson, Charles Baudelaire, Ferdinand de Saussure and Michelangelo portraits on my right arm in similar fashion to Ville’s portraits. I have the climax scene from Aubrey Beardsley’s illustrations for Oscar Wilde’s Salome on the left side of my abdomen. I have a star on my left hand on the skin between my pointer finger and thumb and an anchor in the same place on my right hand. And on the upper inside of my right arm I have the words ‘Ancora Imparo’ which translates to ‘I’m still learning.’ And along my right hip I have “what matters most is how well you walk through the fire.’”

“You’re almost as tattooed as Ville.” He says but smiles.

“Alright, I showed you mine, let’s see yours!” I say and turn the camera towards him. He shows me his tattoos, many of which have a HIM or heartagram theme.

“You should get a HIM tattoo. I mean you’re marrying Ville.” He says happily. “Where can you put one?”

“Hold it,” I say, laughing. “Who says I’m getting a HIM tattoo?”

“You’re getting a HIM tattoo?” Ville asks upon re-entering the bus. He’s been back and forth between interviews and stages all day. It’s a festival so there are bands to watch nearly all day.

“No, but Bam thinks I should.” I explain as Ville slips in beside me on the bench. Bam turns the camera back towards us. Ville slings an arm around my shoulders and I scoot closer to his side.

“Where would you put it?” he asks, ignoring the fact that I said I wasn’t going to get one.

“I don’t know.” I reply with a shrug. One thing I’ve learned about Ville and Bam is that once they have an idea in their heads it’s best to just let it run its course and they’ll usually forget about it.

“Tramp stamp.” Bam states proudly.

“Hell no,” I exclaim.

“Hell yes,” Ville says enthusiastically at the same time.

We both just look at each other and start to laugh. Bam tells the camera that Ville and I are crazy and he never intends to interview me again.