Recently I asked Tony for a weekend off to go to yet another out-of-state wedding.

"Is there anyone you know who's not getting married?" he asked.

The answer is now, officially, "no." Or at least it feels that way.

My little brother is getting married.

More than one person with whom I've shared this news has responded with a surprised "I thought they were already married." It's not an unreasonable reaction; my brother Galen (who, despite my reference to his being "little" is actually 29) and his fiancée Geneva have been together for almost five years, they have a son who's about to turn 2, and they are just the kind of people who would sneak off and do a low-key courthouse ceremony without making a big production out of it.

In fact, when I spoke to Geneva (who I've been describing as "my sister-in-law" for a long time, possibly adding to people's confusion) the night my brother proposed, she said she'd immediately suggested going to the courthouse the very next day.

"You can't," I said. "Courts are closed on Saturdays. And there's a three-day waiting period for marriage licenses in Alaska." (No blood test requirement, though, in case you were wondering, and no law against first cousins marrying -- if you're into that kind of thing.)

My friend Pete had a much more entertaining reaction when I told him the news:

"What, is your family getting a group discount on these things?"

Well -- yes, if we can figure out how to swing it. Galen and Geneva are planning on getting married this fall (although I think they've abandoned the courthouse idea). Seth and I are looking at next June. So while we're not planning a double wedding by any means -- sharing catering costs is definitely out -- I hope we may be able to collaborate on some aspects of planning.

One example: stationery. I'd been doing some reading at Weddingbee (my new favorite not-Knot) about a Japanese home screen printing system called Gocco that some brides have used to create really amazing do-it-yourself invitations, save-the-date cards, programs, escort cards, menus, thank-you notes... you name it. While we're not suffering from major budgetary restraints, we still don't want to spend more money than we need to, and I like the idea of incorporating some DIY projects, so I was intrigued by the Gocco idea. It seemed a little intimidating to buy and learn the system just to do one set of invitations -- particularly since our guest list seems to be ballooning out of control -- but with two brides and a mother of the bride/groom willing to chip in and share the work, the expense and the learning curve for two weddings, suddenly Gocco invitations seemed attainable. (At least, that's how I'm feeling right now. We may end up admitting defeat and running to the nearest stationer. But the fact that I'm not in it alone makes that seem a lot less likely.)

The funny thing is, Galen and Geneva were worried I'd be miffed about the timing of their engagement and wedding (which will take place about eight months before ours). Galen showed me the ring the night before he proposed and said something about promising not to "steal (my) thunder."

"Are you kidding?" I said. "You know you already had a baby, right?"

I have friends who live in constant competition with their siblings and siblings-in-law -- one couple steals attention from another by announcing a pregnancy at someone else's engagement party, things like that -- but my relationship with my brother and his family isn't like that. I've been waiting for them to get married for a long time now (seriously, they have a dog and a toddler and they love one another; commit already!), and their timing is just frosting on the cake.