I'm the Bride!

Today I dragged my semi-reluctant fiancé to the "Seacoast Denim & Diamonds" wedding expo at Stage Neck Inn & York Harbor Inn. The main goals: to get some info & pricing on some of the other venues in the area, and price out the tent & rentals we would need if we did go with Greystone. As I have mentioned, we are trying to nail down a date and venue soon due to the overwhelming popularity of getting married in this area in the summer. Having that taken care of will give me some peace of mind and give us the main framework for the rest of the planning process. Then, we can spend the next 6 months or so just relaxing and enjoying our engagement. We are pretty set now on a late summer/early fall time frame, so we are looking at a year & a half - and then some - of planning time.

J & I had a little fight last night. What relationship doesn't have those special moments, right? :) So I knew he was really excited about going to this thing today. The fight wasn't about that - but you know how it is, when you're in that funk, trying to get a guy to do anything he doesn't want to (or really anything at all if you are the one suggesting it) is next to impossible. Of course, once I told him he didn't have to come, he decided to anyway. What a guy.

It turned out to be a great thing for us to be there, together, just the two of us. Once Johnny started talking to people and seeing pictures of things I had mentioned or told him about, he really got into it. The show was relatively small, and split between the two venues, which made it very manageable. It just so happened that many people we know and want to use were there (the ladies from York Flower Shop, old friends of Johnny's from his years working at Jonathan's, etc.). We were decisive and totally on the same page (yay!) with just about everything. Our vision really came together, and we decided that with over a year & a half to plan and implement "the dream" if you will, we can do it. Why waste time & energy researching, visiting, and budgeting places that really don't fit into that picture of our perfect wedding? We have some friends & connections we will be able to use, and hopefully that will help the budget issue, but the bottom line is that we know what we want, we want the same thing, and we decided we are going for it. Whatever it takes on our part, we are going to make it happen. Throughout both our individual lives & our relationship, when we want something, we always seem to make it happen. Hey, when Johnny wanted me, he made it happen right? :) It is so important to us to have the wedding we want, that truly represents us as couple. We just don't want to settle when it comes to this day in our lives. We also want it to be special & memorable for our guests, many of whom will travel quite a distance to be there.

Today we decided on our venue, overall concept, florist, music, caterer, and touched on a few other details that we would like to include. I already know the photographer I want to use and have been in contact with the church we are thinking of for the ceremony (although we are still undecided about church vs. outdoor ceremony at this point). I would say the only major details we don't know who or what at this time are the dress and the cake. But those, and all the little details, can totally come later. And they will.

Needless to say, we didn't exactly "book" all these people today, but we got a firm idea of who we will use and what we will be doing. We got some numbers that will help us hash out the budget and start saving what we need to to pull this off. More information, I am sure, will be inundating my inbox by tomorrow morning. I feel confident we are going exactly in the direction that is going to make us both happy, strengthen our relationship throughout the planning process, and add up to the happiest day of our lives when it finally comes.

So today, and not just because I was wearing the sticker, I really felt like a bride. The happy happy happy bride whose "dream wedding" is coming together. And the best part about it was having my handsome groom by my side, supporting, helping, caring, and getting excited with me. For that, and many other reasons, I just love him so very much.