Wedding Dress Shopping

Dresses!

I have tried on wedding dresses and now I know what I'll be doing at my wedding: standing in one spot for the whole 3 hours or so. If you're there, please come over to my spot and say hi...

... because what else can I do? How does anyone move in those things? Much less dance? Much less go to the restroom?

Oh my goodness, lol.

Ryan says I'll have to learn how to dance. I said he could just pick me up and carry me around the dance floor. He said he's not the only one I'm supposed to dance with. "One of the dances is the father/daughter dance... and, you know, I've seen your father dance..."

I'm in trouble, lol :)

Church?

Today, I planned to ask the pastor at the church I've been attending whether he would be willing to marry Ryan and I.

Today, the pastor at the church I've been attending announced he's resigning, effective June 13th, because he's accepted a more senior position.

I just have awesome luck sometimes :P

Making Some Progress

My mother texted: "I spoke sternly to the [Crazy Venue] people."

I emailed them, called them, and went to their office. Ryan emailed them. None of that worked. My mother calls them... and they called back that very day. (And when I didn't answer, because of course I'd forgotten my phone at home that day, I called back hours later and the very person I was supposed to talk to answered the phone!)

So the woman in charge of weddings at Crazy Venue finally gave us the necessary info. We might actually be able to plan this thing after all :P

In other news, I have a ring guard now.

It is looking far more likely that I will actually have a place to get married and I will still have a ring by that time.

Keep your fingers crossed! :)

Dress Shopping, Part 1

I called David's Bridal and scheduled an appointment for this weekend! I have an appointment at David's Bridal. Craziness.

So what does one wear to try on bridal gowns???

Finding a Venue

On today's date, I walked through the rain to the place which will hereafter be known as The Crazy Venue. I emailed them about 2 weeks ago, got a message back saying my message would be passed on to the wedding coordinator (I suppose that would be her title,) and since then nothing. Unimpressed I am.

So I went there. Showed up in their front office. Informed them that no one has contacted me in 2 weeks and I would like some information.

They gave me a packet. I'm pretty sure it won't answer any of my questions, but it's more than I had before... I'm going to consider this to be progress.

In other news, my mother told me David's Bridal is having a big sale on wedding dresses.

And I'm already freaking out a little bit. Just a little bit. A teensy tiny bit. Therefore, I shall sleep now and get back to planning tomorrow, lol.

The Families Meet

Step One of Planning the Wedding: introduce the families.

Today at noon, Ryan's parents met my parents for the first time ever. We all had lunch together at Red Brick Station near Baltimore, MD.

Everybody seemed to like each other, so I guess we're set for moving forward :)

The Beginning

I like blogs. I read blogs, I write blogs, so it only makes sense, I think, that I should have a wedding blog. And now I do. Ta da!

Now let's see if I remember to update it...

Here is the first post and the first post should be about how it all began. Technically, it all began in 2000ish, when Ryan and I met online in various chat rooms, or 'talkers' as they were known then. We moved from talkers to AIM to phone to real life visits. Our status went from not-dating-each-other to not-really-dating-anybody-else until we caved and decided we'd been dating for a while. How crazy to think some online conversations could progress to this!

Our first visit took place in Maryland. My father (and me) picked him up from the train station and we went to a family gathering, lol. He met me and half my extended family, all at the same time! Eventually, we slipped away for dinner at TGIFridays. We talked and talked, not even quite realizing hours had passed. By the time we left the restaurant, my family had organized a search party. Oops. Rather exciting first visit, yes?

Ultimately Ryan would come to my apartment in Virginia, staying for at least a week each time. He slept on an air mattress that took up nearly my entire living room; every night, the cat would pop it with her claws and by morning it would be completely flat. Not to mention the ants and the cockroaches!

Yet somehow, when I told him I'd picked out an apartment and gave him 2 weeks notice to move from Pittsburgh, he came. And he stayed. We lived in that apartment for 3 years before purchasing a townhouse this year. We moved in November of 2009.

On May 1st, 2010, Ryan announced that he thought it was a really good day. I agreed - as good a day as any other, right? We ran errands and planted flowers. After everything was done, he suggested we go upstairs. He commented that things needed to change, then he distracted me, and when I turned back he was holding up a ring.

"Will you marry me?" he asked. I said, "For real? Really?" until he had to say "Well are you going to answer???" lol.

Obviously I said yes, because why else would I be writing this blog?

And that's how our story began. Now we'll see what happens next... We've heard wedding planning horror stories, but you know... if all of our previous adventures didn't scare him off, we should be able to figure this out, right?? :)