how we met: I was a bridesmaid in my friend's wedding. At her bachelor/bachelorette party, this groomsman [his name is Ben] kept telling me about his friend. I had previously known Karyn [Ben's fiance/sister of the groom/bridesmaid], so had met Ben breifly before his endless nagging explanations of this guy that i really should meet. I'll give him credit, he was persisitant but so was I. I wanted nothing to do with another guy, I had just gotten out of a 4 year relationship with a guy that seemed so similar to what Ben was trying to explain. Fast forward to the wedding ceremony. As a part of the wedding party, we were standing in a 'receiving line' outside the church as all of the wedding guests slowly filed out of the church after the ceremony. At one point, I looked up at the oncoming line and noticed this guy. I thought to myself...'wow, mmmm [here enter butterflies & chills], so I promptly loudly whispered to Ben -- who is that guy?!?! oh my...he's so hot!! [sounds shallow, i know but -- you KNOW that feeling when you see someone that you think is so attractive -- what other term do you spring to?!] Anyway, it was HIM. The guy that Ben was tryin to tell me about all along. My heart skipped like 12 beats. We ended up meeting "officially" at the reception, and everything started to come together the very next day. Funny thing is, Ben had been warning HEbird [the FH] about me too, so HEbird knew about me before I knew about him -- and got to get a peek first! He will say even today that as soon as he saw me [he picked me out of the wedding party, never having met me, based on what Ben had been saying] he had butterflies and he just 'knew'.
Reason #1 that I believe in love at first sight.
the engagement: We had recently moved to South Carolina in pursuit of my career as a teacher. We spent a football season in Arkansas pursuing his football career dreams and that ended abruptly with a career ending knee injury, followed by a painful surgery. After a few grueling months of living at his parent's house in Ohio, we finally made the plunge to SC. I knew something was coming but wasn't quite sure when. I could have told you after dating FH for 3 months that we would end up married. Something about him was so different, so perfect. Anyway - I was coming home from a long day as a teacher [meetings, grading, etc.] and he had been calling & nagging me so much I was about at my wit's end. The last thing I had said [or shouted] to him was 'I'll be home around 5!' , and his impatient response was 'I'll see you at 10.' hah! When I finally walked in, around 5 [as I had estimated] he was just sitting in the recliner in his work clothes. My first thought work clothes?!? i knew he had gotten off work early... I was so confused! AND he had such a weird grin on his face! All odd. Our puppy was jumping at my feet and he kept telling me to pet her, but I just couldn't quite take my eyes off of his grin... When I finally bent down to pick her up I noticed that she had a ring around her collar. A ring that I had around the house since we moved in AUGUST!!!! I was so not impressed. My actual response was "sweet FH, this ring has been on the mantle for...three months now!" He was like '...well...I have been looking around all day for the perfect ring, and I just want you to have exactly what you want. I'm going to take you to pick out your dream ring.' Tears ensued [spelling?] and off we went to the jeweler. This is what I chose, and I am so lucky to have such a thoughtful FH!! I absolutely love it's unique setting, and have never seen anything quite as like mine.
JEWELRY: after much seraching & thinking, thinking & searching, I ended up with the multi strand of freshwater ivory pearls. I always knew I wanted pearls, just had to find the "it" necklace. You know what I mean! I found these beauties at Macy's for 50% off!! They have such great jewelry sales. I ended up spending [brace yourself] $55 on a necklace that was originally marked $110! Now that's a DEAL!
...and for the wrist: I searched some more, because I am a simple person it didn't take long to fall in love with many bracelets, but I knew I could find a deal. I ended up with a single strand freshwater pearl bracelet, with sterling silver clasp for a whopping $6 at Dillard's on major sale. >>I found the bracelet below, very similar to mine, at carolee. If you are still in search of the perfect set of jewels, check out the website here! There is a special section for a Bridal Collection.
and the shoes: Shoes are always a task for me. I am 6'1" and rarely wear heels. I just don't like to tower over people, I'm already tall enough! I have never had a shoe obsession, let's face it, from college to career search, it has never been in the budget for me. However, I can always find a way to dress up a really cute pair of flats. Anyway, my FH is about 6'3" and LOVES cowboy boots, so I'm sure I could get away with a little heel on my wedding day if I really wanted to...but in comes the other problem: they don't make wedding dresses [in my budget range] at endless lengths. My dress is PERFECT length with just flats. No alterations necessary! I'm so lucky! After a wide search for some fancy bridal flats, I was coming up short. I actually came across this same shoe on a Bridal Shoe website, for almost 3x the cost! On a quick trip to Target, I spied these! I was immediately in love, and purchased these brown Mossimo creations for $24.99. Who could beat that?
Hopefully this painfully long post leaves you with a new outlook on some of my wedding details, and not too tired of reading to come back and visit me again!
[[remember I have so much catching up to do ... I have been planning for 6 months!]]
Have a blessed evening, and be sure to come back & be updated!
.:ashley:.
Ashley, first off, congrats on your engagement! Secondly, Good Lord your ring is BEAUTIFUL! lol Looking forward to reading your blog. Take care.
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