hi everyone!
I'm Renae. I'm 31 and a children's librarian. On 9/16/2011, my best friend and love of my life asked me to be his wife. His name is Jason and he sells mechanical-type stuff (it's complicated). Neither of us has been married (or even engaged) before and although we both adore kids, we just have 3 furry (feline) ones right now.
We haven't selected an exact date (since we just got engaged two days ago) but I really want an outdoor, botanical-themed wedding so next summer was logical. My work makes it really difficult to take time off in June/July (summer reading program) and FI wants to do our honeymoon immediately rather than waiting until I can take time in August so August 10, 18, 25 or even Sept 1st are options right now. Meeting with parents to discuss locations in two weeks and once we have a location and see what's available, we'll set the real date. FI is convinced that if we get married in my hometown that none of his family/friends will be there because they won't drive 2 hours. I told him that they aren't very good friends if they won't drive 2 hours to his wedding. HIs mom assumed we were getting married in my hometown and I think hearing his parents tell him it's okay to do that will go a long way.
It will be a fairly casual affair. Tiny, elegant, outdoor, secular ceremony (15 people). Smallish (under 100, hopefully under 75) garden bbq for a reception. We're total DIY'ers and my mom is a floral designer/event decorator, my sister is an event planner, and my FFIL is a caterer. I have friends asking to sing and make our cake (and because I want to keep things casual and "in the family" and as inexpensive as possible, I will take them up on it). For years I dreamed of the "perfect" fondant covered, glittering, towering wedding cake that made people gasp and swoon with joy when they saw it. Now that I'm marrying the perfect man, that cake doesn't seem quite so important now and my friend's cakes are delicious and quite lovely, if not "perfect". Knowing so many "wedding pros" should make things a little bit easier.
So, hello, nice to meet everyone! How are your plans coming along? I want to just sit back and enjoy being engaged for a few weeks, but at the same time, planning the wedding is just so much fun right now that i'm trying to do all the silly little things (music, thinking about favors, etc) that I know might frustrate me to have to do last minute.
When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. ~Nora Ephron, When Harry Met Sally