Congratulations Jen!! I cannot wait to hear about all the details and everything else!!! Have an amazing time and amazing wedding!!! and I love to have my dog at my wedding too!!
1. First Name & Fiance's First Name: Jen & Clayton
2. Your Age and Fiance's Age: 30 (gulp!) & 27
3. What city were you born in? Anchorage, Alaska
4. What city do you live in? Palmer, Alaska
5. Where did you go to college? Madison, Wisconsin
6. What was your major? Network Technology Management
7. What is your current job? Network Specialist II
8. What is your dream job? Stay at Home Wife/Mom or a Victorias Secret model, it's so hard to choose!
9. How did you and your fiance' meet? We met when my brother married his sister 9 years ago and we had to walk up and down the aisle together.
10. When did you get engaged, and how did he do it??
We got engaged February 14th, 2010. We had plans to go out for Valentine's Day, so I really didn't think about getting engaged on that day, but afterwards I could definitely see the signs that a proposal was coming!
That day we were folding laundry and my FI started humming a song and I naturally started humming with him and I realized he was humming 'Going to the Chapel', but we like oldies so I just kept humming along. On the way to dinner at my favorite restaurant he started playing a playlist on his iPhone of all these romantic songs, but again - I just thought Valentine's Day and blew it off.
So, we got to the restaurant and the girl told us they were going to seat us in the wine cellar and put us in a super comfy and private booth with pillows, rose petals, candles, etc.. It was beautiful as their wine cellar is truly a wine cellar and has stone walls, and tons of candle light everywhere. I sat down still thinking nothing of our special seat until I started to look at my menu....
There was a letter attached to the front of it. I started reading it and it started with 'My Baby...', and it hit me what was going on. I looked wide eyed at my then boyfriend, who told me to read the whole thing, and it was a beautiful letter telling me how much he loved me, and how he would be there for me for the rest of my life if I would just do him the honor of being his wife. I looked up and there he was on his knee with a beautiful ring!
I said, 'Are you serious?!?', about 100 times and of course I said 'YES!'.
About a half a second later, Clayton looked at me and said, 'Maui wedding?', to which I also said 'Yes!!', and 449 days later here we are - 27 days from our wedding in Maui!
11. When is the Wedding Day? Tuesday, July 5th, 2011!
12. Where is the ceremony and reception?Both are at Olowalu Plantation House in Maui
13. What are your wedding colors? Turquoise, Fuchsia, & Purple, with hints of Orange and Yellow.
14. Where are you honeymooning? Oahu
15. Favorite wedding vendor so far? I have truly lucked out and have been blessed with amazing vendors. But, I'm going to have to say that Michelle with Sweet Peas and Seashells (
http://www.etsy.com/shop/sweetpeasseashells) has been my all-time favorite. We met on a wedding website right after I got engaged and we started chatting because she was also a Maui bride, and when I found out how talented she is at all things design related, we started using her for our paper products. She is not only generous and super talented, but she is also a beautiful person and we have become great friends working together over the last year and a half. We now just chat via email, and I am so glad to now call her my friend.
16. Biggest wedding splurge? Since I have amazing parents,
my biggest wedding splurge has been my shoes. I have 3 pairs, and my final pair I got are a beautiful pair of Badgley Mishka wedge heels. They are so beautiful and delicate in person and go with my dress perfectly.
17. What is something you wish you could have at the wedding but don't? Our dog!
18. Another Knottie whose wedding you'd like to attend? Seriously - everyone on the DW boards!! Everyone has such unique and beautiful ideas, I would love to see all of your weddings!!
19. Favorite book? Honestly, the Harry Potter series. Love them!
20. Favorite movie? I have a lot of favorites, but a go to for me when it's a crappy day and I just want to cuddle in is Practical Magic.
21. Favorite tv show? True Blood
22. Favorite wedding dress designer? Jim Hjelm, all of his dresses are amazing. Thank goodness no one in Alaska carries his dresses!
23. Any advice you can give to other Knotties whose big day is coming up?
Slow down.... I have been waiting for our wedding for a year and a half, and now that the final weeks are here I find myself wishing I could go back in time and just enjoy it rather than always being impatient and wanting the big day to be here. Enjoy every decision you have to make, enjoy the special time with your parents and friends, and most importantly - try to never forget that this is about marrying your fiance, not about a nice party. It's easy to get wrapped up in the details of the wedding and sometimes forget that the whole point of the wedding is that you are joining your life with your best friend. Try to always keep that in the front of your mind, as that is truly the most important thing about our wedding days!
24. Is there anything you wish you could change about your wedding?
Not a thing!
25. Tell us your Knottie name and how you came up with it.
- AKWinterBride, I created this account years ago when I assumed that if I got married in Alaska that I would do it during the winter at my favorite ski resort. Plans changed, and my Knottie name stayed the same!
26. Tell us about yourself!
Oooh, I always find these ones tough cause I'm truly pretty boring, so I'll keep it to the basics:
-Born in Alaska, raised in small town Wisconsin, been back in Alaska now for 9 years, which I would have never expected when I was younger! I still love WI, but I don't see us leaving Alaska in the near future, as all of our family is here.
-Have an AMAZING family, I truly can't even begin to explain my love for them! My parents are simply the kindest, most loving people ever, and I am so lucky to call them mine!
-Engaged to a great man, who is all the things in a man that I never thought existed after dating huge jerks before him! He has a huge heart, is extremely loyal and loving, and girls - I seriously can't wait to see him as a Dad. He is so amazing with our niece & nephews, and is going to be the best Dad - it melts my heart just thinking of it! (Can you tell my bio clock is ticking away?!?)
And, that's pretty much it! I could go on with details about work and such, but who really wants to hear that?!? I'm your basic, All-American gal, and I couldn't be happier!!
Thanks for letting me be Knottie of the Day, and I can't wait to share my pictures and experiences with all of you in less than a month!