1. First Name & Fiance's First Name
Melissa and Diego
2. Your Age and Fiance's Age
I'm 28 and he is 40
3. What city were you born in?
Lake Forest (Chicago) Illinois
4. What city do you live in? Royal Palm Beach
5. Where did you go to college?
UCF!!!!!!! Go Knights!!!!!!!!!!
6. What was your major?
Elementary Education
7. What is your current job?
3rd Grade Teacher
8. What is your dream job?
Wedding planner!!
9. How did you and your fiance' meet?lol 
I was his daughter's 3rd grade teacher in 2008
10. When did you get engaged, and how did he do it??
We got engaged October 23, 2010 in the Bahamas (at Atlantis).... On the flight over, we saw TWO rainbows side by side, it was such a cool start to the trip! I had never been to Atlantis before, so the first 2 days we spent exploring the hotel, all through the casino and all the different aquariums looking at the different animals. We walked around downtown and went in the different shops. We even saw a cute wedding on the beach! I thought "maybe" this would be the trip Diego would propose, as we'd talked about marriage & future plans. I figured if he was going to do it though, he'd have done it the first day so we could "celebrate" the rest of the trip... that wasn't the case! On the 3rd day, Saturday, we woke up early and went swimming with the dolphins. We hung around the hotel most of the day, going in the pools and just relaxing. By this point I figured he wasn't proposing on this trip because he would have done it already. That afternoon we went over to the golf course so Diego could play a round of golf. I passed the time by reading a wedding magazine in the golf cart! haha So far, it had been a great day. We went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner then met up with our friends James and Selene to eat. After dinner, we walked around the casino for a little, and James & Selene went over to a club in the hotel. Diego and I were sitting at one of the bars talking and he asked if I wanted to go walk around outside. So we went walking all through the aquarium areas again, and by the pools. Then, he said he wanted to take me to his favorite part of the hotel - and that he hadn't showed this area to me yet. We walked into this jungle-like trail that led to a wooden rope bridge that crossed over a lagoon. There were waterfalls to the left and a huge lagoon area to the right that overlooked the entire resort. We walked over the bridge and onto this lookout point and he sat me up on the wall. We started talking about marriage and spending the rest of our lives together and then he pulled the ring out of his pocket, put it on my finger and asked if I'd marry him!! HE even cried It was a really special moment. We were both so happy and excited and the whole proposal was absolutely perfect!! Then, he told me that he had already asked my dad before we went on the trip, that meant SO MUCH to me. I have pics from the proposal spot on my wedding website
11. When is the Wedding Day?
February 18, 2012
12. Where is the ceremony and reception? Lighthouse Point Yacht & Racquet Club
13. What are your wedding colors? Tiffany Blue & Champage - we are doing all white flowers
14. Where are you honeymooning? We are taking an 8 day cruise through the Eastern Caribbean! (Nassau - we will visit our proposal spot!, San Juan, St. Maarten, & St. Thomas)
15. Favorite wedding vendor so far? My venue coordinator (she counts right?? LOL) and my florists. These 3 ladies have been unbelieveable & have gone above & beyond - more than i ever expected - in helping me prepare for the wedding... I have become friends w/ them and can't imagine my day w/out them!!!
16. Biggest wedding splurge? probably photography/videography... it's more than we wanted to spend, but after the wedding's over & done we'll have the pics and video forever
17. What is something you wish you could have at the wedding but don't? just like emily lol a photobooth - but we don't have the room for it 
we are having our wedding at a private yacht club and we have maxed out the space!! we can't have it in the lobby b/c of the yacht members etc... whatever lol
18. Another Knottie whose wedding you'd like to attend? SO many of yours!!! especially the girls who joined around the same time as me... we've been helping each other a lot along the way!! Faith, would have loved to been at erica's!, Giannina, Brittani (wedding day twin), Emily, Pamela, Heather, Sara & Vanessa! I know all the planning & hard work will pay off and your days will all be amazingggggg!!!! So glad i got to meet some of you ladies already
19. Favorite book? definitely can't pick just one lol i loooove reading... i love pretty much all jodi picoult books, emily giffin books, and LOVED the girl w/ the dragon tattoo series... currently reading the hunger games series and it is AMAZING!!!!
20. Favorite movie? no clue lol i always hate this question b/c i can't even narrow this down... i like romantic comedies & comedies
21. Favorite tv show? gossip girl, grey's anatomy, glee, FOUR WEDDINGS (haha had to throw that in there), say yes to the dress
22. Favorite wedding dress designer? don't have one really... i bought my dress from alfred angelo and it's my favorite dress!
23. Any advice you can give to other Knotties whose big day is coming up? I wish that every knottie could have an experience like mine. I can honestly say I haven't been stressed out at all. I have an amazing family supporting me (financially & emotionally), I have the BEST bridesmaids (well one has been a bit of a pain, but it's not been something i've lost sleep over), my FI has been really involved in the decision making, I have been SO pleased w/ all my vendors (thus far), and we will have a total engagement of 16 months which I felt gave me plenty of time to save money, pay things off little by little, plan without being stressed, and shop around. My advice would be to not sweat the small stuff. DON'T stress out about little things, your wedding is ultimately about YOU & your FI!! Do what you want, not what others want, and don't be surprised when "friends" show their true colors. I have made stronger friendships through this process and I have also lost a few along the way. Just do what makes you happy and enjoy planning!!!!!!!!!! It's a once in a lifetime job to plan your wedding & remember: It's YOUR DAY!!!
24. Is there anything you wish you could change about your wedding? I wish we could have invited about 50 more people but our venue is maxed out at 140, so there were some people left out that we really would have loved to attend.
25. Tell us your Knottie name and how you came up with it oh lord.... I was a "lurker" and joined in 2007 when I was dating my ex!! lol I was just so into the idea of getting married and i was "sure" i was going to marry him... THANK GOD I DIDN'T!!! That's another story in itself... but I just signed up on a whim, and didn't give it much thought - i wasn't posting in messageboards or anything - so I just picked my email name... lame-o.
26. Tell us about yourself! Well you all know a LOT if you have read this whole post... in a nutshell: I'm madly in love w/ my FI - he is hands down the best thing that has ever happened to me - we have the kind of relationship I used to dream about... he's my prince charming!! I love God (we attend church at Christ Fellowship), I love the beach (our wedding is themed around it), I love shopping/fashion, I love my job sometimes, I love my dog Dixie, Diego & I became homeowners in March of this year, and we want to start having children next year. I can't believe I'm getting married in 50 days and I can't imagine the planning w/out this board. You ladies have given me advice, listened to my vents, shared in my "checks!", given me opinions and have just been a source of support during this last year. I would have been lost w/ out all your help!! I hope that I have been equally as helpful to some of you Good luck to you all w/ all your planning & I'm so thankful for Facebook so I can keep in touch w/ you after i'm booted from "the knot"! x's and o's!!