WE PULLED IT OFF! As of July 2011, my fiance (now husband) started tossing around an idea...wouldn't it be cool to have a party (birthday or engagement) and then surprise everyone and get married!! It started out as a joke, but then got serious. Our birthdays are a week apart in November and we didn't have enough time to plan for it in 2011, and we felt November 2012 was too far away. So...we started planning for a June 2012 engagement party turned wedding and we weren't even engaged yet. Jessie let it slip last May that he had already designed a ring for me (yes, designed it!) He just couldn't afford it yet. In November of 2011, he popped the question and the planning really took off.
We let our parents in on the secret along with my sister (maid of honor) and his brother (best man). We also told a few people that we were concerned would not come due to distance or circumstances. Overall, we kept it a secret from most of our guests (probably about 90-95 percent).
Planning wasn't easy. My personality is to share good news with everyone. I have other friends planning weddings and it was so hard to keep it to myself. We had to come up with a way to convince people to come, so we decided we would tell people that we were having a destination wedding next year. We figured that way, people wouldn't use the excuse that they would just come to the wedding when they skip out on the engagement party. We also planned for a "raffle" in which we told people that the prize was an opportunity to join us at our non-disclosed destination (all expenses paid). The raffle was just a way to get people there on time for the ceremony. There would be no prize seeing as everyone would actually be at the wedding. It was tough fibbing to everyone, but it seemed to work.
For the venue, we originally had a country club picked out, but the coordinator we were working with fell off the face of the earth and so we had to come up with another solution. My parents offered their home/backyard for the party. We took them up on the offer and I nervously committed to a completely outdoor wedding not knowing what the weather would be like. We rented a large tent, several tables, chairs, linens, etc. We also rented a party wagon in which beer could be tapped. The food we chose was from a Mexican restaurant nearby and we had a taco bar buffet.
My parents spent many weeks prepping the house. My dad did so much yard work and did all he could to make it look absolutely perfect. My mom made several side dishes and cleaned the inside of the house top to bottom.
The wedding day arrived and we had not had rain in the area for quite a while and really needed it. I had prayed for no rain, but everyone kept reminding me it was good luck. We decided to take some pictures that morning at a park nearby and we got through them without rain. Then it came...the rain was coming down hard and the wind was strong. All of my table linens were blowing all over the place, centerpieces were falling over, the margaritas weren't made yet. The napkins weren't placed out yet. The favors weren't out. There was so much to do but so little time before the party started. I got out of my wedding dress and into my engagement party dress and pulled my hair out knowing that my hairdresser would be back. I tried to help getting everything together and was in a complete panic as people started showing up early. Thankfully, I had help from people that knew the secret and some that didn't know to help finish getting set up. The rain continued and I was crying. I thought everything was going to be ruined. I greeted people as they came and then had to be back up in my old room getting ready again about 20 minutes after the party started.
We had a plan to keep people occupied while Jessie and I got ready. We created a slideshow of us from when we were little and then pictures of us together. It got started late, but at the end of the slideshow, we had a picture of us holding our marriage certificate and the song by Train "Marry Me" played in the background. When that came on, Jessie and I would walk out hand in hand. Everyone's attention was focused on the slideshow. We walked outside and the sun had come out and the rain stopped. Slowly everyone turned around and saw us. They immediately started clapping and smiling and tears were streaming down peoples' faces. I wish I could bottle up that moment and live it over again. Thankfully a friend of mine videotaped it for me. We walked up to where the slideshow was playing and Jessie made the announcement that the plan was a little different than we had discussed and that the destination was about 2 feet to the west and in about 15 minutes. We had the most amazing ceremony and everyone loved it.
I enjoyed it so much and would do it the same way over again. We are so happy and grateful that everything turned out and we had such a wonderful day. It was tough, but so worth it!
