Getting the wedding ball rolling...

I'm slowly learning that planning a wedding is a lot more complicated than it sounds. I always knew that it would be really involved, but I didn't anticipate all the small details, all the decisions, all the opinions other people would have.

But, regardless of it all, we've gotten the ball rolling and that is really what matters right now.

*the proposal*
Matt proposed on May 16, 2009 on a jetty off a beach on Cape Cod. It was a beautiful spring day and we rode our bikes from his parents' house to the beach, then walked down to the jetty. We both had our cameras and were snapping pictures when he suggested we sit down and take some of us together. I'll be honest-- I had hoped he would do it that weekend because he had let on that he might have a ring and the suspense was killing me. But that morning, I put the possibility out of my head because he was acting too normal. I've always heard about guys being nervous and weird the day they're going to propose, but he was just too calm and cool. Although, if you know Matthew at all, you know that he hardly ever strays too far from calm and cool, even if he's stressing out. So, I figured we'd just take a nice bike ride and enjoy the weather... but he fooled me (which is hard to do... I figure everything out.)

So he suggested we take some pictures on the jetty. He sat down behind me and we started snapping away, but when he put his arms around my waist, I glanced down and saw that he had a small black box in his left hand.

"What is that??" I asked him, but I already know what it was, so I immediately started crying. As much as I had wanted that day to come, I was totally overwhelmed with the actual moment. And if you know Matt, you can guess his reaction-- he laughed. I'm crying, he's laughing, and he hasn't even opened the ring box yet. Finally he asked if I wanted to see it, and I said yes, then he got around to asking me to marry him, and I said OF COURSE. It was a perfect day all around and I couldn't have asked for a better proposal.

We didn't do much planning right away (aside from buying a pretty wedding planning binder at the book store ) because Matt's brother Andrew and his fiance (also my good friend) Lisa were in the final stages of planning their wedding, which took place on July 11. We wanted to make sure we weren't distracted from helping them, since Matt was the best man and I was a bridesmaid. The weekend following their beautiful, beautiful wedding, we started visiting venues and meeting with people and choosing our colors and all that stuff.

*the venues*
We went to three hotels this past weekend: The Crowne Plaza, the Radisson, and The Marriott in Providence. We're looking at hotels because we'll have a number of out-of-town guests and we figure it'll be easy for them if they can party and sleep in the same building, especially since the reception is going to be roughly 6pm-midnight. All three hotels offered the same general package, but after looking everything over again, we realized that the Crowne Plaza would be giving us more for the money we'd be spending and we liked it visually more than the other places. The Marriott was gorgeous, but it's more expensive and you get less, and the Radisson is nice inside because it's just been renovated, but the outside is a little bit dumpy.

*the church*
Since I'm not Catholic and Matthew is, I decided to enroll in RCIA which will start in the fall. It's Catholic education for adults, and when it's over, I'll be confirmed into the Catholic church. This wasn't really a hard decision for me to make. I didn't grow up very religious, but when I met Matt, I realized how important his faith is to him. He never pressured me to go to church with him, but ever since the beginning, I've enjoyed going with him. I like seeing what it means for him and his family. I like that they never push their faith on anyone else, but they share it openly because it holds them together. I've had experiences in the past where religion has been forced on me and since I didn't understand it, it pushed me away. With Matt, it's always been my choice to participate, and when I have questions, he answers them without judgment. This is why the decision was easy for me. We'll be married at Sts. Rose and Clement church, which is also where I'll do my RCIA class come the fall.

*photography/invitations/dress*
We also met with a woman who works for Bella Photography as a consultant, and she showed us the packages they offer and explained how their program works. Basically, you fill out a survey and they match you with a photographer who best suits your needs for the kinds of pictures you hope to see from your wedding. The package is pretty good... they include a really nice album, plus small "clone" albums for the parents. Plus we would own the rights to all the pictures and anyone could access them at any time and print them from their choice of printer (be it Walgreens or Snapfish or whatever). We thought that was really nice. We're opting to skip the videographer and instead just have someone set up a camera at the ceremony and then again at the reception. We'll have to figure that out later.

Our invitations are already purchased (thanks to WalMart and Ebay and Martha Stewart) and we spent no more than $45 on them. I also have my dress, thanks to a discount at Cinderella's Bridal (www.dressesbyscott.com) off a dress I fell in love with.

To be honest, I don't feel picky about much of the components of the wedding. There's so much that goes into a wedding, and in the scheme of things, it's just one day of your life together. I'm excited for it, of course, but I kind of feel like it's silly to get swept up in the planning when it's only one day. I'd rather focus on what it'll be like every day AFTER the wedding, because I think that's what really matters. But... don't get me wrong-- I'm excited for the day to get here because I love him more than I can say and I can't wait to start our life together.