Once upon a time...kidding! Andrew and I met 9 years ago when we were both in high school. He instantly became a good friend, but at the time if you had told me I would be marrying him in 10 years I would have thought you were crazy! He was handsome, smart, and incredibly funny but a complete goofball who acted more like a pesky little brother at the time ;)

Our relationship has a very interesting start...we came to know each other through a very active, young adult ministry service that was part of his church. From there we did retreats together and stayed close friends. I know there are a lot of great places to meet people out there, but I think it's cool that our friendship and relationship was built on the foundation of our faith.

Fast forward two and half years, and a few "dud" relationships later and we always seemed to navigate back toward each other. I'll never forget my mom's excitement when I got home from work one day and she said Andrew had called and asked me to go out with him and a friend to Providence. At the time I was living on the Cape and working for the summer and the last thing I wanted to do was rush to get ready and drive over an hour to hang out with friends. Being the smart woman she is, my mom pushed and pushed until I gave in and went. It wasn't until almost the end of the night when Andrew took my hand in a crowd of people so we wouldn't get separated that I had my aha! moment. I honestly think that it was that very second that he went from being just a close friend to someone who gave me butterflies.

I could sit here all day bringing you up to speed on the last 6 years of our relationship, but let's just say it's been nothing short of wonderful! Everyday I wake up feeling luckier and more blessed than the day before...It's honestly a fairytale type love

Now this is a story worth telling!!! I can't say that I was one of those girls who was completely caught off guard and totally didn't expect the proposal. We'd been together for over 5 years and talk a lot about getting married and our future together, so duh...I knew it would come eventually :)

Every Christmas Eve my parents have a party at their house. Having a lot of friends and family together in once place is one of my favorite traditions of the holiday season! Unfortunately because of work Andrew never gets to come. Last year I was bummed because he was scheduled to work that night and said that he had asked but there was no way to get time off because someone on his shift was already on a vacation that week. Although I thoroughly enjoy spending time with my family, I was a little disappointed that he wouldn't be there again.

I was standing in the kitchen helping my mom get things ready when out of the blue she asked me if I thought that maybe Andrew would be proposing soon. I told her that I hoped so but he hadn't let on any surprises. She went on to say that he hadn't talked to her and my Dad yet but New Years was around the corner and that would be a good time for it. My heart sank. I know Andrew and I know that he would never in a million years ask me to marry him without talking to my parents. New Years was a week away and I figured there was no way he'd have time alone with them between now and then to do it. I'm a patient person and it wasn't about the whole "I want a ring" thing. It was that I couldn't wait to marry him and start this next chapter of our lives. So needless to say I was a little sad.

Now all I have to say is "wow," what a good liar my mom was! Everyone came for the party and I missed Andrew but I was having a good time catching up with family and friends. The next 15 mins of the story is a blur so bear with me! A one point my mom said there was a package for me outside. I was a little confused but ok, I went out the front door there was candles lining the front walkway (which at the time I thought was just my mom's creative/decorative planning for the party) and a big white box with a red bow sitting on the front lawn. I'll admit that I was a tad annoyed that i had to walk through the snow in my heels and a dress, but I got to the box and daintily tried to untie the bow. My mom offered to help me just life the box up because unwrapping the box would have taken forever. SURPRISE!!! Andrew was under it! I had a sneaking suspicion that maybe he was in there but it seemed to small to be true, lol. This is where it gets really blurry...I thought that my "gift" was just that he was able to get the night off and come to the party. I remember looking back at the house an seeing everyone had piled into the doorway and my grandmother was frantically trying to take pictures of us. When I looked back at him he was down on one knee in the snow asking me to marry him. There were words, hugs, kisses and tears that followed but all I remember is feeling so happy I could burst.

The proposal was perfect. The ring of course is gorgeous, but having that moment with him in front of all of my family is truly priceless. He did good :)

I am hyper-organized and couldn't wait to get planning. Everything had a color coded folder and file on my computer. I spent hours pouring over blogs, pictures and wedding websites at night after work. I also spent hours staring blankly (and semi horrified) at the wedding planning checklists. Hundreds of things to plan and consider before the big day. Exciting, but overwhelming too! It didn't take us long to pick a date and although we couldn't wait to get married June seemed to be the best time of year and June 2011 was just too soon to get it all done. So June 9, 2012 it is :)

We picked our reception site first. My Mom works at Highfield Hall in Falmouth and it's gorgeous. Although I grew up on the Cape and wanted the weather to be nice, we decided we didn't want a typical Cape, seashell themed wedding. So, granted my Mom worked at Highfield...regardless it was a perfect choice (I highly recommend it to anyone looking to get married in that area). Within months the chapel was booked, band was booked, and caterer was picked. I think we felt accomplished and happy to get the major decisions out of the way quickly. And all that left was me finding a dress and showing up...right? WRONG. Every Bride I've talked to has said that it's the details that make everything so stressful. They are all right. It doens't matter how organized you are...it's crazy!

We were spending a beautiful Saturday on the Cape at my Grandmother's pool talking about wedding plans and the (dreaded) guest list. When she randomly asked Andrew what he'd want to do for our wedding if he could pick anything. He didn't bat an eyelash before saying "I'd want to just go away somewhere and get married in front of our immediate family and closest friends." Again, another "aha!" moment. We had talked about a destination wedding years ago and always thought it would be so much fun. But I swear you forget who you are when you start digging into the world of wedding planning. The whole destination wedding thing seemed too unrealistic and we were afraid it would leave out too many people who we cared for and wanted to be there.

After much thought and discussion we decided to nix the whole big wedding thing. I'm happy to say that for the most part our families were happy and supportive of our decision. I know it was a complete turn around and we didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings but as soon as we made up our minds about it we both felt a giant sense of relief! We had already done a ton of research about where to go for our honeymoon, but obviously we needed to find a resort that wasn't adults only and could accommodate families. After many nights looking at Tripadvisor and other websites we finally found the perfect place. Azul Beach gets amazing reviews from other travelers and wedding couples and it has absolutely everything we are looking for!

We decided to keep it a relatively short guest list and only invite our parents, siblings, my grandparents and a few best friends. We don't want to exclude anyone but we also don't want to get away from our decision to have a small, intimate wedding with the people that matter most to us. Because we have so many wonderful people in our lives that we want to celebrate with, we want to have a big party when we get back with everyone!

We can't express how excited we are about our wedding plans. Not only is the planning part incredibly easy, but we've regained sight about what that day is really about.

Our first thought was that we were going to get married at Azul Beach and then go to a different resort for the remainder of our Honeymoon. Again, after a lot of research and review reading we decided to stay right where we are getting married!

We've been working with a super helpful Wedding Coordinator and a wonderful Travel Agent to get all the plans in order and all I can say is thank God for them! They are making this so easy and it's comforting to know I can rely on people who know what they are doing and are wiling to make it possible for us to have the best trip ever!

Part of our wedding package is the website along with a Honeymoon registry. Gift registries are great for people who are just moving in together or are planning on buying their first home. Andrew and I have been in this apartment for over 4 years and we have all the furniture, home decor and appliances we need. Not that we wouldn't be appreciative of any gifts that were given to us, but the Honeymoon registry is a really neat idea! We haven't started it yet, but we'll keep you posted when it's ready :)