Blessed are we!

Truly. Things are going extremely well and the seams are being sewn smoothly over our pot-hole plans. A few minor bumps along the way but it seems we are truly getting this wedding to come together as one cohesive "Meladrew" or "Andanie" (or whatever you prefer). We excitedly met with our photographer of choice, Jim, the owner of Black Dog Studios. As we went over our package options, my eyes sparkled with sun rays bouncing off Nikon lenses and my bling. A joyous future in front of the lens is indeed where I see Andrew and I on our wedding day in beautiful September. Twirling in my dress and Andy... well, watching me?

The best part of the whole experience with Jim (minus his sweet black dog) was that there is a package to include a videographer! And he was of course, extremely contagious in his positive attitude which Andy and I both appreciated. With the black dog lapping up his bone in the background all I could think about was how our day is going to be captured. I want to jar it, put it beside my bed and open it whenever I am feeling down. Since I can't do that, I will settle for a video instead. :) Classy.

As for the florist... well, we are really kind of stumped. We both went into the meeting hoping for some inspiration to smack us in the face but instead I think we did all the smacking. So much so, we walked out not exactly sure what happened except that we basically spoke to each other about what we already said we liked. And someone watched. She did have one good idea, but didn't give us any details about what that idea might cost. I think the biggest factor in us deciding what will work for us is what we are able to afford. Which... isn't much. Thankfully, Andy's wonderful parents Tom and Sue have offered their aid.

As for now, our wedding colors are blue, green, purple and there will be a lot of wood placed around for texture... so that adds brown into the equation. This will be fun. :)

Mel's Pops

Growing up as my dad's little girl, I was given the implied notion that some day when my marriage came to fruition... I could have the wedding of my dreams and "daddy" was going to make sure of it. As November has crept up quickly in this year of 2010, two weeks short of my 24th birthday, I have the wedding of my dreams all made out in my head. The October engagement that Andrew and I excitedly shared is now nearing it's graduation into the wedding planning seed.

Andy, the high school science teacher and I, the production assistant to graphic designers are now heading down this heavily treaded trail of wondering... "what's our budget?". As I mentioned... I had grown up with the idea that my pops was taking care of everything. Of course, things have changed.

Here's the short shorts: I moved from my hometown of Toledo, OH four years ago, leaving behind my closest friends and most of my family. Andy's family is scattered throughout the midwest, so needless to say there is going to be a lot of travel involved for those sharing in the joy of our big day. My father, Rick, owns a 200+ room resort, complete with a full-service spa, banquet halls and more recently, an outdoor seasonal tent. Ah ha! Our love of the outdoors with the comfort of a roof and some walls in the event that Nature decides to rain on our parade. Or blow wing up my dress. You get the picture. Perfect, right? This is where the mess really begins.

Daddy doesn't want to let me have the wedding I want. He wants to plan everything from the decorations, dinner, lighting and all else between corny and dancing. So... what is the young couple to do? Is it more important to have the wedding that screams "WOW! This is exactly how I imagined you two putting together a wedding" and going into debt orrrr... "This is your guys' wedding?" and not having to spit out more than a few bucks here and there?

Our choice is quite simple... go into debt. I see it this way: Money is what you spend while living but life is the real currency of time. Do you want to spend your life on making money or love and relationships? Obviously, we are going to be cut short on many things for our wedding but what's important to us is well... us and will it be ours.

This Sunday, at 5pm, we'll be having dinner at his house. Hopefully the old man isn't going to try to dodge any more questions I have about wedding ideas and plans. That's what he has been up to. Every phone call, in-person meet and e-mail has been disregarded and turned into something of a work conversation. Oh, that's the cherry on top. He wants us to have it in Spring so he can use our wedding as a showcase wedding to show potential clients. Once again... being put after his business is showing to be more painful now than it ever has.

I''l keep you posted. And ideas to come!