Here We Go.....!

Soooo... I've been waiting to share something. Patiently waiting, until recently. I needed to wait until I felt secure and ready to move forward... and well, ready to plan. Well, here I am... not only ready, but actually excited! Alex and I are getting married. *smile* When Alex started trying to make his way back into my life I pretty much laughed it off and thought, "Well, here we go again". It turns out: he was serious and I was wrong. He was ready and wanting to be a family and he was going to make sure I knew it. During his visits to see Marlowe: he brought little gifts, like: my favorite coffee, records, or flowers, much like he had in the past (these things didn't phase me too much). Then he returned to New York and the songs started coming in again. An email or a text on his commute to work everyday with an "I love you" and a song. He was texting everyday. Everyday, telling me: he wanted to be with me, he loved me, and he was going to show me that he wanted to be with me forever. "Okay Alex, I've told you, words don't matter... show me".

I received a phone call one afternoon from Alex telling me there should be an email waiting for me. That day had already been incredibly strange (maybe we can talk about that some other time) and I really didn't know what to expect. I went inside, opened up my computer, and found a very long email addressed to my closest family members. He apologized to them for all his wrong doings. He was sorry for hurting them, for hurting me, and for not being there for Marlowe or I. He asked for their forgiveness, he told them he was going to make everything right, and he was willing to fight through anything to be with me again. I sat there in shock--- he wasn't normally the type to make such bold moves, but the email was right there in front of me. He was determined to make sure I knew how serious and sincere he was. 

A few days later I was off to Massachusetts. He said he would like to see me and wanted to try to come and visit. I said "Okay Alex, whatever you want to do" came out of my mouth while my mind said: "The email was nice, and as much as I would like him to show up, he won't".  Like I mentioned before, he did show up... and he surprised me. What I didn't mention... was that I later found out he had been emailing my mom back and forth, trying to plan a way to surprise me.... to propose. His plan was for me to be waiting, flustered, at the train station, and for him to get off the train and propose right there... well that didn't happen, but this was my own (unknowing) fault. After his surprise arrival we spent the afternoon with Marlowe and my family before heading out on a drive together. He didn't really have anything in particular planned, but he knew he was going to find somewhere beautiful. Well, he did: a blueberry farm, it was beautiful and it was perfect for us. (We have a long tradition of visiting farms and fruit picking) We were the only ones in the field, with the mountains behind us, and he told me he wanted to be with me and he wanted to marry me. 

I wish I could say: I loudly proclaimed "YES!" right away, but honestly, I didn't. He had taken so many steps to show me he wanted to be with me, but I told him I needed more--- I needed time, but if things kept going the way they were going... well... of course I would love to marry him.

Here we are, a few months later, and we've been steadily working on and progressing in our relationship. I am now ready to move forward and plan our wedding. As a girl, who never dreamed of a long white dress or my wedding, I've been a bit hesitant on planning, but Alex has been persistent. So here we are and more importantly, here I am: actually planning a wedding. Now that a location and date has been decided on, I can say: I am beyond excited for all this to happen. So excited that I couldn't keep it a secret any longer! I look forward to our wedding day, and even more so to our marriage. 

Also, I couldn't keep it a secret any longer because... I would like (need) some wedding help. I know nothing about weddings or wedding planning. We have a location picked, a few set details, and on occasion I peek at Once Wed, but other than that I'm at a bit lost in the wedding world. Can you ladies maybe help me out? I'd love if you could email me (or comment) with anything wedding related. Anything from: favorite wedding shops, dresses, shoes, accessories, invitations, decorations, photographers, wine, rings, anything! It would be beyond appreciated!

By the way, it's been decided... we're having our wedding in April :)

Five short months away. I know in wedding world that is quick quick quick, but why not?!

Have a love filled weekend, everyone! 

edit: thank you for all your congratulations! my phone is exploding with love (mostly via twitter)! I've had a few tweets and other things mentioning pinterest.... for different reasons. Yes, I have a pinterest.... I just recently got it (specifically for this)... if you follow it already.... then yeah, I'm pretty obvious... you already knew I was planning a wedding... but if not, then feel free to follow along with some of the things I have found and love ;)