I married my best friend on October 22, 2016. He proposed on October 22, 2014. We started dating on October 22, 2002. Needless to say, October 22 is a pretty special day to us.
Our relationship started in 10th grade of high school at the homecoming football dance. Days in school visiting each others lockers would follow by nights chatting over AOL instant messenger. It seems so cheesy to think back to now, but it’s our story: it’s unique and I love it.
From driver’s licenses, high school and college graduations, first jobs, home buying, and first trips out of the country, to building businesses and turning 30, we’ve experienced most of life’s greatest milestones together, and that’s led to quite the bond.
Throughout the first 11 years of our relationship, there was absolutely zero pressure from me to get married. I COULD NOT STAND when other people would bring up marriage to him, with questions like “what’s taking ya so long?” Or “11 years! Where’s the ring?” I know people meant well, but it drove me absolutely nuts. I would always respond back that it was me… I didn’t want to get married. It wasn’t really that I didn’t EVER want to get married, but it just wasn’t something that I wanted on my plate then. In those days, I thought if we were going to get married, we would elope. That was always an option.
Right around that 12 year mark though… phew! That was the kicker. By that time, we had just finished being in our final friends’ wedding. Our entire circle of friends were now married, and were starting to have kids. The hint that it was time started to get dropped, and it didn’t take long for him to catch on.
We were engaged October 22, 2014. We had just had dinner at a local Italian restaurant to celebrate our 12 year dating anniversary. Upon returning home from the restaurant, he drove the car around our house and into our back yard. I asked what he was doing and he said he wanted to see if there were deer in the back yard… “ummmm okay.” He came to a stop in the middle of our yard and asked me to get out. He proposed in the glow of headlights in our backyard. I threw off my heels and said “yes.”
The weekend after our engagement, we took a trip out to Boston to celebrate. We’re upstate New Yorkers, but have LOVED Boston since he went to college out there. He lived on the outskirts of the city, and I would drive the three hours from New York to visit him on the weekends. We went back to Boston in October 2015 for our engagement photo shoot.
For about the first 6 months of our engagement, we had absolutely no ideas what we were going to do. Elope? City Hall? Backyard shindig? Big wedding? The whole idea of having a larger wedding made me want to throw up. First of all, there are people in my family who don’t get along…like at all… so there’s the stress of that. Second, the cost… the astronomical cost of the average wedding has always seemed like a waste to me. Third, I’ve never liked being the center of attention.
Well after about 6 months, we decided we better get going with the planning. Playing with one of our options, I drew up an idea of a backyard wedding. After listing out all of the things we would have to do to our home and our yard to get them wedding ready, I realized that it would cost us more than renting an actual venue. So, out of curiosity, I called the City of Saratoga to check the availability of the Canfield Casino, which is one of the most desired wedding venues in our area. It was ran in the late 1800’s as a gambling casino for the world’s wealthiest people, and is now part-museum, part-venue, with a geougeous ballroom. Over the phone, the women told me there were only 3 available Saturdays left for the next year…. one was October 22. Well there went eloping and City Hall! I took the date, put a payment down, and began planning the elegant, “bigger” wedding that I had never envisioned.
Exactly 2 years from the day he proposed, and 14 years from the day he asked me to be his girlfriend, we were married at the Canfield Casino in Saratoga Springs, NY. I’m certainly glad that we did away with the backyard wedding idea because IT. POURED. ALL. DAY. Despite the weather, our day was perfect. I still can’t believe it went as well as it did! I thought for sure that there were going to be some terrible consequences of having certain people in the same room with one another…. I had nightmares about it for months. But none of that. Everyone was there to celebrate with us, and everyone did just that. I’m happy that we did it the way we did, but I’m so glad it’s over! Now we have great memories, and photos to cherish for a lifetime.
Huge kudos to our amazzzzzingggg wedding vendors! We seriously had the best team behind us!
