Weddingbee bios

At my bridal shower, my sister gave me a card that said, "You two are so much alike, it's funny and wonderful to watch."

We both love music and movies.  We're laid-back, and are just as happy to sit at home on a Saturday night watching a movie and playing board games as we are to go out and meet up with friends.  Our families are extremely important to us both, so holidays (with my parents divorced) get pretty hectic!  He has two brothers (one older with 2 kids and one younger) and I have a younger sister, plus two step-sisters and a step-brother.  Needless to say, that keeps us busy!  We love to laugh, and spend hours together doing just that.

I'm a social worker at a small-ish hospital (compared to other hospitals in the area) in a BIG city.  Between finishing high school and moving to Philadelphia, I went to college and graduate school, living all over the state. After grad school I returned home, and searched for a job for about 2 years until I finally found the right one...which was also when I met The One.  The job I was offered was in Philadelphia, which happened to be where he was living.  Perfect.  Matt went to college and then soon after graduation moved to the Philadelphia area.  He's a civil designer for an engineering firm outside of Philly.  3 years ago, we bought our house outside of Philly and have lived here since then, creating a life and home together.  We cannot wait until October 23, 2010!!

I knew who Matt was in high school.  Not only that, but I had a huge crush on him.  Like, "used-to-just-freeze-in-place-when-he-would-walk-through-the-cafeteria-while-I-was-eating-with-my-friends" huge.  I even met him once, when he came over to say hi to the captain of my cheering squad - she introduced us, saying, "This is Erin.  This is the one I've been telling you about."  They were really good friends, and she had taken me under her wing on the squad...and apparently she'd told him about me?!?!  Oh. My. God.  Not that he remembered any of that, of course.  He had absolutely no idea who I was - not then, and not 8 years later, when we finally met "for real." 

One of my best friends from grade school married one of his best friends from grade school.  They were roommates in college (Matt and his friend, not my friend), and when I would go visit my friend, she would take me over to their apartment.  He was never there.  When they got married, he was a groomsman.  I was supposed to be a bridesmaid, but my cousin got married on the same day.  Finally, 2 years after their wedding, they hosted their first big, now-annual, Labor Day party at their house in Boston.  I arrived late - like, at midnight - and the party was in full swing.  I came into the house and down the stairs where everyone was hanging out, and when Steph announced my arrival, Matt turned around and smiled at me, and I was a goner.  I remembered right then why I had a leg-weakening, heart-melting crush on him in high school.  We started talking, and spent the entire weekend spending every possible chance together.  We exchanged numbers when the weekend was over and kept in touch through phone, email, and visits for a year until I finally was offered a job in Philadelphia and moved to within a mile of where he was living!

Here's a picture from the weekend we met:

 

Since I work in a hospital, I often have to work on "holidays" like Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve.  This year was my turn to work on New Year's Eve.  We were told we were allowed to leave whenever our work was done for the day, and I managed to get things wrapped up by about 3:30.  I take the train to and from the city for work, and so I had to wait for the 4:10 train home, which got me home around 4:40.  Matt picked me up at the train station, and when I got in the car, I noticed he was already all dressed up for our dinner - which wasn't for another 5 hours!  We had dinner reservations at Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse in the Center City - it was the first year since we'd been together that we had real plans for New Year's Eve.  I couldn't wait! 

Anyway, like I said, Matt was already all dressed in his nice shirt and tie.  I thought it was a little bit weird, but...well, he's a strange guy sometimes, so I just let it alone.  But then we got home and I opened the front door to rose petals scattered on the floor and up the stairs.  I got all giggly and nervous and asked him what was going on; "Just follow them," he said, smiling.  So I did as I was told, and followed the petals up the stairs and into our bedroom, where a full bouquet of roses and a card were waiting for me.  I opened up the card, which was just about the sweetest thing I'd ever read.  The last line that he'd written said, "So I have just one question to ask you..."  I turned to look at Matt and he dropped to a knee and asked me if I would marry him.  Through my tears and giggles, I managed to squeak out something like "You know I will!"  It was the BEST way to kick off a new year!!!

We got a free engagement photo session when Matt bought my ring.  So we decided to cash in and see what we could come up.  We're SO glad we did!! 

We made our way around the Philadelphia Museum of Art, down Kelly Drive, into one of the boathouses on Boathouse Row, and back up to the Art Museum in time for the sunset.  We love these pictures.  Many thanks to Ben Weldon of the Roggio group for taking awesome pictures and being so much fun to hang out with for the afternoon!

After Matt and I got engaged, I spent LOTS of time pouring through wedding dress pictures (as, I'm sure, did pretty much everyone else!).  One day, I found it: The One! 

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Ashten, by Augusta Jones.  It was everything I was picturing for my wedding dress - empire waist, flowy skirt, comfortable-looking...  I was SO excited when I found out the store that I planned to visit first carried the Augusta Jones line!

So I got to the store and showed my consultant the picture and said, "This is the dress I'm looking for."  And.....they didn't have her!  But I moved on, and started checking out dozens of other dresses.  And my consultant disappeared for a few minutes, searching for a dress that she claimed was "just what I was describing." 

A few minutes later, she showed up and hustled me off to the dressing room, anxious to put on the dress she was finally able to find, upstairs in the sample room.  She put it on me, and *cue heavenly music* it was perfect!!!  Everything I wanted and more!  As I stood there in the mirror, admiring myself and talking about how perfect it was with my mom and FMIL and sister, my consultant said, "This dress reminds me of that Jane Austen book, Emma."  I about hit the floor, because Emma is my nickname!  And yet, ignoring all the signs of the sheer perfection of this dress, I left it there and went to 2 other appointments.  I even put a deposit on another dress!

Silly girl.  For the rest of the night, I thought of nothing but my Emma dress.  I finally confessed to my mom, and we immediately called and cancelled the first order and put a deposit on the right dress.  Not to mention, did you catch that my consultant found her in the sample room?  Yep...she's a sample...at a sample sale price!  Score!!!

And here she is, in all her gorgeousness:

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*squee!!!*  I'm so freakin excited to wear this on our wedding day!!! 

Been a while, but the Randomizer series sucked me in!  Here are my 10 random images from the day, brought to you by Random.org!

I love and adore this picture, actually.  I am introducing my mom and stepdad to my "Philly parents" - a close friend that I work with, who happens to be married to my train conductor.  I talk about them ALL THE TIME, and was so thrilled to be able to introduce them to my parents.  As suspected, they hit it off in grand style.  Later pictures show them boogying on the dance floor together!

 

The photographer told us to walk away from the camera, then turn around and give her our best "sultry" look.  Clearly, none of us are natural-born sexpots.  But I love this picture - we had so much fun with our pre-wedding bridal party shots!

 

Man, so far this generator is doing well!  This is another great picture.  Taken after the wedding, our entire wedding party hung out in front of the trolley for a few fun photos.  These moments, and the ride over to the reception with them, were some of our favorites from the day.  Just us and our very best friends.

Our wedding party enters this reception.  This just so happens to be the couple who introduced us.  We met at a party at their house, started our relationship a year later at their house, and exchanged our first "I love yous" at another party at their house.  They are very important to us.

Matt's portraits, before the ceremony.  Is he handsome, or what?

This is my husband and all his high school friends.  15+ years later and they're still same goofy guys they were back then.  As close as ever.

Ok, so I remember 2 slow songs being played at our wedding - our first dance, and this one.  I don't remember the song.  I just remember it was one of the very few slow songs they played, becuase our guests were more concerned with having fun on the dance floor than being all lovey-dovey and sappy. 

This is a really sweet picture.  After Matt's dance with his mom, his Dad and 2 brothers joined them on the dance floor for a big family hug.  They have been really close all their lives, and it was a really special family moment.  I cried, I can tell you that.

Yyuuup!  My girls, on the dance floor.  All. Night. Long.  Love it.

Another one of our favorite moments from the day.  Right after the ceremony, we dismissed our guests and sent them to the reception for cocktail hour.  The wedding party and our families stuck around for a few portraits.  Then we had a few portraits with just the two of us.  In the meantime, our wedding party was waiting outside for us to join them on the trolley.  When we exited the church, they surprised us with a champagne toast.  It was a really special moment, and I love this picture.  It is the background on my home computer.  Still.  Over a year later.

 

So that's it.  My 10 random photos from our wedding day.  I love our pictures and every time I had a crappy day, I just pull them out and it brings my spirits up immediately.  We had an absolutely perfect day, and I wouldn't change any single, solitary, random moment.