Weddingbee bios

Jessica...the bride:

Growing up, I was always the token “hopeless romantic” among my friends. Whenever the latest romantic comedy was released I was there—tissue in hand—to watch the love story unfold. While my friends were meeting significant others, I was there observing the do’s and don’ts of dating, and even though my days of dating never resembled those in the movies, I now has close friendships instead of multiple broken hearts.

In elementary school I made a list of traits I wanted her boyfriend to have—and all the characteristics were so demanding I ended up putting it away several months after I realized—at such a young age—finding the “perfect” guy was practically unattainable. After getting to know Kenny, however, it turned out I was finally able to cross off every quality on that list.

From the (second) time I met Kenny I've been constantly attached to my cell phone (her text message counts go through the roof!), I've brushed up on my letter-writing skills, and I've flown across the country countless times to spend as much time as possible with her love. Living the life of a military girlfriend has not been easy, but it’s certainly been worth it.

Kenny...the groom:

When Kenny was younger he had a favorite red suit and a matching red bow tie that he’d wear as often as possible; his fiancé thinks he used to wear it around to charm the ladies even when he was just a little tyke. A geek to the core, Kenny went to college to pursue a degree that would allow him to play on computers all day, but while he was there aeronautics piqued his interested and soon he found himself signing up for the United States Air Force.

Before long, Kenny got commissioned and moved to Panama City, Florida, to complete training for his new job as an Air Battle Manager. Juggling his free time between work and a life outside was demanding, but he managed to see Jessica as often as possible. He’s now in Warner Robins, Georgia, where he recently bought a house. His plan of luring Jessica to move in with him was working, especially when he started filling his home with furniture the two handpicked out. His grand scheme worked when he asked the girl of his dreams to marry him. She said yes and will move in promptly after they tie the knot.

1.1.06: It was a few minutes past midnight when we first laid eyes on each other. Because of mutual friends, we both ended up going to the same New Year's Eve party, and after the clock struck twelve we started talking and ignored everything else going on. But before we knew it, the party was dwindling down. On January first we parted ways, and even though we tried to reconnect throughout 2006, it never worked out (i.e. he wasn't on Facebook yet!).

12.26.06 Skip ahead almost a year when a friend of mine's was getting married a few days later and decided to have her bachelorette party in downtown Albuquerque during a freak blizzard. We all packed up the mini van and headed downtown. At one of the last stops, Maloney's Tavern, I saw Kenny. He was in town again and was out on the town with some friends. After talking and catching up for awhile they realized they were both planning on attending the New Years party a few days later.

01.01.07 When the clock struck midnight we both celebrated the new year, but this time we shared our last first kiss (wow! How cheesy is that?!). A few months later—thanks to Facebook, cell phones, and the Internet—we became an item.

My flight from Albuquerque to Atlanta on Friday the 13th was supposed to get in at 11:40 pm, but instead I was taxing into the airport at 12:45 am on the 14th. Kenny was there to pick me up, and by just shy of 3 am we arrived at his house in Warner Robins.

On Valentine's Day morning we woke up, after a few hours of sleep, and while I was in a sleepy daze Kenny took my rings off my fingers. Kenny's a fidgeter and often takes off my rings to twiddle around with them, so I didn't think anything of it.

A little while later he put the rings back on my fingers, like he usually does. But as we were laying there I could feel his heart start to race.

We had a running joke about getting married in 2012; don't ask me how or when it started, but two thousand twelve became the "magic" year for us.

So when Kenny said, "Will you marry me tomorrow?" My response was to giggle and say, "no." Then he said, "Will you marry me in 2012?" Since he also always asks me this, I laughed and this time said, "Ha. No. That's too far away." Around this time it felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. He then said, "Well, will you marry me sometime?" I said, "Of course!" Then he said, "No. I'm serious. Will you marry me? Look at your hand." I looked at my hand, and instead of the ring he had made me on my finger there was a gorgeous diamond ring. (The ring in the photo above is my ring, taken by Don James, www.donjamesphotography.com)

After lots of crying and giggling, I found out that Kenny not only asked both of my parents for their permission, but he did it back in December!

Our pics were taken by the lovely Kim Jackson Photography! We had a blast taking them. For some reason it's only loading one of them (GRRRR!), so if you're interested in seeing more, send me a message and I can give you the link.

 

and i made that all myself!

Oh, the ring! My FI is much more in his comfort zone by ordering things online, so my lovely ring from above (yes, that's my e-ring shot by a friend of mine, Don James Photography), comes from Blue Nile. I LOVE it. I've never been a fan of solitare rings, and my FI wanted something a little "blingy" for me to wear, so he fell in love with this.

Finding a wedding band to go with it is more difficult than I though, though. I don't necessarily need/want more diamonds, so I talked to a jeweler who can custom make a band to fit next to mine. Here are some inspiration pics of what I think I want: