Weddingbee bios

Miss Rainbow:

<div class="c-text">

-22 years old

-a Make-Up Artist

-a decoratoraholic

-a cheesecake connoisseur

-scared of butterflies, needles, and vacuum cleaners

-in love with feathers, flowers, and sparkle

-a wanna-be chef

-organizationally OCD, i need a list for my lists.

-a complete shoe addict

-Obsessed with corn nuggets & french macarons

Mr. Rainbow:

<div class="c-text">

-25 years old

-a recovering caffeine addict

-has the expletive prowess of a sailor

-ambitious and driven and analytical beyond belief

-loves his White Russians (the drink, haha)

-a tinkerer; computers, trains, whatever he can get his hands on.

-studying to become an Electrical Engineer

-is putty in Sophie's paws, but won't admit it

-cat paw painter (izzy) and groomer extraordinaire (tiger)

-taurus. bull. stubborn. enough said.

Mr. R & I met during Christmas at my aunt’s house in Florida. He was my cousin’s best friend and I was instantly smitten. He was so different than anyone I’d  ever met. He was hilarious, sarcastic, extremely intelligent, and had the most amazing stormy blue eyes you’ve ever seen. He chased me around my aunt’s back yard with markers—I guess that meant he liked me, too. After the holidays, I went back to Alabama with my family, but he never left my mind. That was in 1998, and I was 11.

We saw each other every other Christmas for the next few years—only 4 times between 1998 and 2003. We spent the time between, chatting on Instant Messenger, sending ridiculously long emails, and occasionally talking on the phone. We never fully came out and said that we liked each other, but it was obvious. We’d go months without speaking, and then pick up right where we left off. Despite the distance, there was something that just kept drawing us back to each other. The last time we came to Florida for the holidays was in 2005. I was so excited to see him. I had just turned 18, I had grown up a little, and I just knew that if he was there that Christmas, I would finally tell him how I felt after all those years. He didn’t show. I was 16 the last time I saw Mr. R.

When I was 19, I got engaged to my then-boyfriend, J. Soon after he proposed, we moved to Florida so he could pursue his education. I hate to admit this, but as soon as my then-fiance decided to move to Florida, Mr. R crossed my mind.

I knew I would finally be in his home state, closer to him that I’d ever been. Needless to say, my relationship with J didn’t work out for a number of reasons. I moved in with my mom in South Florida where I did a combination of sulking and stalking Mr. R’s MySpace page. After a few weeks, I got up the courage to email him. I never expected to get a response—we hadn’t spoken in a year and a half, nor seen each other for almost 4 years. He responded. We (again) emailed and spoke on the phone for a few weeks until we decided to finally meet up.

Fireworks. It was magical. One day turned into three, and we both just knew. This was it. This is what everyone talks about, hopes for. This is why fate kept dragging us back together no matter how much the cards weren’t in our favor. And finally, after almost 10 years, on that weekend, fate managed to set everything up perfectly, flawlessly. On the way home after that weekend, I called my friend (now MOH) K, and the first thing I said was, “Oh my god, I’m going to marry him!” It was heartbreaking going back to our normal lives after that weekend, but we knew everything had changed. We drove back and forth, 4 hours, every weekend for a month until we decided to take the plunge and move in together. We found an apartment in Central Florida and moved in together on our one month date-aversary. It was crazy and exciting and scary, but here we are two years later, planning our wedding.

<p align="left">Mr. Rainbow and I have a history of keeping our Thanksgivings pretty low-key. I think that stems from being “un-invited” to my FMIL’s Thanksgiving Dinner in 2007, the first year we were together… and yes, you heard that right. Un-invited. Anyway, moving on… after calling my mom half-way to tears that year, she invited us down to South Florida to spend Thanksgiving with her, even though she doesn’t generally celebrate Thanksgiving. We thought about it, but decided we’d just have our own little Thanksgiving at home - just me, him, and our dog, Sophie.
<p align="left">When Thanksgiving 2008 rolled around, we stuck to the plan: me, him, Sophie, Spade (our new furry addition), and way too much food. Little did I know, this year’s Thanksgiving would take on a whole new meaning. Let’s start at the beginning:
<p align="left">Thanksgiving morning started out pretty calmly, but that didn’t last very long. This had to be the Thanksgiving where nothing went right. The thermometer was broken, we didn’t have a turkey baster, when we took the turkey out of the oven it wasn’t cooked, yadda, yadda, yadda. It was just one of those days. At one point I said to Mr. Rainbow: “Thank God we’re not having dinner with my dad, because he always makes us say what we’re thankful for, and right now, I’m not thankful for anything!’” All the while I was freaking out, Mr. R was busy trying to calm me down, stashing the ring, and trying not to let me figure out what was going on. Poor guy, sometimes I don’t know how he does it!

 

<p align="left">After multiple kitched debacles, we finally sat down to eat—yes, dogs included. Mr. Rainbow asked me what I was thankful for, and I responded with, “Well honey, I’m thankful for you, our dogs, my family and friends.” I asked him what he was thankful for, and he said, “I’m thankful for the dogs, and my friends and family.”
<p align="left">Uhhh… what?! See, if you were paying attention, you’ll notice that he left out one very important detail: Me. Helloooo, what about me?! After an uncomfortably long pause (thanks sweetheart), he got down on one knee, ring in hand, and said, “and of course, most of all, I’m thankful for you. Will you marry me?”
<p align="left">Well, YES!!!
<p align="left">How he pulled off surprising me will remain a mystery. I’m too much of a control freak to not figure things out, but my family was quite impressed that he pulled off the surprise. I promptly called my mom and aunt (and everyone else I know), and they screamed on the phone for a good 10 minutes. It was the icing on the cake to what became the best Thanksgiving ever. And now I present to you, my pet rock:
<p align="left">

<p align="left">Before I discovered makeup and the joys of being behind the lens, I used to model. Along the way, I met a few really great photographers who also became friends. About two years ago (way before Mr. R and I were engaged), one of said photographer friends called in a favor. Apparently he was putting together a shoot-out/seminar for about 20 of his closest photographer friends, and was wondering if I’d come down and model for them. Well, duh.
<p align="left">About a week before, he told me that their only male model had pulled out of the shoot and was wondering if Mr. Rainbow would be willing to stand in. I asked Mr. Rainbow (who is more than a little shy when it comes to things like this) and after a bit of begging and pleading, he said yes! After some grueling Tyra-style model boot-camp (I kid) Mr. Rainbow and I were ready to get our Zoolander on. What commenced will forever be my favorite photos on the planet, and what we now consider our “ungagement photos”. With pictures this amazing, we didn’t see the need for an actual engagement shoot. Have a look see, why don’t ya:
<p align="center">

 

<p align="center">
<p align="center">
<p align="left">A bug jumped on me and I freaked out. Note the look of concern on Mr. Rainbow’s face. After it jumped on me, I was ready to move on to the next set! If I only knew…
<p align="center">
<p align="center">
<p align="center">
<p align="center">
<p align="left">Yup, that’s me in a mud puddle. Only days before hearing about the brain eating amoeba lurking in central Florida mud puddles. No, I’m not kidding. Luckily I didn’t know about it, or else I would have missed out on some awesome photos. Oh yeah, and luckily I didn’t die! Next up, they hosed us off the mud with a freaking cold hose and we got this shot:
<p align="center">
<p align="left">I am in love with this photo. I’m still waiting to get off my lazy butt so I can get it blown up and matted. Oh yeah, another bit of info about this photo- apparently someone at the Gate Theatre in London stumbled across this baby and asked if they could use it as the poster for their production of Hedda.
<p style="text-align: center;">
<p align="left">Here’s a screen shot from their website. That’s right, the FI and I were posted all around London for months! I’m still wishing I could have gone and seen it! How many times does one get their face on a billboard/posters/fliers? Ahh, my life could have turned out like this:
<p style="text-align: center;">
<p align="center">Papa-paparazzi .
<p align="left">Did you have any photos with your SO that made you forgo the engagement shoot?
<p align="left">*all photos courtesy of Nick Haskins, Lori Barbely, and Josh Mullenite

Pinks, Purples, Grey, and Dusty Aqua.

My engagement ring and our wedding bands- a half eternity band for her, and brushed tungsten for him

White satin Badgley Mischka "Caroline" peeptoes and eggplant suede Amalfi by Rangoni "Nichol" slingbacks with added brooches.