Introducing New Featured Bride Blogger- Christy Ewers!

There’s a reason you only do it once.

When I finally uttered the three little letters “Y. E. S” on July 31^st, 2006, I had little to no idea what I was agreeing to.

Sure, I was agreeing to retire my Swinging’ Singles jersey for a long and happy life with the only man I’d ever do that for. But I was also accepting a proposal to color schemes, table arrangements, dress fittings, and a virtual career move. I didn’t realize that I was accepting a new job – one that I’d been applying for ever since Chris and I had begun to date five years prior. I was now a wedding planner. For better, or worse.

To give a little back-story, I’m not innately what one would call “a romantic.” I’m extremely sentimental – almost to a fault – but romance is usually lost on me. Therefore, I was not the kind of girl who had my wedding planned before I said “yes” (or even had a boyfriend). Honestly, prior to “yes”, the thought of a wedding had never crossed my mind whenever I’d thought about marrying Chris. A lifetime with him was, to me, all that marriage had ever meant. So basically, as far as my new job went, I was screwed. Much more on that later.

First, a $3 tour of our priceless story:

Chris and I met on Nantucket Island after our eyes locked from across a smoky bar (yes, it was that long ago). I was racking glasses after my shift of slinging the last legal drug, and he was winding down after his shift as a waiter next door. To this day, I can still remember his handshake – because it was perfect. I find handshakes to be the widest window into who it is you’re meeting, and I had (and still haven’t) seen a better man in my life. I certainly remembered that handshake 2 years later when he emailed me out of the blue, hoping to reconnect.

Needless to say, we did.

One fortuitous reunion, one Boston apartment, one cross-country move (me), another cross-country move (him), one awesome life together in LA and five years later, he was down on one knee in front of me on the Nantucket kayaking beach on which we’d first kissed almost a decade earlier.

The layman would think that his proposal would have come as no surprise. The layman would be wrong.

He got me. He got me gooooooooood. I was (am) fiercely and stubbornly independent, and had spent years dry heaving at the very mention of marriage. He was a very brave man to propose it – especially since he had no idea that I’d recently, uncharacteristically, been dying for him to do it.

Flabbergasted, I asked him if he “was serious” at least 30 times before finally blurting out a teary “YES” in a way that only an unromantic, romantic would…with mascara, and probably snot, running down my face.

For a girl who is admittedly incapable of making a decision, “yes” has never been easier for me to say than when I said it to Chris - because lets face it, he has always been my lobster.*

After drinking enough champagne to drown a cow, I woke up early the next day with first-day-of-school excitement. Confused, I searched for the brand new pair of Buster Browns next to my bed, but what I found instead was a rock (3, actually) on my ring finger. This wasn’t my first day of school…this was my first day as a fiancé.

Looking back, it was perfect that I equated my first day of engagement to a first day of school…because I certainly got schooled. For a year. It was the most I’ve ever learned in a year – about myself, my relationship, my affinity (or lack thereof) for flowers and my adoration for my Mother among smaller lessons that eventually culminated in a wedding to end all weddings (for me, at least).

Future blogs on the first Friday of every month will outline that journey and the curriculum of my schooling and temporary career as a wedding planner. But for now – a little advise for the newly engaged:

If you know where you’d like your wedding to be, get it. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200, waste not a moment in nailing down your church/site and reception venue. I’d say this is especially important for destination weddings, but come to think of it – no matter where you plan it, most locations have limited venues, space, churches, etc. And, more importantly, there are only so many weekends in a year…

I am a HUGE advocate of enjoying your engagement to its fullest before letting the wedding planning ruin your state of bliss – however, the faster you can act on the big things, the better.

Setting is as important as you think it is, and the right setting can make the rest of the decisions come naturally. It’s the palate with which the entire day is painted. So dream big, and make it happen. And once that’s done, chill – the small decisions can wait…

As for Chris and I, we knew that we’d marry on Nantucket. It was in the stars – MUCH to my parents’ dismay (and everyone elses’, once we explained that it is, in fact, an island in the middle of the Atlantic). Day one, we looked at each other and didn’t even have to say it: The Congregational Church on Center Street – and that was literally our first stop that day. Before we returned to LA three days later, we had a wedding date and a time. September 22, 2007, 4:30pm.

And thus, it began….

*Lobsters are bottom-feeders who mate for life.

Thanks to the folks at Weddzilla for the opportunity to contribute! For more about me, and to view my personal blog, please visit www.teemsinthecity.blogspot.com