Hello!

I am delighted to join this wonderful group of women in the conversation of wedding planning and everything that goes along with it. Let me start my first post telling you about our strange and wonderful story to provide a background for everything that is yet to come:

Snapdragon bud & Snapdragon Dude

You’ll see in my bio a little bit about how we met. In short, we met in a bar while I was visiting a friend in New York from my home in Boston. And five short months later I left my job and apartment and moved in with him. It was relatively easy for me to make the move– I have always loved to try out new places (in 15 years I have moved to about 8 times in 3 countries). I pick up and go pretty easily and usually adapt to new surroundings with ease.  But this move had one major difference…

Snapdragon dude came to the US about 7 years ago from Europe, Montenegro, to be precise. His family lost just about everything in the Balkan War of the 90s that tore up Yugoslavia, and they had no choice but to flee their home to seek asylum in the US. I can’t imagine what they went through, but through the help of their extended family, they were lucky to be legally resettled in NYC. Snap dude took charge, being the only son of aging parents who don’t speak English, and found a job, a home, and a new life for all three of them.  And to this day, he remains responsible and continues to support them.

So, you see, I left my cute Boston brownstone to move in with my newish boyfriend AND the parents he supports who don’t speak English. Totally normal, right? In all honesty, it hasn’t been without some bumps, but somehow we have made it work now for 3 years.  I figure if our new relationship was able to withstand certain road blocks, we’re getting good practice for the long haul.  And so now we’re planning a bilingual and bi-cultural wedding down in Florida for May 2010!

We have chosen our venue and are signing photographer contracts this week, but that’s about it– there is much work to do. Right now I am struggling with feeling a little lonely in the planning process. My mom isn’t really involved and lives in South Carolina, my only sister who is in Boston just had twins 4 weeks ago (so she’s somewhat preocupied) , and my best girlfriends are now living far away which leaves me no one to talk to about centerpieces, color schemes, DIY projects and the like (poor snapdragon dude can only handle so much when it comes to this stuff). So, often I will turn to you readers, not just to impart whatever advice I can muster, but also to count on your thoughts and suggestions as well. I know you won’t fail me.

Looking forward to a long and fruitful collaboration,
Snapdragon bud