Our Dream Nuptuals

No, I’m not engaged, and no I’m not delusional. Paul and I have been together for 4 years… not too long but not too soon either. We’ve talked about weddings in excess. We even talked about January 2010. That all got put to the backburner when the reality struck that he was moving to Boston.

With Paul Cambridge bound, we decided it be best to wait till he was through with his MBA before taking the plunge. After all, I am not about to join him in Boston/Cambridge (I’d never survive the accents) and he wasn’t going to sacrifice his dream to stay home. And who would want to be long distance the 1^st year and ½ of their married lives? Not I.

So here’s our story. Today upon sitting at my desk, I came to the realization that I have no work to do. It’s been a slow week and my boss yet again didn’t come in. He stayed home due to the weather… what a crock. I took this opportunity to look up weekend getaways and had a brilliant idea! Why not stay at the Stowehof Inn. After all I want to get married there – it is beautiful, brilliant, and picturesque and best yet, down the road from Stowe.

Alas a 3 night stay would run us approximately $1000. After spending $2000 on Whistler, I don’t think our budgets would allow for it. Paul had me check every weekend from now through March, but the price remained constant. We could afford to stay there, but not ski, or we could go and ski but not stay… what fun is that?

This brings me to my dream wedding… which has been fluttering in and out of my mind not just every time I strap on my snowboard with Paul and laugh the days away but also when I accompany my sister like a good Maid of Honor and help her pick out dresses and try on petticoats.

Our dream is for a Ski Chalet wedding. Through online searches, our 1^st choice has become the Stowehof. Upon reading its website, we found that it was perfect. It was elegant; large enough to house our guests, in close proximity to the mountains, close to town, and had much to offer including a great menu and wine list.

I don’t want a large wedding filled with people who I hardly know dancing to music I don’t like, eating food I cannot stomach wearing cloths all too unflattering on their bodies. Instead I want a wedding that represents us… we want to invite our closest friends and family to enter OUR world and see what we are about. Snowboarding defines us in so many ways. Most of our budget goes towards the sport, our lives are dedicated to teaching our younger family members all about winter fun, we read magazines, do research, shit – we even have a shrine to our snowboards hanging on our wall. We LOVE the sport and we LOVE the sport together.

Our plan: Invite approx 35 people to witness our nuptials on a crisp cool Saturday afternoon which will be followed by cocktails and dinner. No dancing, no corny traditions, no silly speeches… just being together and being happy. Don’t get me wrong, I want my family dressed up … no black tie necessary… more like a cocktail attire. I think people would look great in something like this:

We don’t expect gifts from our friends and family – we understand that asking people to drive the 6 hours to Stowe and then to pay for accommodations can be burdensome.

We don’t want a true bridal party – I will have Lauren, Amanda and Kyle with me and Paul will have Andy – they will be less a wedding party and more the closest people to our hearts. We will have them by our side during our ceremony as we have them at our sides during life.

In leu of the usual party favor we’d offer our guests options which we would request RSVP in advance… we’d provide our guests with a lift ticket at Stowe for a Sunday on the slopes, or a spa gift certificate. For those who’d pass on both, we’d list other opportunities such as local shopping, movies, and of course to just relax in the inn being pampered with beverages and treats.

This is as far as we thought up our big day. Likely everyone would venture home Sunday night and leave us there for one last hurrah. We don’t know what our honeymoon would be like, we don’t know where we’d want to go, or when we’d do it. But what we do know is that people would have no question of our personalities after such an event. They’d understand us more so than they ever had the chance to before… they’d see us able to express our love for one another (even in front of my Mom) and they’d see us enjoying our most favorite pastime with our most favorite people.

Ahhh I dare to dream.

Today Paul said, “… I mean, we gotta check the place out at some point, no?” to which I responded, “…why, when are we getting married, you are Mass. Bound” to which he then rebutted, “don’t you worry about the little details. We gotta start doing our homework, though.”

I suppose we are in no rush, but we aren’t letting this big event slip our minds either.