PDA

View Full Version : [Amber & Gavin] It's 11/11, make a wish!


11_makeawish_11
02-12-2009, 12:29 AM
And now, the story of Amber & Gavin

[ the beginning ]

It all started almost nine years ago. Gavin and I met online, on June 6, 2000. We were sixteen. He lived in FL and I lived in PA. After months of phone, internet, and postal mail - Gavin told me that he couldn't stand to want to be with me so much and not be able to see me... it broke my heart, but eventually, I got a boyfriend. Years went by before Gavin and I spoke again. I got married, had a son, and was going through a separation when one night, in April 2004, Gavin IMed me out of the blue. It took me a minute to realize who I was talking to, but when I did - I had him call me immediately. I couldn't believe I was talking to him! I'd always wondered how he was...and if I'd ever talk to him again. Well, Gavin & I planned for him to take a trip to PA to visit for two weeks... but, when he got here, he never left hehe. Gavin and my son got along great. Jonathan was almost two, and Gavin was here with us to celebrate his second birthday. Within two months, Jonathan's father began to 'forget to pick him up' or was 'too busy' to keep Jonathan overnight. Eventually, Jonathan started to call Gavin "Daddy". As a mother, I noticed immediately; but it seemed as if Gavin hadn't noticed at all. Gavin didn't refer to himself as anything at this time..he would say "Come to me", "Give it to me", "Let me give you a kiss", etc. I remember thinking that Father's Day was approaching quickly and I was trying to decide which type of card to buy for Jonathan to give to Gavin - step-father or father...? Needless to say, I chose a brilliant little card with NO reference to whom is was for..and let Jonathan tell me what to help him write. "Appy Odder's Day do da Beddess Dahh-Eee" (Happy Father's Day to the Bestest Daddy) and then he scribbled to sign his name. I cried. When Gavin opened the card, he went speechless and just embraced Jonathan for what seemed like eons. It was awesome. From then on, Gavin referred to himself as Daddy..."Daddy loves you", "Come play with Daddy", "Daddy will give you a bath", etc. And he told everyone that he met that he had a girlfriend and a son; not a step-son (which he barely ever says, unless it's to do with taxes or something official). A family was developed. Gavin spent May, June, July in PA. August in FL. September in PA. October in FL and then moved to PA permanently right before Halloween so we could take Jonathan trick-or-treating together.

[ the middle ]
I found out that I was pregnant in December 2004. I miscarried Morgan Lynn in January 2005. (We do not know the sex of our angel baby, but fate would have it that we already had a unisex name picked out.) Gavin and I celebrated our first anniversary in April 2005. I found out I was pregnant in the beginning of May and Jonathan turned 3 at the end of May 2005. Gavin got a job working out of state, so one weekend he decides instead of coming home to PA from VA he's going to drive to FL to visit his mom and drive back to VA for the work week, and then come home to PA the following weekend. However, the silly *** drove a few states and turned around and came home to me instead. He couldn't even go the weekend without seeing me. How sweet?! I gave birth to our daughter, Savannah, in December 2005. We moved to Florida in November 2007, and back to PA in July 2008.

[just the beginning of the beginning of the end, haha ]
Now, here we are... February 2009 already... we each just celebrated our 25th birthday and our daughter's third birthday, we're about to celebrate our fifth anniversary in April, and our son is turning seven in May. We finally decided, it's time to get married. It's time to complete the circle, and make this official. We've purchased my engagement ring and wedding band. We've picked our date, colors, and decided it's going to be a very, very small ceremony with a small reception to follow but a larger reception months later - to celebrate our family not our marriage. Gavin is completely involved with the planning, and his opinion matters to me as much as my own does. He even surprised me just yesterday with treating me to get my nails done (the way he wants them done for our wedding), AND out of the blue last night, he hands me a package of blank wedding cds that have envelopes, labels, and stickers included - IN OUR COLORS! Amazing. I couldn't ask for a better boyfriend!

Gavin hasn't actually proposed to me yet, but I know it's coming. We bought my rings a few weeks ago and he's planning what he considers to be the perfect proposal. No, he's not waiting for Valentine's Day, either. I want the day he proposes to become a new anniversary; and Valentine's Day to remain Valentine's Day...so I get pampered on yet another day of the year...as if he doesn't pamper me every day! Haha. So, nope...we're not technically engaged yet...but you better believe I'll be posting in here as soon as he pops the question!

11_makeawish_11
02-12-2009, 12:30 AM
[ wedding planning ]
Wednesday, November 11, 2009. We always make wishes at 11:11 so, we're getting married on 11/11. It's ironic because we've made jokes about getting married on a Wednesday aslo...so it just fit when we looked at the calendar!!

Destination wedding. Wedding/Honeymoon/Family Vacation combo at a beach, on a cruise, etc? Something like that.

Total BIG DAY event attendees:
1 bride, 1 groom, 1 maid of honor, 1 best man, 1 bridesmaid, 1 groomsman, 1 flower girl, 1 ringbearer, 1 escort, 2 moms, and 1 dad so far. My neice will be included in some way but we're not sure how...maybe a second flower girl but I don't want it to take away from our daughter's role. We're inviting a few other close family members and best friends, but we're not including them in the planning in case they can't make it.

Our wedding colors are black, silver, white, and possibly some accents in red...depending on our final choices in theme, it may not work with red. I'm thinking I want to carry a big round bunch of bright, vibrant dark red roses...possibly with some silver glitter and black ribbon?

Small reception after ceremony on site. Bigger reception in PA to celebrate our family with some traditional wedding elements (wedding cake, special dances, favors, and mini wedding albums for each person)...but not alot of decorating. Semi-Casual attire; but I may wear my dress...depending on the final plans.

I started looking for dress ideas; but I'm still unsure. I'm looking for a white dress with black accents and silver/white gold jewelry, tiara, shoes, etc? I don't know for sure. I'll post my favorite dress. Gavin is playing with the idea of wearing a white tux with black pin stripes, a white top hat with black satin ribbon, and red roses in his bout. Other attire has yet to be planned.

Jonathan & Savannah will be our flower girl and ring bearer, and they'll walk down the aisle together. Jonathan will carry fake rings and Savannah will drop petals from whatever flower I choose for my bouquet. Jonathan will wear a very similar outfit as Daddy, and hopefully we can find a dress that matches mine for Savannah.

My mom has always looked best in black, so she'll wear a black dress with white or silver accents. My maid of honor and bridesmaid will wear dresses that are black with white and silver accents.

Gavin's cousin, his only cousin, Josh is his best man. Josh just moved from FL to PA to live with us at the end of January 09. Punky, one of our best friends who I've known since I was 10 (1995), is Gavin's groomsman.

I'll be escorted down the aisle by my baby brother. My father passed away when I was 12, so my brother Kyle will be giving me away. His fiance, Jess, will be my bridesmaid. I'm still deciding on a maid of honor.

We may have to have two bridesmaids and two groomsman - but Gavin can't decide on another groomsman because he's already picked his two best friends...and there isn't anyone else that he's real close to. So, we'll see.

Cake: Half white cake with white icing. Half chocolate with buttercream icing. I want a square layered cake, with the layers criss crossed. I want the base icing to be all white and each layer to have straight black ribbon separating them, with silver detailing. Gavin is a tattoo artist, so I would loooove to have him draw the artwork (etchings, scrolling, etc) that goes on the sides of our cake. I want a blank top with some silver dusting sprinkled on top and no frame on the top of the layers. Just a solid layer, like a sheet of fondant or something with no edging or seams. I'd like Gavin's artwork to be copied onto cake with silver writing pen (edible, of course). We are undecided on a topper. I'm wanting this set I found at Wal-Mart... engagement ring and wedding band.. oh it's so cute. I just adore it. Gavin was browsing in the aisles with me and insists on another topper from Wal-Mart... a bride dragging a groom. Haha. He's just hilarious, isn't he? (sarcasm)

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue: I'll be borrowing my mother's earrings, buying a new necklace, probably wearing blue under garmants and/or have blue in my garter...and something old will have to be decided.

Save-the-Dates will be sent to the wedding party (who already knows the date), and the handful of other guests we are inviting. Invitations will be sent to the same list. Announcements and celebration invitations will be combined and sent a month or so after the wedding when we've decided a date and location for the celebration. I'll probably do the invitations myself, as I'm trying to incorporate as much of our personal style as I can. We'll have less than 100 announcements/celebration invitations and approximately 20 save the dates and ceremony invites.

We'll each have our own bachelor/ette party. Most likely hosted by all of our friends; not just wedding party or guests. We're both friends with everyone, so we've already decided that the parties will have to be on different nights because all our friends want to attend both shindigs and well, we are parents so it's easier to have separate nights...haha.

I don't think I'll be having a formal bridal shower...I may just have some friends and family over for some naughty girl fun, maybe to a sex toy party to be honest with you...it's more me than a bridal shower..haha. I'll still include the traditional things but it'll be spicy too

If I didn't list it, I haven't really thought about it or there are NO ideas for that area so far.

Oh wait, one more thing... As of lastnight, I know how I'm having my nails done too.. haha. Thanks Gavin.

11_makeawish_11
02-12-2009, 01:49 AM
Here are the wedding dress, veil, tiara, and garters I like so far.

4118

4119

4120

4121

4122

11_makeawish_11
02-12-2009, 01:52 AM
Here are the bridesmaid, then maid of honor dresses, Gavin's first idea of a tux, the bags we're giving our gifts to eachother in, and our ceremony programs.

4123

4124

4125

4126

4127

11_makeawish_11
02-12-2009, 01:57 AM
Here are the guestbook, pillow, and basket ideas. As well as an idea for the favors. I like the 'love' theme.

4128

4129

4130

4131

4132

11_makeawish_11
02-12-2009, 02:00 AM
Here are some ideas for flower girl dresses... my favorite was too big to upload though.. so I'm going to have to wait till another time maybe for it...

4133

4134

4135

4136

Goin2thechapel
02-12-2009, 12:08 PM
Awww....I too got married on 11-11 (2006 though)...We got married on that day because we started dating on 11-11-01...

Fun day! Welcome to Onewed!! Love your ideas soo far :)

BarceloMayaPalaceBride
02-12-2009, 12:45 PM
I LOVE your dress, and the BM dresses! Verrry classy! :) Happy Planning

Mrs.Goff
02-12-2009, 02:59 PM
Everything looks great. You have very nice taste. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of your plans. Congrats!

11_makeawish_11
02-12-2009, 11:37 PM
Thanks ladies.. so much.

Planning is so hectic when you aren't sure of many details yet.. but I think that I've at least got my foot in the door..haha. We're trying to decide what we really want before just going out and buying things. We're not so much into the hype as most other million dollar wedding couples are...haha. We're just trying to please ourselves. Here's to hoping it works ;)

NOTKT
02-13-2009, 12:24 AM
Wow! I really like your story that is so sweet! You both were meant to be together, huh?!!! :) Everything looks great, especially your dress! Welcome to OW!

11_makeawish_11
02-13-2009, 12:40 AM
Wow! I really like your story that is so sweet! You both were meant to be together, huh?!!! :) Everything looks great, especially your dress! Welcome to OW!


thanks, a ton.
i'm so super excited to be here that I have been sitting in this lounge chair with this lap top burning my legs for hours hahaha.

11_makeawish_11
02-13-2009, 12:50 AM
grr...just typed for like ten mins, and it's nowhere to be found...

update:
went browsing today while grocery shopping, and saw a few things we liked. we're ready to officially get engaged, announce our plans, and start purchasing things for our big day. we reallly need to decide on the location - if we're having a DW, we are BEHIND on planning because we have NO idea where we're going to be married/honeymoon at....

any suggestions?

ok...df is sleeping, and twitching... he misses me.
going to bed now...