Melissa & Peter
February 25, 2007

Pete and I met by chance while I was visiting my family in New York, on February 15, 2002. (I was living in South Carolina at the time.) He worked with my brother and showed up at the club that night. Within seconds of our introduction, he bought my sister and I a drink, and we hit it off immediately. 3 months later, I moved back to New York and we have been together ever since.

The Engagement
On Easter Sunday, March 27, 2005, after just 3 years of dating, my man popped the question!! He hid the ring in a giant Dove chocoaltes pink satin covered Easter egg. I was so happy that I did not even hear him the first time he asked me!

Here's a shot of me wearing the ring the day we were engaged. (Ignore my pudgy fingers! LOL) It's a classic 3 stone round cut ring, each in 4 prong baskets. It's so simple and elegant, and PERFECT for me! I could not have asked for a more perfect ring for me, as I am really not a jewelry person. (It's pretty much the only piece of jewelry I wear on a daily basis.)

The Wedding
We will be holding the entire day (ceremony, cocktail hour, reception) at the beautiful Watermill Caterers in Smithtown, NY. I have yet to take my own pics of it, but I did steal one pic from their site, of the ceremony location.

For more pics, you can check it them out by clicking here. So far the staff has been quite wonderful and have heard great things from other knotties who have or will be wed there before us. The ceremony will be held in their Vanderbilt Suite, followed by a cocktail hour in the restaurant. Afterwards, the Astor Suite will be turned into Latino Central with our families!!! (Break out the Coquito!) LOL

The Wedding Party
Since we are rather early in the process, we have not quite secured the whole party yet. Below is the party so far.

Maid of Honor

This is my amazing, wonderful, stupendous, and downright GREAT sister, Denise. Quite frankly I could not ask for a more perfect choice for my MOH, because I think she is the only person who would be able to handle me during the difficult time of handling wedding preparations. By the way, I am proud to say she has both a Bachelor's and Master's Degree, and teaches deaf/hard of hearing children in Brooklyn. (She's practically Mother Teresa!!) Oh yeah and she's single and would probably kill me if she knew I said it...but anyone have a cute friend for her..let me know! LOL

Flower Girl

This is my adorable niece, Alexis. This pic was taken on her first birthday, and she'll be about 4 when she takes on her FG duties. But she looks so darn cute in this pic, I had to use it.

Our Vendors

The Wedding Center in Commack, NY
We are using the following services from them: Invitations, Photography, Videography, Bridal Party Flowers, Limousines, and Wedding Bands.

Crystal Clear Mobile DJs
While we have not officially booked with them just yet, I used them for my parent's 25th anniversary celebration in City Island, NY. The owner is named Angel, and he has a fantastic mixture of latin and American music. Since Pete and I are both Hispanic, we want a great blend of old school Merenge/Salsa/Bacchata as well as some current hits. Plus they offer a very inexpensive 2 man bi-lingual DJ/MC combo that we really need.

Other vendors
We have yet to secure a minister for the ceremony, and of course things like my dress, jewelry, favors, etc. When I get more, I'll post it!

Here's a Save the Date that I just love! (It goes with our two heart theme.) I have to say a big Thank you to fellow knottie: AutmnBride. For showing me where to find it!

Wedding Purchases
Here is a picture of some beverage napkins I purchased for the Cocktail Hour, from a seller on eBay. My colors are pink and lilac, and I just liked the lilac napkins color better. The pic doesn't show it too well, but the imprint is actually a rainbow foil that seems to change color a little from different angles.

Instead of the normal unity candle, we decided to do the newer tradition of "Pouring of the Sand." So naturally we have to have something pretty to put it in! I found this beautiful double heart sculpted glass container on eBay.

DIY Projects

I am going to try and reserve this section for DIY projects and ideas I am gonna try out. This is my first DIY idea that I've tried below. I saw a few other knotties and how they asked their friends to be Bridesmaids, and I thought I'd steal a little bit. (Got some ideas from Knotties: BnBdreamin & MrsSprague.06) I filled these bags with manicure kits, chocolates, notebook, pens, and asprin!

My Recommendations

Just a little thing I have found to be a great organizing assistant, a book I found at Barnes & Noble. It's called: The Ultimate Wedding Workbook & Organizer. It's published by WeddingSolutions.com, and retails for about $ 24.95. It's two parts, the first part is a book full of worksheets and comparison charts. It's great for when you are first engaged and are visiting different vendors, as it goes step-by-step in helping you ask the right questions, and let's you compare different halls or vendors side by side. When you flip the book over, it has an accordian style folder with different slots for saving information! You can keep all your contracts, cloth samples, receipts, etc. in one place! I LOVE IT! If you don't get this particular one, then I recommend at least getting SOME type of organizer. I had to get the organizer when I saw my sister's cousin about a week before her wedding in Florida, and the poor thing had all paperwork, contracts, RSVP's, etc. in a plastic shopping bag! She was having a tough time organizing, so I know now not to repeat that behavior.

Here's another pic of my husband-to-be and me. This was taken at the 25th anniversary party I mentioned before. As you can see, I spent just a wee bit too much time in the tanning booth the day before.

I hope this gives you some info on me and I'm sure I will be adding much, much more as the day gets closer. I'm sure this will go by FAST!

Fun Stuff

I stole this from Knottie: AlitheBride and thought it was cute. I was gonna do all the countries I visited map, but it looked so pitiful having only the U.S., Mexico, Bahamas, and Belgium.

Create your own personalized map of the USA or check out ourCalifornia travel guide

Clicke here to e-mail me if you have any suggestions or questions!