Marriage Meme

1. Where/How did you meet? We met on the Internet, AOL to be exact. He thought my profile was funny. We chatted online off and on for about a year. Each time he messaged me I thought it was the first time we chatted. EVENTUALLY we started talking and never stopped.

2. How long have you known each other? 6 years

3. How long after you met did you start dating? within a month after we met in person

4. How long did you date before you were engaged? 2 years, 4 months

5. How long was your engagement? 3 months

.6. How long have you been married? 3 years 8 months

7. What is your anniversary? July 25

8. How many people came to your wedding reception? the actual wedding in New York about 20, the reception in Minnesota around 100

9. What kind of cake did you serve? Standard white wedding cake with some sort of white frosting. It was good and we DID NOT shove it on each other's face.

10. Where was your wedding? In a gazebo on Conesus Lake in upstate New York.

11. What did you serve for your meal? The reception was at Fratelli's Italian Restaurant in Livonia, New York. I believe guests had a choice of 3 or 4 dishes.

12. How many people were in your bridal party? 6 - my sister was the maid of honor, his best friend from high school was the best man, and we had 2 flower girls (our nieces) and 2 ring bearers (our nephews).

13. Are you still friends with them all? Yes

14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony? I don't think so, he might have teared up a little. I teared up a little when the minister mentioned my mom.

15. Most special moment of your wedding day? So many...walking down the aisle at the end and realizing it was final.

16. Any funny moments? We did a sand ceremony instead of a unity candle. We gathered sand from special places in Minnesota and New York - the lake where my parents met, the property Mr Marco's aunt owns, the beach where we were married etc. We mixed all of the sand together into a decanter. We filled a special jar for us to keep forever and then we filled individual bottles to give to our parents/grandparents. Sounds like a great idea but some of the sand was wet and we couldn't get it to pour properly into the bottles. We both got the giggles (you can see we're cracking up in the pictures). I kept saying "the song is going to end!!!" We got some of the sand into the main jar and then acted like we were done and walked back to the minister right as the song ended. We finished filling the jars later. We still laugh about it.

17. Any big disasters? My hair and makeup! Because we planned the New York wedding from Minnesota his mom handled a lot of the little details. I asked her to find a salon close to the wedding location and I made appointments for a pedicure, manicure, hair, and make up. The pedicure and manicure went off without a hitch the day before the wedding. On the wedding day I went to the salon with my sister and we described a "loose up do with a lot of curls" and then some little random sprigs of flowers. The stylist pulled all my hair back into a tight french roll and stuck the WHOLE sprig of flowers in the back. I kept looking at my sister like "HELP ME" and she kept nodding and smiling at me. I thought "well maybe it doesn't look THAT bad!?" For the makeup I requested very subtle because I usually do not wear make up so I just wanted something to make my skin look healthy for the pictures. The stylist literally drew those cat lines on my eyes. I felt SICK! We were running late already and I am not the type of person to say "THIS LOOKS HORRIBLE FIX IT NOW!" Plus my sister kept acting like it looked great so I just paid the lady and we left. As soon as we got outside my sister grabbed my arm and said "GET IN THE CAR AND DRIVE, I CAN FIX IT!!!!" We drove 100 mph back to the cottage where we were staying. I covered my head and face and ran to our room before anyone could get a good look at me. We actually took pictures of the horrible train wreck that was my hair and makeup but my sister has the pictures. She wiped off most of the makeup (including the beautiful cat eyes) and redid my hair. It was not exactly what I wanted but it was SO much better than the professional stylist. Initially I felt disappointed because I wanted to feel BEAUTIFUL that day but in the end the pictures turned out nice and my husband thought I looked beautiful and that is all that matters.

18. Where did you go on your honeymoon? We went to Six Flags Darien Lakes in NY, then to Niagara Falls (Canadian side).

19. How long were you gone? Just 2 days. We were already on vacation the week before the wedding. We had purchased our first home before we left for NY so we wanted to get back to MN to move into our home and get settled.

20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change? Hair and makeup!

21. What side of the bed do you sleep on? right side

22. What size is your bed? queen

23. Greatest strength as a couple? We love to laugh together. We have similar values and can talk about anything for hours at a time. We love spending time together and we are truly best friends.

24. Greatest challenge as a couple? We are polar opposites in communication style. He likes to "fight" and I prefer to be silent for a week. His way is much healthier so we have to work at having healthy disagreements and working through the issue. I'd rather go to sleep and pretend everything is fine - NOT healthy!

25. Who literally pays the bills? I usually do.

26. What is your song? I think we have several..."Until the Night" by Billy Joel is one of our favorites.

27. What did you dance your first dance to? "In You Eyes" by Peter Gabriel

28. Describe your wedding dress? It was simple, white, empire waist, "tea length", kind of like a fancy sun dress. It was perfect for what we were going for.

29. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding? Cream roses and purple hydrangeas.

30. Are your wedding bands engraved? No. His ring is titanium and can't be engraved. My rings are too thin even soldered together, so they can't be engraved.