Wedding: The Guest List

The guest list - it's a nightmare for many engaged couples - and a bit of a touchy subject. 

For Jesse and I, the guest list wasn't a huge nightmare - but it wasn't easy either. Collecting Jesse's side of the guest list was simple as his family won't be able to make it for the wedding (and I write this with an incredibly heavy heart as I wish we could fly them all over) so it was just his Best Man, Wesley. 

My side of the guest list? A totally different story. Let me give you a little background on my family. 

Meet SIL Mama (aka: Helen)
One of five siblings - each of whom have children - who also have children of their own. The average number of children for each of her sisters and brother is three - most of them then have children themselves. 

Unfortunately my Grandpop is no longer with us, but he was one of ten (correct me if I'm wrong Mum?). They have children, who had children - and some of those have had children themselves.

My Nanna is still with us and will be attending our wedding - and she has no brothers or sisters to add to the mix so it's pretty simple. 

Mum's family is spread all over the place - Canberra, Brisbane, Country NSW, Country QLD - here there and everywhere.

Meet SIL Dad (aka: Gary)
Dad's side of the family was somewhat easier - he has just two brothers and both of them have kids. 

We decided we didn't want to have too many kids at our wedding due to where the reception will be (totally weird for this ex-nanny who adores children) so we had to think about whether we invite my cousins or not. We decided on yes. They're old enough to not get into trouble and if we didn't invite them, we'd have had problems. 

My Pa is unfortunately not with us, however, but his twin brother is - so he was certainly on the invite list. That's Dad's Family. 

The Family Friends and Extended Family
The rest of our guest list was made up of close family friends and close extended family. The ones who we spend the most time with, the ones who are always there for us, the ones who took the time to fill out papers and do everything they could to get Jesse here - the ones who are real forever friends. 

Jesse and I don't have many of our friends here in Australia, however, there are a special few who are making the trip to Sydney to be there with us on our big day. One of my best friends actually lives in Melbourne and I'll be meeting her for the first time when she comes up for our wedding! (Odd that we've never met? Possibly - but that's blog friends for you!) 

The Total Number
Our wedding will be quite a small and intimate one, with us expecting between 70-100 guests. A heck of a lot different from weddings where there are 300+ people invited but just enough for us. 

We actually first considered a very very small wedding of about 50 people - but later changed our minds as we didn't want to leave out anyone we loved. I was surprised at how much effort it took to bring our list down to under the 100 mark as I didn't think we knew that many people. 

There were many people who jumped on and off the guest list as we decided - but unfortunately we couldn't invite everyone. Firstly for budget reasons and secondly for the logistics of it all! I also wanted to make sure Jesse knew all of the people attending our wedding - and the only ones he won't know are a couple of my Aunties who live in different states. 

Family and friends are so important to us so we didn't want to leave anyone out, however, there were some people who unfortunately didn't make the list. I wish we could invite everyone - but we all know that's not possible. More importantly - I wish Jesse's family were coming too.

I've heard of many other brides and brides to be who have been emotional wrecks over their guests lists - and I totally understand the stress. There's an awful lot of politics when it comes to wedding guest lists - you can't invite so-and-so without inviting this person, you can't invite this person because they don't get along with that person, if you don't invite this person, you can't invite that person because they'll get offended - and so on and so forth.

Nevertheless, our guest list is sorted and our wedding invitations are ready to send out - here's a sneak peek! Don't worry, I'll be showing you the invitations and giving you all of the details very, very soon! 

What about you?

Was putting together your wedding guest list a stressful process?

If you're not married, or about to be.. 

Do you think you'll have a small or a large wedding?

Or perhaps you'll forget a wedding altogether and elope!

Wedding Wednesday: My Mum's Wedding Dress

So this past weekend, I tried on my Mum's Wedding Dress. I guess, as a Bride to Be, it's a bit of a right of passage! 

As it turns out, my Mum was almost the same size as me when she got married. By almost, I mean within a few inches! But with the belt cinched in, it fit almost perfectly except for the underskirt. 

Now, I've already chosen my wedding dress. I fell in love with a picture of it, tried it on in Louisiana and my heart was set! This Friday, I'm visiting a Bridal store in Sydney to check on sizes to make sure that I'm getting exactly what I need.

I'm taking along my Mum (who also saw the dress in Louisiana) and my Sister and close family friend who are so excited to be there. As I'm only getting married once, I'm going to try on a few different dresses - because, after all, I'll never do it again!

Playing dress up means you can be silly.
(What am I looking at?!) 

Trying on my Mum's dress was fun and definitely something every Bride should do if there Mum has their's around! 

My Mum and Dad on their Wedding Day - and me, being a dork x10 on the weekend. 

So tell me, Does your Mum still have her wedding gown? Have you tried it on? 

Wedding Wednesday: Floral Flourish

It's Wedding Wednesday again! This week, I'm talking flowers!

I love flowers. Which is odd, because if you ask any of my family or friends, they'll tell you not to buy me them - unless they're planted in a pot. Why? because to me as a frugalista, flowers just don't seem worth it. Lets be honest - they die.

On my wedding day, however, that's a different story. I'm willing to splurge a bit on flowers - even though they will die. (and no... I will not be saving my wedding bouquet to be dried and put on display in my home - I saw that at the wedding expo and that just looks all kinds of creepy). 

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I'm a pink girl, I always have been. By that I mean that I have everything pink. My room is pink (and yes, Jesse actually likes it because it's not "girly pink"), my iPad case is pink (and all my clients comment on it), my planner is pink, my mugs are pink, I have pink pants - pretty much if something comes in pink, I'll be more inclined to buy it.

As a pink fan, you'd think that I'd be looking for pink bridesmaid dresses and wedding accessories - but that's not the case!

I think pink is overused at weddings, so even though it's my favourite colour, I plan on keeping pink to a minimal - but including pink flowers in my bouquet is looking like a good plan!

I love the mix of pinks, greens and whites in the flowers above - and that's definitely something I'll be looking for.

So tell me, what's your favourite colour? 

If you're married - was that one of your wedding colours?

If no - will it be? 

Wedding Wednesday: Wedding Bank Accounts

Happy Wednesday loves, we're that much closer to the weekend - though my weekend won't be much of a break as I'll be working and then flying back down to Melbourne to work. I can't complain, being a Sydney Freelance Writer and Social Media Manager is the best possible career I could ask for.

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So, onto the topic of today! A few weeks ago I went along to the Bridal Expo in Sydney and... let's be honest.. while it's brilliant to see all of these fabulous ideas you could use in your wedding, few of them are able to fit into the average Bride's budget - I imagine they spend a fortune to be at those expos and their prices definitely match up. 

One idea I did see that I am seriously considering is the Matrimoney Account from Community First Credit Union. Why it stood out to me was, because unlike everything else related to weddings, it doesn't cost a thing!

No fees for you, no fees for your guest - just a simple $2 account set up fee that is returned to you when you close the account. 

I know it sounds unbelievable - but I've checked into it and it's 100% true. 

Rather than having a wishing well or box for cards and money/gift certificates/whatever, you set up your Matrimoney Wedding Bank Account with a picture of what you're saving for - and your guests can deposit money into the account.

This saves having to have someone watch over the chest/wishing well/box throughout the reception and it means that your guests don't have to carry money around - definitely something interstate guests wouldn't want to do. 

When you sign up for a Matrimoney account, Community first also send you cards to pop into your invitations - letting your guests know that you have an account set up and how they can deposit any money and another card which guests can pop into a card, letting you know that they've made a deposit into your Matrimoney account. 

For Jesse and I, this makes sense. We're starting our new lives together completely from scratch so of course we are going to need money for a lot of necessities. It also makes it far easier and safer than a "wishing well wedding" and means that your guests can simply transfer money online - even if you have guests that can't make it to the wedding, but still want to send something. 

So tell me - what's your opinion of money as gifts? 

I think it's definitely a tricky situation - a lot of times for birthdays/Christmases I prefer to give a personalised gift, however, for weddings giving money makes complete sense to me - and it's so much better than a gift certificate for a store that you will never use! 

Wedding Wednesday: If I Could Get Married Anywhere...

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This is perhaps the easiest question to answer because I know exactly where it would be...

DISNEYLAND!

I am Disney obsessed and always have been. This is because I took my first ever trip to Disneyland at just 4 years old and fell in love. I've been to Disneyland on 3 separate trips and to Disneyworld just once. 

I think Disneyland is the most magically place in the world and it feels just so right to go there. If I had an endless budget (or even just a large one) for my wedding day - I would be booking my Disney Wedding right NOW.

But alas, I don't have that budget - so I can just dream! For now my goal is saving enough money to take Jesse to Disneyland for the first time - because then he might understand why I'm so in love with the place!

So tell me, if you could get married anywhere in the world - where would you choose? 

You can be certain that if I win the lottery between now and my wedding day, I'll be booking a Disneyland wedding - heck if I won enough I'd do a giveaway for tickets to my dream wedding :P (but first I should probably start buying lottery tickets....) 

Wedding Wednesday: Our current relationship whilst 10, 000 miles apart

I got a really interesting email from a reader (Hi Sarah!) asking me what Jesse and my relationship was like currently as we're 10, 000 miles apart and waiting on the next big step. First of all, I LOVE getting emails like this - so if you have a question or something you want to hear - PLEASE! email me at southerninlaw@gmail.com

But nonetheless, Sarah's question got me thinking. Obviously our current situation isn't the ideal one, however, I feel truly blessed to have a fiancé who makes me feel so happy and loved despite being so far away. Our relationship is incredibly strong and we've grown a lot with each other over the years as we've faced challenges and learnt how to make long distance work for us.

I often get asked "what would you say to your daughter if she was going to get into a long distance relationship" and I think this is really important. I'd tell her to be careful, be patient and be strong. It takes the right couple to make a LDR work and a lot of strength and patience from both parties.

 

Really, we're big dorks

Anyone that tells you that a long distance relationship is easy is either lying or has some serious issues. It hurts, a lot. I have been known to sob over the telephone, tear up when talking about Jesse or get incredibly frustrated that I can't have what I want (heck I'm even tearing up writing this). But for us, it's worth it.

The hard times are forgotten every single time we're waiting at the airport and are together again. I would endure anything if it meant seeing Jesse at the end, honestly. Not every day is as hard as others, he still manages to make me smile and laugh and fall more in love with him with every IM, email or phone call. My family and friends know when I'm IMing Jesse because I have this silly little smirk on my face (it's been captured on camera because I didn't believe it) and I will drop any plans just to talk to him on the phone.

We talk quite a lot thanks to technology. Usually I wake up when he finishes work, we'll talk til he falls asleep (around lunch time) and then he wakes up after dinner here and we talk until he has to start work. On the weekends we have a lot more time to talk and I'm so grateful that even though we're in totally different time zones, they kind of match up.

I'm completely and utterly in love with Jesse and I couldn't find another person in the world who I could do this with, nor want to. It's tough, really tough - but so worth it. Jesse is my best friend and greatest supporter in life (along with my mum) and we've been through a LOT together. He's talked me through some of the toughest moments in life, made me believe everything was going to be okay when it felt like my world was falling apart, known just what to say at every moment and has been the one to cheer for my successes (even if I didn't see them as that).

 

Jesse has the best laugh - and I'm not the only one who thinks it
It's one of those laughs that you can't help but smile or laugh with

We have a relationship where nothing is off limits. Jesse probably knows way more than he wants to but we tell each other everything. We also know when to tell one another to shut the front door... If you know what I mean. I'm not afraid to tell Jesse he's being an idiot or overreacting and he is the same with me. When we're together, we do the same. In Louisiana, Jesse's family were slightly in awe of my ability to speak up and tell Jesse to get over himself. You see, usually I'm very polite and quite soft spoken, however, I also don't put up with ridiculousness. It was only simple things like Jesse getting frustrated at his disaster or the gps, but I guess they expected me to just let him get mad.

Would I encourage my children, my family or my friends to enter into a long distance relationship? No, but I wouldn't stop them if they felt that was right. My mum had friends and family telling her to take away my phone, cut off the Internet, "ban" me from Jesse - but she trusted my judgement and I couldn't thank her enough. She now sees that this was worth it and she knows that every single tear that she's wiped off my face won't matter in a short while.

If I didn't have a supportive family or an incredibly strong relationship with Jesse, this never would have worked. I feel truly blessed to be with Jesse, even if we're so far apart, because I know this is only temporary situation.

I can't wait until I can come back to this question when he's here and it's a totally different story. Our entire relationship we've been working on being together and now it's only a few more tests, papers and waiting until we have that.

Really, I'm the luckiest girl in the world - I have a fiance who loves me no matter what. Who puts up with my sobbing down the phone line, doesn't laugh at my crazy hair when I wake up in the morning, tells me I should never wear makeup, has the same sense of humour as me, is happy to lay around all day doing nothing, thinks it's cute when I say "I can't be bothered" or other silly "english" things, can take me from crying to crying of laughter in seconds, is proud of every little thing I do and who no matter what - always knows how to put a smile on my face and knows the right thing to say.  

So tell me, who do you know that has one of those laughs? You know, an infectious one where you can't help but smile or laugh with them. 

Wedding Wednesday: Woodsy Inspirations

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Okay, lets think of a scenario. You're getting married and you can choose it to be anywhere (real or imaginary) and you have an unlimited budget - where do you choose?

I've been thinking about this and I've come up with a million and one ideas - but one has stuck in my head. 

I would love a woodsy wedding - whether it be in a forest, rainforest, national park or whatever. If there was a church in the middle of that, that would be my ultimate wedding destination.

Of course, somewhere within my dream wedding plan, I'd probably have to hire the sun to make sure it was the perfect day.

Come to think of it - it would be quite fitting, considering Jesse proposed to me in the Kisatchie National Forest. Perhaps I'll win the lottery between now and then and continue the woodsy theme.

Even a twilight reception in a forest would be stunning. I love the idea of the lanterns giving a magic golden glow. 

 A lot of people are surprised to find out I'm a nature lover, but I think it's because I've always lived by a beautiful park and spent lots of time walking through the bush (Jesse finds this phrase hilarious, because "bush" is such an Australian thing to say) and taking in the natural beauty. 

Being a photographer further propels this love as well. I love taking portraits and I love product work, but nature photography is where a lot of my passion lies. I wish I could capture all of the beauty I see, but I try my best to capture what I can. 

So tell me, your dream wedding - regardless of budget, location or reality. What does it look like?

Wedding Wednesday: Gluten Free Party Food

Gluten free entertaining. How do you do it in a way that everyone can join in and enjoy and that your gluten eating guests don't steer clear of the gluten free food or avoid it like the plague. 

Whilst I can't start planning a wedding yet, as we don't have a visa - I can still come up with ideas. These days it seems like everyone has a food issue - so how on earth do you plan a wedding that will please them all? 

I'm going to start sharing little ideas here and there of wedding or party food options that can suit everyone! 

At this point in time, I may have a slight obsession with wedding food bars... 

This idea of having a spud bar is awesome! You could do sweet potatoes and regular potatoes with a whole variety of toppings. 

My sweet potato loving heart is a-flutter with ideas!

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We always have veggie platters at our parties and I can never get them looking as nice as I want on a platter. This idea has my problem SOLVED! and I have vases just like those. 

Next party we have, this is definitely happening - and as the veggie loving person I am, this is so a wedding food option!   

So tell me - do you like to serve or be served?

I have to say, I'm a self serve girl. I like to pick how much of each thing I want and know what I'm putting on my plate though sometimes it is lovely to be served!   

Wedding Wednesday: Travel Inspired

I decided, since no actual wedding plans can be made yet, I'd start sharing some awesome wedding related posts/pictures/links I've found lately. So here's the first post!

With Jesse and my long distance love story, I'm starting to think I want to include subtle little hints of travel inspired touches to our engagement party and potentially our wedding too - but not so that it's tacky! A long distance themed wedding or engagement party would be a little too much, but I definitely think the subtle touches could work!

Our engagement party will be happening soon after Jesse finally comes home to Australia, so it will be a Welcome party too!  

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I really love this suitcase cake for an engagement party/welcome party cake! One of the things Jesse is adamant about is having a gluten free cake so that I can eat it. He loathes the fact that I'm always left out when eating with others because of all my food intolerances and wanted to make sure it didn't happen with our engagement party or wedding. 

I wasn't too fussed on getting a cake I could eat because I thought no one would eat it and it would be too hard to find someone to cater to all of my intolerances - but we found someone! Once we actually get to planning an engagement party and wedding, you'll be seeing a series of posts with Sweet Cheeks Cookies and Cakes and I plan to share the entire process with you - from the ideas stage to the very sweet ending! 

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I love the above cake even more, just in a different colour scheme. It's simple and still elegant with a subtle hint of a long distance theme. This would be the perfect engagement/welcome party cake - at least for the moment.

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Even simple little thank you gift tags using old maps would work! 

So tell me, are you a fan of themed parties? Do you like going all out, or keeping the theme subtle?

I have done both when it comes to parties. I love having a theme to work with, it makes it so much more fun to plan!

Wedding Wednesday: Jesse's Family

So I've told you about how Jesse gets along with my family and our almost disa trip to Louisiana so it's about time I got to telling you how I got along with his family, right?!

Before leaving for Louisiana I had only ever really spoken to his Nanny. I had spoken to his Mom on the phone before a couple of times when Jesse was here, but that was it. His Nanny and I had been emailing each other daily since Jesse was here in December. 

Getting to know his Nanny via email was good because I got to know a little more about what to expect. You see, I love Jesse to death, but he isn't as good as me at blabbing every single little detail - especially as he's never been really close with his family. 

My Mum, Jesse and I were all staying at Jesse's Mom's house and then also spending one weekend in Mississippi with his Nanny. Was I nervous to be staying with Jesse's Mum? You bet your bottom dollar I was! All I could think was "what on earth am I going to do if she hates me and we're stuck there for two weeks", my mum was thinking the exact same thing. 

I had nothing to worry about. Both my Mum and I both got along with Jesse's Mom instantly. Her and my Mum are so much alike it's funny and she is so easy to get along with, Marilyn was the hardest of Jesse's family to say goodbye to because we had gotten along so well for the two weeks we were there. 

Jesse, Me, Charles, Mary and Max the Cockatoo

Those cows meant business

The first weekend we made the one hour three hour drive to Mississippi (Jesse's travel time doesn't include the entire trip, apparently) to stay with his Nanny and Charles. 

The live on what I guess you could call a cattle farm and while we were there I got to tick riding on an ATV off my bucket list as well as getting up close and personal with some mean looking Momma cows. 

We also drove out to New Roads, LA to go to lunch on the river at Morel's. 

We only spent a short time in Mississippi but it was good to spend time with Mary after getting to know her through our emails. As you can see from the photo, Mary has a Cockatoo named Max and another parrot called Pepper. One thing you wouldn't know about me is that I'm terrified of birds - and flying objects in general. I managed to cope, however, and was only really freaked out when the birds were interested in my food and would not leave me alone - apparently birds like fruit and veggies too! 

After our short trip to Mississippi it was back to Louisiana to spend more time with Jesse's Mom and Step Dad John. 

The two youngest girls chilling out in their wagon at the Zoo

Whilst in Louisiana I also got to spend lots of time with Jesse's nieces. The two youngest girls are the sweetest little things and Brittany decided I was her new best friend (much to my delight!) the two older girls were good too, though a little more intense than the younger girls. They wanted to play and ask questions and do things all the time, but luckily I didn't mind too much. Jesse's youngest niece had to go into hospital on the last week were there and his Mom was minding the other three, so I really got to know them while they were there. 

I would've liked to have spent more time with Jesse's sister to get to know her, but of course with the little one sick in hospital she had other more important things to do! 

Us with Jesse's Step Dad, John

While we were in Louisiana I felt like I really got to know Marilyn and John as we spent so much time with them and I was so glad that we stayed with them. There was never any awkwardness and they both got along with my Mum too! I think Jesse even got to develop more of a relationship with his Mom as they haven't really spent too much time together in recent years. I also got to meet Jesse's brother, Josh, a few times and get to spend some time with him when he came over. 

Us with Jesse's PawPaw Buddy

Jesse's PawPaw Buddy reminded me so much of my Pa. His mannerisms, stories and just the way he talked were so familiar. He has already started calling me his granddaughter in-law and I can't tell you how happy that made me. 

Whilst I was in Louisiana, I really felt like my family grew. I didn't want to leave because I wanted to spend more time with them and get to know them even better - but I know that Jesse and I will be back! It is my every hope that Jesse's family would be able to make it to our wedding, though I understand that airfares are incredibly expensive and it's not always possible - so perhaps a Skype feed will be arranged :P I've already told Jesse that I want to make sure we're always saving to go back to Louisiana as I think it's really important to spend time with both of our families. 

I hope that over the years, my relationship with Jesse's family will only grow and develop so that Jesse and I can really feel that we have our family. I'm happy to see that since I was there, Jesse's gotten closer with his family as he's started to realise just how important they are - seeing as family is the most important thing to me. 

So tell me, how do you get along with your partner's family?

also what else would you like to hear about in this series?! 

I don't mind if you leave an anonymous comment with your suggestion or send me an email at southerninlaw@gmail.com - I'd love to know! :) 

Wedding Wednesday: Airport Disaster on the way to Meet the Family

So last week I told you about Jesse's relationship with my family - but what about mine with his? While I'm going to tell you that, I thought I may as well tell you how we got there in the first place!

After wanting to go to Louisiana and meet his family, I finally got the opportunity to go on May. We'd been planning it for some time and once Katrina had her last chemo treatment, we left the country two weeks later.

We? Yes we! I took my other best friend, also known as my Mum with me. I did this for two reasons - one because I wanted her to meet Jesse's family and for them to meet her (even though I wished my dad and sister could have come too, but that will happen!) and two, because I didn't want to be traveling 24 hours alone knowing how sick I'd been for the last couple of months.

We headed out of Australia via Dallas and after 16 hours of being cramped up in a plane, we were then stuck in the customs waiting line for 2 hours.

We had a connecting flight to Alexandria that was getting closer and closer - and we were still in line. It was the last flight of the day and if we missed it, there was no other option than to stay in Dallas overnight. When you tell that to someone who never sees her (then) boyfriend, she will only think one thing - that's one less day and that's not going to happen. When Jesse came in December, he had a similar situation in Los Angeles where his flight was overbooked and he had to stay in LA until he could catch a flight the next evening. He was mad, I was a crying sobbing wreck - you'd have thought he wasn't coming.

But back to Dallas. At this point we were looking at the clock watching the time pass and we weren't even moving an inch. We noticed that they were letting other people with connecting flights go through so I flagged down someone to ask. "60 minutes? noooo you have pleeeeeenty of time dear" - the answer I got wasn't what I was looking for. Keep in mind, at this point we hadn't gone through immigrations and we still had to get our bags, go through customs, check onto our next flight and then get to the domestic side of the airport to find our gate and board our plane - all in an hour and we had only moved about 50 metres in the 2 hours we had been waiting. 

A group of English tourists heard us talking to the woman and started saying "oh, you're not going to make it you know... there's no way... we may even miss our flight that's in an hour in a half... we've traveled here before you know..". I'm not a violent person and I'm actually really nice and polite and everyone comments on how well mannered I am - but at this point I wanted to scream at these tourists because they were only verbalising the fears I had in my head.

Another twenty minutes minutes passed and we finally got to the counter. The guy was lovely and while processing our papers, decided to have a little chat while his slow computer processed the information - lovely... but we now had fourty minutes left before boarding and I was growing almighty impatient, Mum too. 

Once we got out of customs, Mum told me to run because we still had to get our bags and get down to go through immigration - and it'd be a good idea to get there before the thousands of people that were behind us (though with only 4 people actually on the counters, we didn't have to worry about that).  

Now... I'm not a runner - never have been, never will be. I'm the clumsiest person on the planet and when I run I just look like an idiot. Take my failure at running and add one big bulky handbag and a carry on bag over my shoulder that kept hitting me in the bum and knocking me over every time I tried to "run". What came out of this was as graceful as a penguin's waddle. In fact, it probably was a penguin's waddle. 

So I waddled my way down stairs to grab our bags and thankfully by the grace of God our bags were right there. We grabbed them and my mum told me to run once more. Now... you remember my situation before? Now add in a big wheelie suitcase that weighed almost as much as me - so now I had a big handbag, a carry on bag hitting me on the bum every time I tried to walk, sore feet and a wheelie bag that kept running into the back of my ankles. If there had've been another flight - this is where I would have laid down on the floor and died. 

So we got into yet another line... 30 minutes to go. This line was full of people and there was no other way than to wait - regardless of whether you had another flight. 10 minutes ticked down and we finally got to the end of the line. "Oh Ma'am... would you mind coming through an extra security check" actually yes, I would mind... 

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Thankfully that security check took all of two minutes (unheard of in an airport) and we were once again running waddling to get to the next point to check our bags onto the next flight. We got to one part only be told to quickly run another 100 metres and check our bags in there, once we did that we got to the counter and I frantically called Jesse to let him know we might not make it. While on the phone, my mum was talking to the guy who said "Oh.. you've already missed this flight" 

I just about died. 

Then he says "Oh whoops, I just read the wrong line... you have ten minutes... run". I didn't even have time to scream at him or punch him in the face (though I never would have!) and this time the penguin waddle took off at full speed. We ran through the doors, up the stairs, up the escalator (all while pulling those damn bags behind us and my carry on bag cutting up the back of my legs) and onto the skylink to get to where our boarding terminal was. 

Thank goodness that monorail went so fast it just about knocked me over. We got straight off and once again started running to our terminal. We got there with five minutes to spare. Thankfully because it was a small plane, they didn't have to board until the last minute and there was a slight delay so we were allowed to get on. 

I once again made another rushed call to Jesse... this time to tell him we were coming. We got onto the flight and I was exhausted and beyond nauseous. Combine stress with a whole day of traveling and already having GI issues - and it wasn't a fun event. But I knew I was only one hour away from seeing Jesse.

Once we touched down in Louisiana, Mum had to wait to get her carry on bag from the hold since they didn't want everyone's big bags in the tiny plane. She sent me off ahead to go find Jesse. 

I walked out, expecting it to be like Sydney domestic airports where you wait for the passengers right outside the gate. No Jesse. My heart dropped. I walked back towards the gate to my Mum to tell her that he wasn't here. She reassured me that of course he was here, I just must've missed him. 

What I didn't know was that all those people waiting outside the gate were waiting to get on their flight... not to pick up other passengers. We walked outside of the gate area and there was Jesse walking towards me. Right then, I knew everything was fine. 

We got our bags, got into his car and drove to the grocery store (priorities people! No one ever knows what to buy for me with all my food intolerances so it was go shopping or go hungry :P). Once we were finished shopping, it was time to go to his Mom's house, where we'd be staying. 

Next week I'll tell you about how I got along with Jesse's family! 

So tell me, have you had your own airport disaster? or do you have pretty good luck with airports? 

Wedding Wednesday: My family

I've been searching for ideas for more posts about Jesse and I, as lots have you have said you'd like to read more, but I kept coming up with nothing. I have the dreaded writers block and I just could not come up with any interesting ideas that I thought anyone would want to read. 

Yesterday I got an email from a reader, that said: 

"I really love your posts about you and Jesse. I can't wait to read more about you both because I love your story. I'd love to know how do you and Jesse get on with each others family? Have you met?? Do you get along??"

While I told you all a little about our families in my "How we met", "How we found the ring" and our "Engagement Story" posts - I didn't go into much detail.

It's safe to say that Jesse and I have both extended our families. My family adores him and he feels the same about them and I can't wait to go back to Louisiana to spend more time with his. 

This week I'll tell you about our relationship with my family - and then next week I'll tell you about ours with his family!

I am really close with my family. My mum is my (second) best friend, for one - and I feel like family should always come first. 

It was really important to me that my family liked Jesse, especially since I wanted him to be apart of my family. This was my biggest worry the first time he came to Australia. The last thing on earth I wanted to happen was that my family didn't like Jesse and I adored him and then I'd have to make a choice - or live with two separate families for the rest of my life. 

Thankfully, any second of worry I had was a complete waste of time. My family adore Jesse. I was shocked, stunned and in awe of how much my Pa loved Jesse. You see, my Pa was hmm.. let's not sugar coat this.. he wasn't the easiest man in the world to get along with or impress. He had his good moments and when he loved you, he really loved - but that was just his personality. 

My Pa, for some odd reason, had this "thing" about Americans. Having English parents, for some reason he decided he didn't like "yanks" and he was extremely traditional. His first granddaughter dating someone on the other side of the world was bad enough - but a yank?!

When Jesse first arrived, I introduced him to my Pa cautiously. I didn't know what he was going to say or how he was going to accept him - and he was wary at first too. But before long, Jesse became my Pa's ultimate "cobber" (if you're not familiar with Australian colloquialisms, that means friend/mate). Why I was surprised, I don't know - but somehow Jesse managed to make my Pa adore him too (this boy has magic powers, I swear) and once he went home the first thing Pa said to me every single morning was "Hey Kristy, how's Tex?". I think it's a little obvious that he loved him when he even gave him a nickname!

Jesse became "Tex" as a shortened version of "Texas Cowboy" or "Texas Ranger" - Pa didn't care that Jesse came from Louisiana, not Texas.. he had the southern drawl heard in Cowboy and Western movies and they were all the same to him. 

Even on the last time I saw my Pa, one of the last things he asked me was "How's Tex?". I know that he would be incredibly happy, overjoyed even, for both of us and the excitement of his twin brother Joe when I told him only secured that fact. 

Jesse impressed the hardest person in my family to impress - and I will forever cherish that fact. 

My sister calls Jesse her brother, I think that just about sums up their relationship in one. They argue, make jokes with one another and Katrina is so excited to have Jesse as her brother, officially (forget brother in-law). It actually amazes me how well they get along and how well we all get along together. 

When Katrina was in hospital and she knew that Jesse would be coming in December, she used his arrival as her drive to get off the oxygen, out of bed and walking again (after an entire month of being bedridden and too weak to walk on her own). She told me it was because she was too embarrassed to be seen like that, but I also knew it was because she didn't want to ruin his trip or our family Christmas by being in hospital. 

When Jesse was here we spent a lot of time together - Katrina bossing us around on how to do the Christmas tree (since she wasn't able to stand up and help us), playing Jenga or Creationary, joking around or totally owning Disney Universe (and both of them successfully murdering my poor character just for the fun of it). 

I hope and pray and wish that one day, my sister might find "the one" who treats her like a princess and who can join our trio so that we never lose that relationship with her.

It's thanks to Jesse that I have further discovered a friendship relationship with my sister, as well as just sisterhood - and I couldn't be more thankful.  

Quite possibly the most ridiculous picture of us, taken 4 years ago, but the only one I have on my computer - I guess it kind of shows how much fun we have together.

Like I said earlier, my Mum is one of my best friends and it was so important to me that she liked Jesse. Well, she surpassed my expectation and she too loves Jesse. 

She knows how happy we make each other and she already feels like Jesse is a part of our family. I brought her to Louisiana with me not just as a travel buddy, but because I felt it was important that she got to meet Jesse's family - and that they got to meet her too.  

She's not afraid to make mexican jokes about my dear future husband (everyone does) and she genuinely loves him (again.. everyone does) :P 

My dad on the left, our neighbour John in the middle and Jesse on the right

My dad and Jesse are so alike, it scares the absolute heck out of me at times. They have similar interests, their brains are wired the same way and they both know how to make a good joke at my expense (though Jesse knows better than to go too far!).

Dad already considers Jesse as part of our family just like the rest of us, ever since his first trip. He asks me every single day how Jesse's doing and what he's been up to and whenever I'm on the phone to Jesse he tells him to hurry up and get his ass back home. 

That word is the key in Jesse's relationship with my family. Jesse considers here and my family home - not here, not there, not Sydney. Jesse is coming home when he moves here and that makes me the happiest girl in the world!

Jesse also gets along with all of our family friends and there hasn't been a single person who's said a bad thing about him!

Christmas Day Lunch

Last Christmas, Jesse got to meet my extended family too. My grandmother and Aunts, Uncles and Cousins that he hadn't yet met. I already knew they'd love him, after all everyone does.

Since we've been officially engaged everyone has been excited. I haven't heard a single word muttered by my family and friends that we're too young or that it's the wrong idea. Those that have seen us together know that we're 110% right in what we're doing - and they'll be alongside us all of the way! 

I am so blessed to have a future husband who fits perfectly into my family and friends. I don't know how I got so lucky, but I am ever grateful that I am!

So tell me, do you get along with your significant other's family? do they get along with yours? 

and please, if you have any ideas for future posts - please let me know!

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