Well, as of today, the official countdown begins. At the end of this month, I’ll have a new name, a new tax status, and probably a few gray hairs from all the stress I’m putting on myself since I decided to design and craft most of my wedding. For better or worse, from this day on, I’ll be sharing with you my days leading up to the wedding in addition to our regularly scheduled content.
My initial intention in this post was to talk about how we met, but I figured that would be best served rolled in with our honeymoon, since I’d have to explain the significance of our destination all over again. We’re going on a mini honeymoon – with an actual full honeymoon to a yet-to-be-decided tropical destination later on in the year – following the wedding to Providence, Rhode Island.
Yes, Providence, the Renaissance City, land of drunken college students, the Italian and Irish Mafia, a federally indicted mayor that the city would vote back into office, and crazy accents (Warwick = Wawhwick?). It’s also home to some of the best Italian food you’ll ever eat in an area known as Federal Hill, and more importantly, it’s home to Devon and my alma mater, Rhode Island School of Design.
The way we met couldn’t have been scripted better if we were on a sitcom. It was orientation day, and I was with a bunch of girls who I had met prior to that day because we all had joined a special program that allowed freshmen to come early and volunteer. The four of us, disinterested in the whole thing, bound together and pretended we didn’t know each other to join the same “bonding group”. There were four others that were in our group, and one of them was Devon.
After that day, we became good friends, but I totally ignored any flirtation or interested he showed on me – but with good reason. We all thought he was gay (insert record player arm ripping of turntable here). No, I’m perfectly serious, we all thought he was gay. Keep in mind, this was before the world came to understand the existence of the “metrosexual”, but he was well dressed, hip and stylish in his fashion sense, and slightly effeminate. I’d come to realize later it was because he was raised by two sisters who were well dressed, hip and stylish in their fashion sense, and very feminine, but for the time being we were just completely confounded that every time we saw him, he was surrounded by a flock of girls either heading to the mall to go shopping or just coming back from it.
Needless to say, we obviously got over that. We started dating about two and a half months later and have been going strong ever since. When we graduated, we both got jobs as graphic designers at the same company and moved out to Minnesota together.
We’d been talking about returning to Providence for a while now – we miss the food and the city (personally, I didn’t have the same appreciation for the city that I have now because I was overworked, tired, and stressed out for four years) – so when we realized that going to the Caribbean was a no-go until post-hurricane season, we thought it would be nice to drive the three and a half hours from New York after the wedding and spend a few days there. We’re also looking into running up to Boston to go to the Boston Harbor Islands. We’ll see how much we can fit into two and a half days!
Image from ng1145 on Flickr.
I didn’t know you were a risd gal! Good to know. I’m a year out of risd (illustration) and have just started planning my wedding for next spring. Can’t wait to see how yours turns out, and hope you enjoy your time back in lil rhody!
Yep, I am! Dev and I are GD BFAs from 2006. And on Devon’s side, both of his sisters are also RISD kids. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!
So romantic! [And yes, I also thought Devon was gay until I learned you two were dating].
Hope you have a wonderful mini-honeymoon! Be sure to go on a Waterfire night! The couple of times I’ve been back in Providence after graduating, it felt sort of cozy and nostalgic. It has nice light in that city and for some reason sundown is sort of magical – it reminds me of being stuck in studio and looking out the window at the end of the day, and watching the sun set over Providence Place mall. The capital building turns a lovely pink shade, the mirrored Citizens Bank building looks like it’s made of gold, and for a second you forget how many shots you’ll need if you fall into the canals because they shimmer like glitter.
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding and best of luck to you both.
Such a romantic story! Thank you for sharing this with us. 🙂 Congratulations on your upcoming wedding and best of luck to you both! have a wonderful week ahead!
Thanks so much, Jacqueline! Our story may not be as romantic as some to all people, but it’s certainly undeniably, uhm… quirky? Christina – good to know Lexi, Nicole, Jane and the rest of the crew and I weren’t the only ones thinking so… in regards to Providence, it’s totally the truth though. I feel nostalgic just thinking about it, and I had to ask myself a bunch of times why I didn’t recognize how great it was until after I left. I must admit, though, it is my standard for beauty in the spring. Flowering trees everywhere + cobblestone roads + perfectly restored colonials? Gorgeous.