Ron and I actually worked for the same company....I was at headquarters in Chicago and Ron worked from home in Baltimore.  I was in charge of accounts on the East coast and worked with a team of 5 out there....one of them being Ron who was new to the team.  The only contact I would have with the team was via phone and fax until our company had a big annual meeting in Chicago.  I met the whole team, including my now Fiance and frankly, I didn't really like him at first. Here's a guy with all these muscles that used to play football....great.....he thinks he's cool with his muscles and probably used to plays girls that were obsessed with football players.....all in all.....so not my type. Surprisingly, I later found out that Ron pointed me out the second I walked into the meeting....which by the way was held at the Chicago theater which holds about 3,000 people or more. How cute! So I guess he spots me, and suddenly I start walking in his direction (because that's where the East team was sitting.) After the meeting and some awkward introductions, we all go out to get something to eat and some drinks. Well, Ron isn't too interested in me either! I wear makeup and do my hair, and he thought I was a prissy B*tch! Which I'm so not! So two days of meetings go by, as well as two nights of drinking, and Ron and I don't really talk. I end up leaving after the second night back to my hotel room and Ron never said good-bye....until I get a call on my cell phone from him letting me know that he was sorry he didn't get to say good-bye and he looks forward to working with me.  So that was that...then a week later I get a call after work and it was Him!! He had just moved to Baltimore for work and didn't know many people and just called to chat. Well we ended up talking every night for hours for a month. He never flirted with me, was never inappropriate, just genuine, charming, and so nice. St. Patty's day was coming up and he asked me if I wanted to fly out to visit. So I did....and we've been together ever since!

Ron and I would take a trip together every year....our first trip to Mexico, then the Dominican, and the third year Ron set up a trip to Maui. Maui?! Why would we go to Maui if it's an 11 hour flight from Philadelphia?! Well we got there, we stayed at the Westin Maui and it was beautiful. Everyday at breakfast we would see whales jumping out of the ocean and the food couldn't be better. Well, the first full day that we were there, I get a call from the front desk saying that as part of our package we have a sunset dinner. I tried to reschedule it....hilarious....but they let me know that the schedule was tight with other couples at the hotel so we had to do it tonight. So I didn't think anything of it....honestly.....and go to the pool to tell Ron. Ron by the way is drinking crown royal on the rocks at 11:30am....I still think nothing of it....and I tell him about the dinner in which he responds "Let's not go, I want to stay at the pool." I let him know we can't reschedule, so in a few hours we were off to our sunset dinner. We meet our private butler in the lobby who takes us to a secluded gazebo where a beautiful table is set. We toast with some great champagne and start our million course dinner....at least that what it seemed like. We ate mahi mahi, filet and lobster, stuffed tomatoes, lobster bisque....all this while Ron is saying the nicest most romantic things to me. Wow, Ron....we should do this more often!! The night couldn't be any better. I'm so amazed that this fab dinner is part of the package and Ron couldn't stop saying romantic things!! So then dessert comes....a platter of various sweets, one of which is a creme brulee with decorative cookies coming out it where the ring was hanging! So before the waiter sets down the platter, he asks for my camera because it's a new dessert and the chef wants a picture of it.....yeah right....he wanted my camera to take pictures of the engagement...and I of course did not catch on. So he sets the plate down, I don't see the ring. We take two pictures with the dessert....I still don't see the ring.....then....OH MY GOD!!! I see it! Ron gets down on one knee and the waiter is snapping away! I of course said yes, (after many Oh my God's) and that's the story of the best engagement ever :-) Needless to say....the dinner was not part of the package!

Ron has a huge family and they're all in Philadelphia, so although we would love to get married in Maui, we're not.....but we're having a hawaiian inspired wedding!

Can you see the ring?

I got my dress in a boutique called A l'amour in Chicago. It's a Marisa dress. I wouldn't say I had a "This is the one" moment, but I felt good in it and it had the flowy feel I was looking for (since I'm going for the Hawaiian feel but without the Hawaii....so sad). It's two layers of organza with alencon lace. My veil was a piece that was in my family and was hand made in Spain. You can't see all the detail on my picture, but it was gorgeous!

In trying to keep with a non-cheesy Hawaiian theme, my bridesmaids are wearing long flow-y pale yellow dress and somewhat hawaiian flowers.

My bouquet but without the leaves at the bottom:

The low centerpieces: ...haven't decided on the high centerpieces yet. I want to add some yellow orchids at the base to brighten up all the green.

My mom did my hair. She took the first layer of my hair and kind of teased it. The rest went back into a low ponytail and curled it under with many pins. Then wrapped a piece of hair around the hair tie.

My flowers were done by Jennifer Rosen of thebouquet.org. She was awesome! She now does weddings out of her home because she genuinely likes doing them! She's located in Plymouth meeting, PA and is the most reasonably priced florist out there! I wanted my flowers to be tropical yet still have the traditional "round" and full feel. There's another pic of my bouquet in the professional pic section. She also decorated my cake.

My pictures were taken by Lauren and Tim Dinofa by Dinofa Photography. WWW.Dinofaphotography.com. These two are the coolest most talented married couple photographers out there. They live in New Jersey but will travel. Please check out his blog (www.dinofaphotography.com/blog) also for all the other amazing weddings he's done. He also does baby pics and family portraits. Check them out!!