Melanie & Kevin's Wedding Website

It began on a bright and sunny day during the month of September in 2008.  Kevin had begun to introduce himself to his co-workers at his highly anticipated new teaching position.  Upon introductions, his co-workers were informed that he had been in a relationship with Melanie for about a year and a half.  This was proud news for Kevin to announce, until the questions developed.  "Are you living together? IN SIN!?!?!",  "Are you in love?", "When are you getting married?"  These questions were overwhelming for Kevin to answer.  One might have thought that this would have ended that day, but it didn't.  The questions came routinely throughout the year.

Kevin felt that things could be moving fast.  Already they had been living together in an apartment in Mansfield, MA.  Surely, he did not want to even approach the topic of marriage.  In fact, Kevin tried to avoid the topic at all costs, even when Melanie brought it up slyly.  Take this for example:

    Melanie: "That movie was great.  I would love to have my wedding like that.  It would be beautiful."

    Kevin:  "I like beer"

Or this one:

    Melanie: "I'm so excited for my best-friends wedding this summer!"

    Kevin: "Crap!"

But life went on.  After all, they are only renting an apartment and would not even think about purchasing a house without being married.  In fact, Kevin was very content with life at the moment.  One day in February he was eating ice cream out of a carton watching ESPN when Melanie came home from work and uttered the words "I think I want to buy a house."  And so it began....

    Kevin returned to work the next day and told all of his co-workers the news.  This only brought a flood of questions: "Where are you moving?", "So when are you getting married?"  "Time to get the ring!"  It wasn't until April that Kevin had really contemplated about the idea of marriage.  Was it time?  Was she the one?  But through it all, he decided to bite the bullet, to fuel the fire, to oogie the boogie.  He was going to go ring shopping.


    Working in Attleboro as teacher, Kevin had all the time in the afternoon to look for rings without Melanie ever getting suspicious.  After telling himself he would go ring shopping in the moth of April, he realized he never actually did it.  So when May approached, he made sure that on the day that he needed to go to Emerald Square Mall, he would begin his first journey into the land of jewelry.

    He had arrived at the mall and immediately his testosterone was low.  Like a diabetic with low sugar, Kevin's sanity was rapidly declining.  He quickly needed a sense of normalcy, help by anyone, anything.  So he went to Sears and marveled in the tool department.  It was here the fresh aroma of oil and grease revitalized him and gave him the courage to go to the jewelry stores.  Now for those that have not seen the mall, you would not be aware that there are approximately 12 jewelry stores in it.  Quite frankly this could not be accomplished in one visit, so Kevin took three separate trips in order to look at all the stores.  He had narrowed it down to 3 stores, but which ring was really the one?

    To assist in his decision, he recruited fellow colleague Elaine Taylor.  Elaine accompanied Kevin and looked at the various rings that he had decided on.  It was agreed by both of them that the ring would indeed be the one that Kevin first looked at.  The purchase would take place a week later, during the night of a "lock-in" at Wamsutta Middle School, which Kevin would have to chaperone.  He was excited about the purchase.  Bringing with him his thick wallet that would soon become thin... nothing could stop him now.  He was on an emotional high; it was a perfect ring, for a perfect person.  Until the jeweler asked "what is her ring size?"  Kevin quickly realized he had no idea!  So he drove home, snuck past Melanie at the apartment, stole one of her rings, and drove all the way back. 

    Now Kevin needed to think of how to propose.  He did not want to do anything that was 'traditional'.  He wanted something spontaneous.  So he decided he would propose to her on July 3rd, during the fireworks in Stoughton.  He called the town and found out information about the fireworks, how long they were, how long the grand finale was and when it would occur.  He would propose to her during the finale in public.  It would be beautiful.  A special occasion for a special lady.  However, Melanie decided that she would ruin this, as she decided to invite guests over the night before, thus never even making it to the fireworks.  Kevin needed a new plan.

    Kevin was looking at pictures from when he first met Melanie on the computer one day and decided that he could do something unique by displaying them with captions.  He quickly printed out 20 of them and placed them on the bookshelf, where he would grab them later and begin working on his idea.  However, Melanie decided that she would ruin this by finding the pictures.

    Kevin later received a phone call from Melanie's best friend.  He discovered that not only did she find the pictures, but she also found a jewelry bag in the trunk of Kevin's car.  Kevin was horrified, but quickly thought she may think there is a ring, may know there is a ring, but doesn't know when she will get the ring.  Winner: Kevin.
    
    On his third attempt Kevin decided he would propose before the weekend of a family reunion and housewarming party for both of their families.  He had Melanie make reservations at a seafood restaurant in Quincy, MA close to where she worked.  Since they would take separate cars, Kevin would have his neighbors setup the house for when they got back from dinner. There would be rose petals, candles, and chilled wine.  It would be a romantic night for a romantic couple.  However, Melanie decided that she would ruin this by deciding that she wanted to come home first and change, so we would take one car.  This would be OK, because Kevin figured he could quickly setup in two minutes before they left.  He would pretend to leave his license at home and setup everything so quickly, Mel would never know.  It actually went according to plan.  However, Melanie decided she would ruin this by entering the house to use the bathroom while Kevin was setting up.

    Kevin quickly dispelled any thought she had about what he was doing; after all, they never go on dates.  This was a date night, he explained.  They went to dinner and had a bottle of wine and all was forgotten.  When they returned, they followed the trail of rose petals to the living room, lit the candles, and had some wine.  Kevin was supposed to propose then, but after Melanie saw everything before they went out to eat, he wanted to throw her off.  They talked for an hour and a half and drank another bottle and a half of wine.  Finally Melanie brought up the housewarming and how excited she was for both families to be together really for the first time.  This prompted the following:

    Kevin: "Do you think they are going to be more excited to see the house or for us?"
    Melanie: "......."

    Kevin: "Do you think they are going to be more excited to see the house or for us?"

    Melanie: ".... what do you mean"

    Kevin:  "Do you think they are going to be more excited to see the house or to hear me introduce you as my fiancé?"

He then proposed, and Melanie accepted.  They cracked open a bottle of champagne to celebrate, and the rest was history