A white girl, a Puerto Rican guy, and a Chinese restaurant
I met my (now) husband in 2014 in a small Chinese restaurant I was moonlighting at. It was a temporary gig until I had enough saved up to move far, far away from the downward spiral of town I grew up in. I had big plans of relocating to Texas and attending Texas A&M until this tall, dark, and handsome Puerto Rican with biceps the size of my head convinced me to stay. I have no doubt that many people would probably shame me for giving up academic plans for a guy, but I had a gut feeling about him, and here we are, after the wedding, six years later. My gut was right.
He has the worst timing but the biggest heart
Fast forward two years, my boyfriend secretly planned a romantic proposal in a historic town complete with a photographer to capture the beautiful moment. Before we even left the house, it started to rain. Not a whimsical mist you would imagine in a Jane Austin novel, but a full-on downpour. He decided to improvise and suggested we go to a fancy restaurant. It was Olive Garden, not exactly fancy but it was the most high-end restaurant in our crummy little town. I last minute changed my mind and suggested burgers. Romantic, right?
I had blown his plan B out of the water. At this point, he was running out of patience. I guess he decided he couldn’t wait any longer because later that evening, as I get out of the shower, he walks in the bathroom with something in his hand. He says, “close your eyes and hold out your hand.” My defense system activated, and I immediately said no…what kind of prank was he about to pull? My next thought was, “what if he has chocolate?” Just as quick as the thought popped in my head, my eyes squeezed shut, and my hand shot forward expectantly. I felt him slide a ring on my finger and heard him say, “will you marry me?” This dude had the ring on my finger without even waiting for an answer! But of course, he knew I’d say yes. My first response was, “You’re doing this now?!” followed by, “Yes!”
I wish getting engaged in the buff was the most dramatic part of our story, but it unfolded into something from out of a dramatic romcom. Only less comedy and more drama.
The wedding planner from hell
Naturally, my mind was at maximum capacity with wedding plans. A girl I used to know was getting married around the same time and suggested this wedding planner she found. We will call this wedding planner, *Melany. She hired Melany to do flower arrangements for her wedding, but this lady offered full services, even DJing! I got ahold of her pricing chart and red flags popped up right away. Her services were dirt cheap and she offered everything a bride could think of. Melany was a one-stop-shop for all your wedding needs. I set up a meeting with her to see if she was legit. Our meeting was short, but she had a great portfolio and seemed well organized. I told her I would get back with her about whether we would be needing a wedding planner or not. This would give me time to do a little research.
This seems legit, right?
I looked her up on The Knot and she checked out with great reviews. At the time, I didn’t have Facebook; otherwise, I would have dug a little deeper on social media. The Knot is a reliable website though, right? They have their own magazine for goodness sake. I can’t imagine false businesses would find their way onto their web page. I scheduled another meeting with her and this time I brought my fiancé and my mother. We hired her and my parents forked out almost $4000 upfront. Conveniently, Melany also had connections with a make-up artist and a baker for our wedding cake. Both of which were legitimate though they couldn’t exactly place Melany nor recall ever meeting her.
Check back for Part 2 of our romcom wedding story!
*Names have been changed for privacy.
