The New Mr. and Mrs. McGhee

It's been less than two weeks since our big day and I'm still sorting through photos and feelings. I thought I would be more nervous the day of, I wasn't; I thought I would feel different afterwards, I do and I don't; and I thought I would finally be able to relax, but thank you cards don't write themselves!

What I am sure of is that I am incredibly happy and October 17 was one of the best days of my life.

Thanks to everyone who made this a reality! Special thanks to Katie who came in from Boston and took on jobs with very little heads-up - what a star! And of course my eldest sister Allison who we literally could not have done this without! She officiated our ceremony and mixed the perfect amount of humor with romance - it was breath-taking.

And thanks to you! Everyone has been so supportive of our journey! It's not over yet, but we are steadily moving closer to permanently settling in the UK. :))

The Story of How Stuart Proposed

Let me preface all of this with: if you're looking for a "romance in the highlands" type story, you're better off punching that into amazon and purchasing whatever comes up. ;P

Long distance relationships have a tendency to steal a lot of spontaneity from you. Everything has to be planned and arranged and organized in order to work, so before Stuart had even left America in May of 2013 we had a long, deep, dull conversation about practicality and the future. It's not realistic to assume that we can just love each other enough to make things work - not when there's extensive paperwork and fees keeping us both in our respective countries. So we looked at visas, and came up with a vague timeline, and coordinated it with when we would actually be in the same country and agreed that sometime in the summer of 2014 we would get engaged. Now, I'm sure that doesn't sound terribly romantic, but moving forward in our relationship with the knowledge that we have so many obstacles in our way - it was too big of a decision to make without thoroughly talking it over.

Besides, I'm just not the kind of girl you spring things on! My mom has said that I require at least three days notice if any plans change and she's not far off. Though I have relaxed on this considerably, I don't react well to surprises. So on June 9, Stuart sat next to me and held my hand and said exactly what I had asked him to say when he was ready: "Girlfriend, you might want to wear your hair down tomorrow." Not that it would matter, a few minutes after he slipped on my ring the sky opened up and all chances for photos were lost!

We drove out to the Highlands on June 10th, through Glen Coe and up to Loch Ness - the place of my childhood dreams. I have long been interested in cryptozoology and plesiosaurs, so naturally Loch Ness was the ultimate romantic destination for me! We went through the Loch Ness Centre and Exhibition and learned a lot about the surrounding area. We tried (mostly in vain) to make our way down to the water and when we finally did, I promptly landed my foot in freezing cold water. It's not anyone's fairy tale but my own and I feel so lucky to have someone who respects and values my wants over what society dictates as "traditional". Anyway, we saw a rainbow on our way home, which I'm counting as Nessie's blessing. ;)

How To Plan A Wedding Across An Ocean

It's been a little over six months since Stuart proposed, and a little under nine months until our wedding - it's probably time that I started blogging about it! Now planning a wedding isn't easy by any means, but adding in the whole Atlantic Ocean really complicates matters..

Initially we were just going to head down to the courthouse, but Stuart's an only child and I'm the baby of my family so that just wasn't going to work for us (read: our moms). I'm not going to lie and say that this has been the easiest experience of my life, it really would be nice if I could just call Stuart or his mom to confirm details but distance and a 5 hour time difference is against me. So it's been complicated, and a lot of the excitement has been lost in waiting for responses to emails. But even with all of that, it hasn't been as hard as I expected and now that we're over the initial hump of planning (venue's been reserved, catering has been contacted, dress shopping will happen soon) it's starting to get a lot more real.

I'm starting to imagine what it's going to be like surrounded by friends and family - some of whom I haven't seen in years and some I haven't even met yet - celebrating us. I'm excited to have my family be a part of the ceremony and I'm excited that they're excited to help me pull this off. Even if they weren't serious, both my mother and my sister have agreed to bake pies (because cake is so 2014) and my niece has offered on several occasions to be my flower girl.

It's easy enough to get lost in what we don't have. The opportunities we're missing out on because we live so far apart, but whenever things get sad it's important to remember what we do have: family that's willing to help, friends willing to travel long distances just to be with us on our special day, and each other - the best support I could have asked for. That's how you plan a wedding across an ocean.