Happily ever hereafter...

On October 12, 2010, on their one-year anniversary, Brian proposed to Jordan. He took her to the same lookout in Gatineau Park where he'd first asked if she'd be his girlfriend, and he got down on one knee, and he gave her the most beautiful engagement ring she had ever seen.

Jordan said yes, of course. She had been waiting for this moment for some time, especially in the last few weeks as Brian, a terrible keeper of secrets, began to let hints slip out. The ring and the plan were a complete mystery, but the proposal date she was quite sure of. The only blemish on Jordan's happiness as she stood there in the Autumn air, just her and Brian at the lookout, was that her friends and family weren't there to be a part of the happy moment. Later that evening, when Brian managed to surprise her once more with a surprise dinner party full of friends and family, Jordan was certain she was the luckiest girl in the world to have the love of such a fella.

I--Jordan--have never been the kind of girl to really fantasize about my wedding day. I have never fallen in love with idea of a giant nebulous wide dress; indeed, white makes me look washed-out and a chubby, two things that I'm really not okay with. The idea of walking down an aisle towards a waiting person while everyone stares at me, and all my mate has to do is stand there in flat shoes, while I navigate a giant skirt and heels...well, it has always struck me as a little absurd and way too contrived.

I have, however, planned guerrilla warfare on the traditional wedding. I have planned in detail an Indiana Jones-themed wedding, where the bride runs away from a boulder rolling down the aisle. I have vowed never to wear white, and am debating whether my feet will be adorned with riding boots or roller skates. And a matrimonial celebration with a lot of radical personalization is something I am, in fact, looking forward to.

So the big question now is, how do we make this happen? I will write more later about how Brian and I met, and the circumstances that bring us to a point now where financially, a traditional wedding is not a wise option. (We toyed with a quick and dirty elopement, but we, and our families, would be disappointed, we think.) We also talked about the enormous waste that a wedding can be--of finances, resources, and sanity. Brian and I were talking about weddings a while back, and I said, "Why don't we just get people to contribute stuff until we've got a wedding together?" We expanded on the idea: there may be businesses and artisans who want some promotion, who would be interested in donating elements of the wedding. There may be couples who have three dozen glass vases in their garage, who are more than ready to pass those along to be centrepieces for our special day. And we've both got skills that we could trade for some services, as well.

Thus, the idea of the 'free' wedding was born. When your only concern about your wedding is that it's funky and non-traditional, why not make the planning a real adventure? Why not see if we can assemble a fantastic special day through begging, borrowing, and donations? Why not see if some of the amazing artisans out there wanna contribute a little something, and in return, get their brands promoted?

So we're running with it. We're going to set some ground rules shortly, and some basic elements we'd like to follow (a colour scheme, a date, and maybe a couple other must-haves). Then we're going to start accepting donations and offers, and we may even be tracking some places with specific requests.

We encourage you to follow this blog. It's the first step in our 'free' wedding: a free blog to get the word out. Pass it along! Let your friends know! Subscribe! And welcome to what we hope will be a fantastic, romantic experiment.