This is Me: Marriage

If you're a regular around here, you know I've been doing a "This is Me" challenge for awhile now, answering a bunch of questions about myself in a quest to totally document my life.  The next section to conquer was marriage...so appropriate for Valentine's Day week, right?  So, here we go...
How did you meet your spouse?  Was it love at first sight or did it take some time?
Josh and I met at a bar...a TGI Friday's to be exact.  I was there with a friend, and he was there with a group of friends including his brother.  I sat down next to him, and remember striking up conversation over his food because it looked good to me...lame, huh!  At the time, I was pretty fresh out of a 2 1/2 year relationship, and thought Josh would end up being just a fun fling.
How long did you date before you got engaged?  How long was your engagement?
We dated for just short of 3 years before getting engaged.  Our engagement was 8 months, as I wanted to get married in the summer before the school year got started!
How did you get engaged?
The company that Josh was working for at the time had their Christmas party at the Homestead, a historic resort in southwestern Virginia.  Obviously, I knew this would be a nice setting for an engagement, so I mentally prepared myself a few times.  We stopped in Charlottesville (home of my alma mater) on the way up, and I thought about it then...nothing.  We went for a nice walk around the property on the day we got there...again, nothing.  Even as we were getting ready for the holiday party, I kind of waited...nothing.  We went down to the party, had a good time, and afterwards everyone was going to continue the party at one of the hotel lounges.  Josh said he needed to use the restroom in our room first (nothing unusual), so I joined him up there.  He went to the bathroom, and then we got ready to go back downstairs.  As I opened the hotel room door, I turned around and he was on one knee.  I honestly can't tell you anything he said (or even if he said anything at all), but I know I was cracking up (my usual reaction to anything overly happy, sad, etc).  Turns out I was right in looking for it throughout the weekend as Josh had been debating different locations to "pop the question," but kept wussing out!
Who did most of the wedding plans? Who helped?
I did most of my own planning...and LOVED it (hence my love for parties to this day!).  My parents were footing the bill (I know, I'm lucky), so they were involved in most of the big decisions.  And my sister, who was also my maid-of-honor, was also along for lots of the stuff like dress picking, cake tasting, etc.
Who were your bridesmaids/best men?
I already mentioned that my sister was my maid-of-honor.  My cousin, Erin, was a bridesmaid as were three of my good friends: Katie, whom I grew up with and was best friends since age 9, Claire, one of my good friends from high school (although we actually met in elementary school as well), and Kristina, one of my teacher friends that I was (and still am) super close to.
Josh had his brother as his best man.  My brother was one of his groomsmen along with three of his friends from high school/growing up.
Describe the details of your wedding: the colors, the cake, the decorations, etc.
Our colors were lime green and orange with accents to root it all.  The tables were decorated with brown silk tablecloths (that I am not doing a very good job explaining because they were much prettier than that sounds!) with 2 different arrangements: the tall ones were supposed to have limes filling the vases (the florist forgot that part), while the short ones were a collection of smaller vases.  For the cake, we went with a whimsical topsy-turvy look.  It's probably no surprise now, but I DIYed quite a few of the elements: the table number cards (we did pictures of us at each age), the place card holders (ribbon boards that I made), the programs, an M and J monogram for the door, and more that I'm forgetting.
Where did your wedding take place? Who performed the ceremony?  Do you remember any words of advice given?
Our wedding took place at the Princess Anne Country Club in Virginia Beach...ceremony and reception.  Rabbi Rosalin Mandelberg officiated the ceremony.  She pretty much just read our ketubbah (a Jewish marriage contract) and said a few quick words, and honestly it was so hot in there that I was more focused on Josh and/or me not passing out, so no...I don't remember any words of advice given!
Who attended your wedding?
We had about 150 people there consisting of the usual suspects---family, friends, friends of my parents, friends of Josh's parents.
Where did you go on your honeymoon? What adventures did you have?
We went to Aruba and really didn't have any "adventures."  We did a lot of beaching, pool-side hanging, eating/drinking, and general relaxing!  One night, we did do the Kukoo-Kunukoo (that may not be the right spelling!) party bus which was a blast!  And we did a sunset cruise another night.

And the best part is 5+ years, 2 children, and a dog later, that day was only the beginning:)