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It was one good sales routine. I came to Australia, from Plankinton South Dakota USA, to study Population Gentics at James Cook University (JCU), Townsville, Queensland. I hadn't been in the country for even a month when I needed to print something and the printer I had brought along with me didn't work any longer. So I went to The Mac Shop, an Apple computer shop on the JCU campus, and asked if I could use one of their printers until I could buy a new one. Unfortunately they didn't have any I could use because my computer did not have USB. So I said to Kelly (who I thought was pretty cute and really nice) "Sell me a computer!" and he did.
It took about 2 weeks for my printer to get to Townsville and in that time I stopped by the shop everyday and asked where it was. Each visit, I started to stay for longer and longer periods of time and I really got to know Kelly and we started to become pretty good friends. I used to go with him on McDonalds runs for lunch and every once in a while we would go out for lunch to the C-Bar. Then one Friday afternoon after he was done with work we went to the JCU Club/Bar and had a few drinks where I told him "He wasn't my type", completely lying to myself and him.
I kept going to the Mac Shop everyday and then about 2 to 3 months later we started dating and Kelly got headhunted for a Mac Job in Brisbane. We were packing him up and getting him ready to move to Brisbane when we took a break around 11:50 pm and drove to the top of Castle Hill, which over looks the whole town of Townsville. Kelly got down on one knee and said that he couldn't live without me in his life and that he couldn't move to Brisbane without me and he asked if I would be his wife. And I said yes without hesitation.
Kelly and I moved down to Brisbane at the end of Aug 2002 and we were going to get married the next November, but it just wouldn't have worked with my family in the US. So we moved the wedding date to May 2004. We started the planning in February 2003 and had most things figured out and planned by the next February, 2004. So going into May there wasn't as much stress or worry about things not working right.
The day started out to be a rainy, grey day. But it didn't hamper anyone's mood. Kelly had stayed with the best man the night before and didn't get much sleep because he was too nervous and so were his best men. They ended up getting ready at the Marriot Hotel in Brisbane which John (Kelly's best man) had gotten us as a wedding present for our first night.
The girls and I got ready at our house. The hairdresser came to the house and started on the girls' hair. The girls' wanted to get their nails done SOOOO bad that the hairdresser knew someone who knew someone that would come to the house and get everything done. So the girls were happy. I wasn't too nervous until we got the dress on and the flowers arrived and we were getting in the car.
Kelly and I choose St. John Vianney's Church in Manly, Queensland Australia. It just happened to be the same church that Kelly's parents and grandparents got married in. We really didn't know this until we had already decided on the church, but it made it all that much special. It was a lovely small wedding ceremony with four bridesmaids and groomsmen, but only about 55 people in the church. Kelly's grandfather was able to make it even through his illness. It was quite touching.
Kelly and I did all the planning ourselves and we had a great time. Once we found the perfect church and reception venue (The Moreton Bay Trailer Boat Club) there wasn't much else to plan. We supplied the music, Kelly's Uncle Frank and so many others did the photos, Bernie did the video, and we saved so much money doing that.
The reception at the Moreton Bay Trailer Boat Club was fabulous. It was right on Moreton Bay overlooking all the sailboats and a beautiful evening. We have a hot and cold buffet that was delicious. We had soft music playing from my laptop over dinner with Kelly's Promise Sparkling Wine, which everyone enjoyed much better than the normal Sparkling Wine.
Everything was so well planned that there were no real hiccups, except Kelly put his toasting glass down on the break of the tables (which was un-even) and the glass broke. The day was just lovely. The sun came out for the pictures and we had a beautiful sun-set for pictures. I wouldn't have changed a thing.
We went to Cairns for our honeymoon and met up with my best friend and maid-of-honour and her fiance for a couple of days. Kelly and I then just drove around the Daintree and saw lots of waterfalls and rainforest. We slept on the beach and had a great time.
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