Rob and Jodie (from Baltimore in the USA) met by accident ….a fortunate accident! Jodie had been scolding a friend of hers about meeting people online without the ability to know anything about them etc. She showed Jodie the website and they started reading various postings. Jodie and her friend looked at many out of curiousity and Jodie noticed a very lengthy, witty posting that seemed very heartfelt and humourous (and really stood out from all the rest). So she created a fake email address and responded!
Jodie & Rob ended up emailing back and forth a couple times and then Rob asked for her telephone number. Jodie called him and they spoke for a few hours…about everything that newly acquainted people probably shouldn’t talk about..religion..politics..etc. Rob ended up asking Jodie to dinner and they went out the next Saturday for sushi. They had great conversation and after dinner, Rob didn’t know what to do because he didn’t have plans past dinner (in case it went badly)! They ended up going to another restaurant near Jodie’s apartment for drinks and dessert. They talked another hour or so and then he took her home. They started dating exclusively about 2 weeks later. Jodie and Rob went to Lisbon that summer and Jodie thinks after that trip they knew they’d be together for life!
Rob and Jodie dated for eight months before Rob asked Jodie to marry him. They were married eleven months later. What Jodie found really funny was that at the time Rob was working from home and didn’t go to bars, so he thought online was another way to meet people. But he said that had he read the other posts that people had, he would have never posted there…and if Jodie’s friend hadn’t been looking on there, she would have never looked there …… it was meant to be!
Rob had plans to propose in Washington, D.C. but it didn’t work out that way. As Jodie told us “we were dressed up for a work-related meeting and we were at a nice restaurant…but they could only seat us after the meeting at the bar. I said okay but Rob didn’t want to do that. I didn’t really get it..but agreed and we tried to figure out another place to go that was close…but we couldn’t decide on anything and I was just like like…well…let’s just go home…There is no reason for us to spend the money in DC when we can eat somewhere close to home cheaper. Rob resisted a bit as he wanted us to walk afterward to the memorial or somewhere romantic…but of course I didn’t know that! We got in the car to go home and then he decided that no matter what he was going to ask me that night. He thought about pulling over and pretending that we were having car trouble to and asking me on the side of the road…but then I got a call and ended up talking to my aunt almost all the way back home. When we were close to home, Rob asked where I wanted to eat and I told him we’d just order sushi. He seemed bummed and I thought…well..we’re dressed up…do you want to go to Capital Grill (a nice restaurant in downtown Baltimore)? He agreed. We got a back room seat and there were other tables that took forever to finish and leave. He ended up getting the waiter to dim the lights a bit which I thought was kind of strange..but finally he said some really sweet things and asked me to marry him! I was totally shocked and felt terrible that I had put him through so much frustration! I was thrilled and the ring was a beautiful antique diamond and sapphire ring in white gold which was incredibly thoughtful since he knows I love antique jewelry!”
Jodie and Rob chose Dalhousie Castle near Edinburgh (www.dalhousiecastle.co.uk) because they decided that they wanted to honeymoon in Scotland – they decided to have a small ceremony there instead of a large wedding in the US. Jodie ended up doing Google searches of places to get married to Scotland, which ended up evolving to looking at castles to get married in. As Jodie said “I didn’t even realize that was a possibility but I loved it because it was even more romantic than getting married abroad. I stumbled upon Dalhousie and read several reviews that were pleased with their wedding day. Their prices were reasonable for such a small ceremony and we were the only wedding of the day which was really wonderful as well. All in all, planning went relatively well, especially since I was doing everyone online. We were thrilled with the day, the ceremony, the dinner and the treatment we received from Dalhousie and their staff. I wrote a glowing review for them and would again. They were great on the day of the wedding and the day was truly wonderful…even with the rain. Our guests told us that our wedding was the best they had ever attended because we had so much fun.”
Jodie got her wedding dress on ebay. She wanted to save as much money as possible and bought it for $50! It was a sample dress from a wedding boutique and they were selling it online so she got a $900 dress for $50, had it altered a bit and it was ready to go! Jodie had it as a carry-on on the plane. She thought she could just iron it before the wedding, but Dalhousie sent it off for her and had it steamed which she really appreciated.
Jodie and Rob used Planet Flowers (www.planetflowers.co.uk)and were really pleased with them. Jodie found them online and thought their pictures were wonderful. They only needed a bouquet, a button flower for Rob, and flowers for my hair and the cake but they were beautiful.
Rob and Jodie chose Archibald Photography because they had read a recommendation from someone else that used Mark and had nice things to say. Jodie said “the couple said that they wanted a natural look and that Mark made the bride feel beautiful and natural etc. Also, and probably more importantly, we had to option with Archibald to get a disk of pictures so that we could make our own album and copies for our families. Rob is a photographer and I am very artistic so we wanted that option. They were very flexible with choices and ultimately we decided that we wanted to work with them. Again, scheduling everything and making all arrangements online went very smoothly as well. On the day, Mark was wonderful. He was fun to work with and Rob and I…and all the guests thought he was great. We even asked him to stick around and have a cigar with us before dinner! We had a wonderful time and the pictures were gorgeous. All of our friends and family have been very impressed. We knew we had made the right choice!”
The best thing for Rob and Jodie about their day was that it was truly about the two of them and they got to share it with our friends and family. Not only was the day about them getting married, but everything they did….where they did it..how they did it etc…was about them and their style. Jodie and Rob didn’t compromise anything and were thrilled with everything. And to top it off…they have a wonderful story about where they got married that doesn’t sound like everyone else’s story!
Jodie and Rob don’t think they had a bad thing to say about their day. It rained..but they even had fun with that! When we asked Jodie what the funniest thing was she said “probably that I was so goofy, I was just smiling from ear to ear and probably just looked goofy. We also put the wrong hand forward when we went to put the rings on!” However, I think you can see for yourself that Jodie only looks beautiful on her day – certainly not ‘goofy’!!!
Tags: archibald photography, dalhousie castle, natural wedding photography, planet flowers, wedding photography