We are glad that you have taken the time to visit our new website. It has been fun thinking back over the memories of Neil and I first dating, etc. We are happy to announce that we are finally "officially" engaged. I know that many of you have been along the journey with us of waiting for the ring. We are so thankful that we both found each other. We also feel so blessed to have been able to become apart of each other's family and friends life. We have the best two set of family and friends, I swear. Thank you all so much for supporting the both of us over the years. We hope that you enjoy our site as much as we have making it.
I cannot be more excited to share the story of our engagement with you. As many of you know it has been an exciting stressful time for the both of us. However, the moment that Neil asked me if I would spend the rest of my life with him, nothing even mattered anymore. So here's our story~ Friday, July 15, 2005, was my 22nd birthday. Neil told me from the time we got together that he would never ever propose to me on my birthday and I believed him. So, Friday came and I had to go to work. I was so depressed for some reason and my stomach was bothering me all day. (I should have listened to my body) I ended up leaving work early at about 1:00 PM. My mom and I went shopping later that day to get me an outfit for that night. I started to feel better when I was shopping haha imagine that! I found these really neat rhinestone jean pants that I wanted, and I couldn't figure out why my mom didn't want me to wear them that night. Luckily, they didn't look good on me anyway so I didn't get them. I found a sparkly 'WHITE' top that I ended up getting. (How funny is it that I picked out a white top) I went home started getting ready. For once I had all of my make-up done before I got in the car. Neil had called me and asked if we could pick him up because he had no gas in the truck. My mom and Adam told me that they would just meet us at Outback since I had people there waiting for me. Amber drove me to Neil's and when we got there I told her to come in and see the walls. (Just to clue you in I had been upset all week about the walls at Neil's house. We painted the whole house 8 days before we found out they had to repipe the house. Needless to say our walls were destroyed along with our beautiful painting.) Amber said that she would just see them later when we got back from dinner, and she told me to hurry. I rang the door bell because I left my keys in the car. Neil opened the door and all I could see were candles lit everywhere. He started telling me about the walls and how they had painted, and what a good job they had done. I continued to walk into the living room still looking at the walls inspecting them. (You don't know how mad I was about the walls) I really thought Neil had the house looking all nice with candles since I had been so upset. I was looking at one of the walls to my left when Neil grabbed my hand and pulled me over to him. He gave me a kiss on my cheak and then he started saying how we have been together for etc. That's when I began to flip out, I started saying, 'No, No, what are you doing. Not now!' Who would have thought that is what I would have been saying, when this was the day I had been waiting for. He sat me down on the love seat and he knelt down in front of me. He said a lot of sweet romantic things that you would have thought I would have been crying my eyes out. You would have also thought I could remember everything he said. The only thing I can remember him saying once he was on his knee was something about having children together and wanting to know if I would spend the rest of my life with him. Of course I said YES in shock. Then I said oh my gosh it's huge talking about the ring. It was the greatest day of my life!
I know that many of you will want to know why I chose not to get married at Trinity Lutheran Church. Trinity has been my church since the day I was born. I love my church and my church family. I always dreamed since I was a little girl of walking down that aisle, I just never knew who would be at the end of the aisle. I know now it will be Neil at the end of the aisle! The reason why I cannot have the wedding at my church is because Neil and I have been blessed to have so so many close friends and family. There was no way to have our wedding at my church without excluding many of our dear friends and family. I had to make a difficult decision whether or not it was important for me to have it at the church I grew up in or have the people I love there. I decided that I couldn't get married without everyone there who has meant so much to Neil and I over the years. I also know that it doesn't matter where I get married the most important person will be present, God! Luckily he has many churches for me to have chosen from for him to be present.:) The reason why I chose Riverside Presbyterian is because the first real outing Neil and I went to was at that church. He picked me up at the dance studio after my clogging rehearsal and we went to see a chorus perform at the church for my Humanities class. To my surprise, my Aunt Letha (God Mom), and Uncle Jon (God father), were singing in the chorus. Neil got to meet them and both my God sisters. It was a very exciting day for them to be able to meet him.
The wedding attire for guests is I would love for people to dress up. I don't mean in prom wear but nice dresses, suits, and ties. We are going to be working very hard to make this wedding nice and fancy, like I like it. It would be nice for everyone to be dressed up. Dress to impress!.
Location: Classic Fare
Address: 1301 Riverplace Blvd Ste C20
Jacksonville, FL 32207
Classic Fare is a hidden secret and luckily I found it. It is so beautiful. It is a two story reception site with a dome shape to the top of it. It is on the water and we will be able to be outside and inside. It has a spiral stair case and everything I wanted.
We have made arrangements for our guests and us to stay at the Hyatt from June 23-25. You can call 1-800-233-1234 to make a reservation. Please make sure to say that you are with the Ettmyer-Alpahando Wedding to make sure you get the rate of $90.00 per night for Single/Double Occupancy. Otherwise it will be much more expensive. Please make reservations as soon as you are able to. The cut off to make a reservation is May 1, 2006. I wouldn't wait that long to get a reservation though because they are only guaranteeing 10 rooms a night unless people book ahead of time. The following is the name, address, and phone number of the Hyatt in Jacksonville, FL. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks, Katie
LOCAL ACCOMMODATIONS
Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront
225 East Coast Line Dr
Thank you for visiting our honeymoon website. We are SO EXCITED about taking our honeymoon. It truly is going to be a dream come true. We thought that registering for honeymoon activities would be great wedding presents. We have been reassured by our travel agent that this is a safe website, in case any of you were worried. I know I was at first. If you would like to you can check out our wedding page at http://www.weddingchannel.com and type in either Katie Ettmyer or Neil Alpahando in the couple search box. Please sign the guest book.
