A Fond Farewell to 2008

I am a little sad to say goodbye to 2008. It has been an amazing year and marks a significant turning point in my life.

Jonathan and I began 2008 on cloud nine. As a newly engaged couple we spent the early months of the year celebrating our impending marriage and fantasizing about our fairytale wedding. The new year was off to a fantastic start.

In February I said goodbye to the fame and fortune (now that's funny) of the television news business and packed my bags for Nashville. In March Alfie and I moved in with Jonathan. After three years of doing the long distance relationship thing, I was thrilled to sit still at home with my future husband. We cooked, cleaned, grocery shopped, gardened, worked out… together. There's nothing like having your best bud by your side.

Spring was highlighted by several events with friends and family. Rachel and Sheryl visited us in Nashville. Then we visited the Dunlaps in Atlanta. We also trekked back and forth on I-40 for numerous trips to Knoxville. Oh, the joys of wedding planning!

Our engagement party was a sweet way to welcome summertime, when 30-something of our best friends traveled to Gatlinburg for a weekend of insane fun. We spent the 4th of July with our families, and with Jonathan's brother Thomas, who would soon leave for Iraq. As always summer seemed too short, but fall brought football season (and our wedding) so there was much to be excited about.

We tailgated with friends and watched the Vols lose again and again. It was fun. I started a new job in September and quickly discovered how wonderful life is when personal plans and career ambitions align. There were bridal showers, dress fittings and meetings with vendors. Fall was emphasized by final wedding preparations. Then the day arrived, and Jonathan and I were married. Perfection! We jetted off to the Turks and Caicos for our honeymoon. More perfection! I practiced my new "Melinda Collins" signature, a lot.

Following the elation of the wedding, we still had much to look forward to in 2008. We spent Thanksgiving with family in Nashville and Memphis. We decorated our house for Christmas. We mailed our first Collins family holiday card, and celebrated Christmas with family in Knoxville.

Now it is New Year's Eve, and we are fortunate we have much to celebrate. Jonathan and I are spending the last few hours of 2008 at our home in Nashville cuddled together on the couch watching movies and drinking champagne. There's nowhere else I'd rather be. Cheers to a super great 2008!

Then... Now... Forever

I think I've mentioned the many milestones my friends and I have experienced over the last year or so. Well, the major moments in our lives just keep on coming...

Then...
One year ago today my dear friends Russ and Brittany Dunlap got married! I was honored to stand beside them on the most significant day of their lives, and I am so proud of both of them. They've accomplished so much in the short time they've been married. Russ began law school this year and they purchased their first home. I know their lives together will continue to be very blessed. To Mr. and Mrs. Dunlap: Jonathan and I love you both so much! Congratulations on a fantastic first year of marriage!


The beautiful bride on January 29, 2007

Russell and the maids at the rehearsal

Mr. and Mrs. Dunlap!!!

Now...

When my good friend Sheryl started dating Beau nearly a year ago she told me she would marry him. Yesterday Beau asked Sheryl to be his wife... and while I can't prove it, I think a certain sequence of events at my own wedding may have led to Beau and Sheryl's engagement...


I wonder who will catch it...

YES! Sheryl finally caught a bouquet at a wedding!!!

Time for the garter toss...

Aiming at someone in particular...

Well... well.... well... Beau and Sheryl caught the bouquet and garter!

Yay!!!

Soon-to-be Mr. an Mrs. Taylor!

To the happy couple: Jonathan and I are so thrilled for both of you! We cannot wait to celebrate your marriage with you!

I am so happy for all of my friends. I feel as though we are all beginning wonderful new chapters in our lives, reaching milestones and making many memories that will last Forever.

Five Christmases

Yes, Jonathan and I celebrated Christmas five times, which isn't really uncommon for us. We've been practicing the "joint-custody" Christmas tradition for years. Every year we get together with my mom's family, my dad's family, my stepdad's family and Jonathan's parents. Sometimes we even squeeze in an additional roadtrip to Roanoke, Virginia to visit Jonathan's extended family. So, when it comes to quality time during Christmas, we're used to the chaos. This year was a little extra special though, since it was our first Christmas as husband and wife.

Christmas Eve Eve
When I got off work Jonathan and I loaded the car and headed to Knoxville. It was SO good to be home! We still had a few gifts to purchase (yes, very last minute), so we headed to Turkey Creek to shop.

Christmas Eve
We spent Christmas Eve day at my Mamaw Billie's house where we exchanged gifts with my Dad and his girlfriend Cathy. Alfie enjoyed all the goodies he got from my dad's side of the family. It's funny how dogs seem to rack up lots of presents at Christmas time.

When we left Mamaw Billie's we headed to dinner with Mom and Dwight. My brother Nick had to work on Christmas Eve, so we spent the evening with him at Chop House where he was our server. It wasn't a traditional Christmas Eve gathering... but it was fun nonetheless.

Christmas Day
Christmas morning we enjoyed an amazing brunch at my mom's house, and then exchanged gifts with Mom, Dwight, Nick and Billy. Once again, Alfie got lots of goodies!

Later in the afternoon we all headed to my Mamaw Smith's house for Christmas with Dwight's family. After exchanging gifts with the Smiths, we headed to Steve and Gail's (Jonathan's parents) to celebrate Christmas with the Collins crew. It was good to spend time with Jonathan's parents and officially call them my in-laws!

We said a prayer for Jonathan's brother Thomas, who is currently in Iraq serving his second tour with the U.S. Marine Corp. Then we enjoyed a fantastic homemade meal with Steve, Gail, Cameron Grace and her boyfriend Braylon. We exchanged gifts, drank wine and watched "Christmas Vacation" (which is a Collins family Christmas tradition).

The Day After Christmas
We began the day with a yummy breakfast at Cracker Barrel with my Dad and Mamaw Billie. Later that day we went to my Mamaw Mozella's house to exchange gifts with Mom's family. Traditionally we exchanged gifts secret Santa style... but in light of the economic crisis we decided to do something different this year. Everyone brought an item from their house that they either do not like or do not want anymore. It was so funny to see what people ended up with. Jonathan got a bottle of "Sweet Honesty" perfume. I snagged a bag of Cheetos. My cousin Frankie got a sweet shark tooth necklace. My aunt Cindy got a bright pink Barbie blanket. All of the gifts were so funny... and free entertainment for everyone. Silly, I know.

With another whirlwind Christmas behind us, Jonathan, Alfie and I packed up Saturday morning and headed back to Nashville. We were exhausted... but so grateful to spend another great holiday season with our families.


One last look at our tree before we packed up and headed to Knoxville for the holidays.

Dad and Alfie on Christmas Eve.

Alfie and me on Christmas morning. He looks so happy to be dressed up for Christmas.

Jonathan and I on Christmas morning

Mom and me

Before Alfie opened his gifts...

Alfie napping after opening all of his presents.

Mom and my cousin Seth

A few of the cousins... Emily, Derek, Frankie and Jordyn

Emily and her beautiful daughter Leah.

Jonathan and me pretending to be parents... Ha! Don't get any ideas... We're not having children anytime soon! Alfie is our only bundle of joy for now...

On our way home to Nashville... Alfie riding in his new bed.

50 is the New Awesome

My sweet mother celebrated 50 years of living this week. Being the super fantastic daughter that I am, I arranged a mother/daughter birthday date in Nashville.

Mom arrived at my house early Friday and we spent the entire afternoon shopping! It's absolutely our most favorite thing to do together. We had so much fun fighting the holiday crowds and picking out gifts for people left on our lists (which in my case, was everyone).

After shopping all day we headed to the Grad Ol' Opry House to see the world famous Radio City Rockettes and the Christmas Spectacular show. Mom told me several months ago that she has always wanted to see the Rockettes, so naturally tickets to the show were a perfect birthday gift. It was super fun... and brought out the Christmas spirit in both of us.

Afterward we went back to my house where Jonathan had arranged another surprise for Mom. He bought her the cutest (and yummiest) mini birthday cake for the three of us to enjoy. After I sang a solo of "Happy Birthday" (Jonathan doesn't like to sing), Mom made a wish and blew out the candle on her cake. She wouldn't tell me what she wished for... but I'm guessing she wished for many many more years of awesomeness!


Mom and me outside the Grand Ol' Opry House before the show

After the show at my house

Collins Family photo-op

The cute mini cake Jonathan bought for Mom

Lighting the candle

Happy Birthday!

Mom and her cake

Making a wish...

Alfie the Red-Nosed Yorkie!

Alfie looks just like the claymation Rudolph (which is my most favorite Christmas special of all time)!

He is so stinkin' cute!

Our Honeymoon

The morning after our wedding Jonathan and I hopped on an airplane destined for somewhere amazing - the Turks and Caicos Islands in the British West Indies. Our honeymoon home was located on Providenciales Island at The Somerset resort on beautiful Grace Bay beach. It was truly a newlywed's paradise - or at least by our definition. There are no crowds at the resorts or on the beaches. In fact, many of the Turks and Caicos beaches remain virtually untouched by humans. The islands are far from commercialized, which is fantastic (and one of many reasons we chose TCI for our honeymoon destination). There aren't any fast food restaurants or chain department stores. Instead, the streets of this heavenly little part of the world are lined with quaint art galleries and exotic eateries.

We rested our heads in a beautiful condo overlooking the pool and beach. The view: breathtaking. Our condo was huge! We enjoyed a living room, dining room, two bathrooms, laundry area, master suite and full kitchen (with all Viking appliances, which made Jonathan very happy).

I am convinced we were in a time warp during our honeymoon. Every morning we were awake by 7:30. No need to set an alarm - we just woke up naturally. It was bizarre. if you know me at all, you know that 7:30 a.m. is not a very natural time for me to get out of bed! I loved getting up early though. It allowed us to make the most of our trip. Every morning we either had breakfast on our private veranda or walked downstairs to the resort restaurant to sip on the tasty locally ground coffee. Then we would head to the beach to relax under our umbrella with a book or walk to a nearby reef for snorkeling. It was perfect.

Though there were plenty of activities to keep us happy at the resort, we wanted to venture out a bit. One day we chartered a private sailing trip. Just us, the captain and his dog. It was so much fun! We snorkeled at one of the world's most beautiful reefs, where we saw lots of colorful fish and even a sea turtle! Then Captain Tim took us to a private beach where we ate lunch and drank rum punch. Just another day in paradise!

The last day of our honeymoon was probably my favorite. Jonathan and I took a taxi to Sopadilla Bay. The beach is located several miles from Grace Bay, and even though it's a public beach we were the only inhabitants for the entire four hours we were there. It was perfect! The water was as clear as a swimming pool and the view was incredible. After our day at the beach our taxi driver took us to Da Conch Shack for lunch. This little beach side restaurant offers the freshest seafood you can find anywhere - literally. After you order your food (which is, of course, a conch dish), the conch fisherman walks into the ocean, fills a little boat with live conch, swims back to shore, cracks open the conch shell on a wooden table in the sand and sends your meal to the kitchen to be cooked. The best part: you get to take home the giant seashell your conch called home as a souvenir. Kind of strange... but extremely fun! And yes, the conch was very tasty.

We had an amazing honeymoon filled with unforgettable moments. It was the perfect way to celebrate our marriage and kick off our lives as husband and wife.

Here are a few of my favorite honeymoon pictures... To see them all, click here.


The view from our balcony

The beautiful (and empty) beach in front of our resort
Living room/dining room

View from the dining room

Viking equipped kitchen - Fancy!

Before dinner one night

Dinner at Caicos Cafe

The bluest water I've ever seen

The abandoned beach we visited during our sailing trip
Sopadilla Bay

The Rocks at Sopadilla Bay

It's the most beautiful beach... ever!

Da Conch Shack!

Beach side service

Da conch fisherman

Da conch slaughter

Checking to see if I could hear the ocean in my conch shell

Details, Details

When I began planning our wedding nearly a year ago I knew I wanted an unconventional yet traditional wedding. So, what does that mean exactly?

Traditional: Church ceremony, white dress, tuxedos, limo, white cake, country club reception. Our wedding included a lot of traditional elements... we took those traditional elements and put our own spin on them.

Unconventional: Lots of alternatives. Pink was not an option. Neither was the typical "fall colors motif." Instead, I used earthy shades of green and brown to reflect our personal styles. I also wanted to use lots of unique materials for traditional items. Instead of using lots of clear tea light candles, my mom and I found brown crystal candle holders. We scattered tiny green crystals on the tables instead of rose petals. We used wrought iron candlesticks instead of brass candelabras. There wasn't a single stem of baby's breath in any floral arrangement. Instead we used moss and curly willow. We didn't hire a wedding singer. The Big Tease (one of our college favorites) rocked our reception. To me, it was all of these unconventional details that personalized the day and made it extra special.

Below are a few wedding photos that reflect our unconventional yet traditional style. Steven Bridges captured all these images (except the one photo under lighting). To see more of his coverage of our wedding check out his blog. To see all of the photos from our wedding day click here.

The Dress.

It took more than three months to find the perfect wedding dress. I tried on over 100 dresses at at least six stores between Knoxville and Nashville. When I tried on Maggie Sottero's "Gloria" I knew it was the one.

Something Sentimental (and blue).

On the inside of my dress there was a custom tag that reads "Melinda & Jonathan November 1, 2008" embroidered in blue. Beside the tag, I pinned my Zeta Tau Alpha ribbon to my dress. The ribbon has personal significance... but of course ZTA secrets prevent me from disclosing the ribbon's meaning.

Shoes.

My shoes are by Nina. I found them at Dillard's on sale for $40!

Pretty Print.

I designed our ceremony programs using Microsoft Publisher. It was extremely easy, and the programs were beautiful. Although I am sure no one noticed, it was important to me to use consistent fonts on all of our printed materials. I used the same fonts on the invitation, program, welcome letter, gift tags, slide show, Thomas' toast, napkins... everything! In my opinion it's often the tiniest details that can pull an event together. The fonts I used were Citadel and Soakers Solid Antique Roman.

Our napkins were an earthy brown with a simple leaf motif and our names in Citadel font.

The Ceremony.

Yes, I scouted churches. I knew I wanted an intimate atmosphere and pews packed with people. I also knew I wanted a beautiful church with character and lots of architectural details. My mom and I scouted at least a dozen churches in Knoxville. The moment we stepped into West Emory Presbyterian, I knew it was where Jonathan and I would get married.

Candlelight.

I also knew I wanted a lot of candlelight. My mom found 12 gorgeous wrought iron candlesticks to line the church aisle. Lisa Foster covered the candlesticks in beautiful earthy greenery.

Cake.

Our cake was absolutely AMAZING! Alicia Fugate created this masterpiece. All four layers were completely covered in various handmade sugar flowers. It was simply stunning. Of course it tasted great too. There were two chocolate layers and two vanilla/orange flavored layers.

The sugar flowers were beautiful.

Edible art.

Inspiration.

This is a photo of the cake that inspired the design of ours.

Flowers.

When I met Lisa Foster I knew she had the creativity to build the centerpieces I envisioned for our wedding reception. I didn't want any visible vases. I wanted something a little more unexpected. Lisa and her team created the illusion of a flowering tree growing out of the table. They were about four feet tall and absolutely breath-taking.

Love it!

There were four tall "tree-like" arrangements and four smaller arrangements.

This was one of two arrangements Lisa created for the ceremony. We also used them at the reception.

The bridesmaids carried tightly wrapped callas. I love the pop of green and white against their espresso colored dresses.

Wrought Iron.
Wrought iron is a beautiful alternative to the typical wedding materials. My mom found this huge wrought iron topiary at Pier 1 Imports. We used it as our card holder on the gift table.

The moss and ribbon is a nice touch.

Lighting.

Hiring a lighting company was definitely one of the best decisions I made when planning our wedding. Divine Wedding Decor transformed the room with uplights, spotlights and a deep red colorwash. It looked incredible.

The monogrammed dance floor was a nice touch.