My boyfriend Joey and I have been together for the last three years...while not engaged yet we have spent more time than probably socially acceptable discussing our possible wedding. Most guys may be afraid for a girlfriend to have the opportunity to draft their "Dream Wedding", but Joe (Joey as I like to call him) who is currently deployed serving overseas was excited and surprisingly offered a lot of opinions...
So I present you with Corrie and Joey's Dream Wedding!
Some background that will help this make sense: Joey and I met June 6th, 2010 in the JETRO Parking Lot tailgating prior to the Phillies game. We share a common friend and found our way to the same tailgate. We had a series of unconventional first, second, and third dates all of which were road trips to see Phillies away games. The Phillies would become the primary passion that we both share- and now the backdrop for our Dream March Wedding.
Date: March
The Phillies will be in Spring Training so we will be able to have a combination bachelor/bachelorette party in Clearwater where we have taken trips together since we first met.
Ceremony Location: Citizens Bank Park
We will return back to the scene of the crime as Joey likes to refer to it and have a small ceremony (of just family, soldiers, and close friends). We will be married on the field by a family friend and the ceremony will be short- a request of Joe's.
The Groomsmen
Soldiers like uniforms- but I can see them wanting to go casual for this type of affair. No doubt that they will have some character but for the most part Joe has requested for their attire to be entirely up to him. I oblige as I do not have to find myself being forced to wear the uniforms of the military throughout much of my life so when it comes to the opportunity for the guys to dress in their civilians- I let him have it. This has included a penchant for Joey to enjoy jean shorts...but I would have to draw the line here.
The Maids
My gals will be able to choose a dress of their own as long; as they feel comfortable it's A-Okay with me. We will be doing blues, so any color blue that works for them, I am open to.
The Dress
My dress is under lock and key from Joey but let's just say- it's awesome.
Cocktail Hour
We will set-up a cocktail hour "Tailgate". Many guests will only be invited to the ceremony as we will only have close family/friends at Citizens Bank Park. The Cocktail Hour will begin as soon as we are scheduled to depart CBP so we will not miss much time with our guests. We will have tents with heated lamps outside in the parking lot where Joey and I first met. We will have tailgate games and catered food from our favorite local bar.
Signature Drink
Budweiser Products. We will have a rented Budweiser Truck as you may find at key events in our life like Irish Weekend in Wildwood, NJ for guests to partake in. Guests will receive a "Corrie and Joe" inspired cup so that they can continue to refill their beverages throughout the evening. This cup will mimic that of a baseball game souvenir cup and have our "Mugs" on it as Joe likes to call it because he finds it to be humorous to have our "Mugs on a Mug"- I kind of agree with him. Let's hope it is pulled off tactfully and refined.
Cocktail Entertainment
Our beloved Boxer, Fiona, will join us at our cocktail gate in her wedding attire (a Phillies jersey with the date of our wedding as the number). She will be available to pose with guests and sign autographs because both Joe and I believe she is this important and famous.
From cocktail hour we will have our guests shuttled to the reception in tour buses that will be playing the video of our ceremony for those guests that were not able to attend.
Reception
For years growing up and well into my early/mid 20's I found myself dreaming of a black tie affair- all things fancy and glitz and glamour. Now that I have found who I view will one day be the perfect groom and more so the most incredible husband- it's all out the window. We want our wedding reception to be "us". Low-key and fun!
Reception Location
Holiday Inn across from the stadiums. Yes, the one that's only about a 5 minute bus ride from the tailgate location. This is how short I believe Joe expects our wedding ceremony to be. If you would have asked me about four years ago if I could see myself getting hitched at the Holiday Inn, I'm not sure how I would have responded. But with many out of town guests, and because we have several memories from this fine establishment, yes, my dream wedding reception is the Holiday Inn-Stadium in Philadelphia, PA.
Reception Theme
Baseball, Beers and a Ball and Chain. The baseball theme will permeate but hopefully not be tacky. Guests will have game tickets for their table assignments, centerpieces will be vases filled with baseballs, and table numbers will be replaced with key sections of Citizens Bank Park where Joe and my relationship has grown. He has Sunday tickets in 421 and I have Sunday tickets in 106- these will definitely be table assignments for his family and my family respectively.
Food
Simple and easy, just like we like it. Guests will be able to choose from a lot of different options that are closely linked to meals that Joe and I like. We're not exactly sure but that's because it's not very important to us.
Dancing
All night long. Have you ever seen Army guys cut a rug? You will the night of our dream wedding.
Traditions
The only tradition that Joe and I hope to have at our dream wedding would be to create new ones. We are looking for the wedding to be a celebration of our past, present and future together and an opportunity for those that are most important to us across all different periods of our life to come together under one roof to share in an evening that we hope they will never forget.
After Party
The Holiday Inn will be where most if not all of our guests will be spending the night so we will have Joe's all time favorite activity of karaoke set-up for all to enjoy. Joe's idol is Pat Burrell. While this at times has been a source of contention in our relationship- it is likely that guests making it to the after party will be able to witness Joe's greatest impression of Mr. Burrell dancing shirtless on a bar/table or another structure. In addition to that the tailgating games will make a re-appearance and we hope that everyone is up to task to channel their inner Lionel Richie and let the party go "All Night Long".
While this may not be the dream wedding that I had growing up and into my more formative years, after meeting my Joey three years + ago, I can certainly say that this is my fairytale wedding. During the long days of deployment, we are grateful to have had this opportunity to daydream a little bit of a day we are very much looking forward to after Joe returns safely home in 2014.
-Corrie
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