Brandy and Don
May 2000
How did you meet?
Now there’s a question! It wasn’t in the normal fashion, I can tell you that! I’ve always loved to play on the internet and chat and one day, I came into my fave chat room and there he was. We started chatting and chatting. I can remember every detail. It was on Sunday September 26th and I was going to go to a movie that afternoon. After chatting a few hours online, I gave him my number and he called me. We talked for hours! And this was an international call too! Until that day, we had never actually spoken to each other, but we had several friends in common.
For the next few months, we talked every day and at the end of November, I flew over for a holiday – supposedly two weeks long – just to meet and see how we got along… The two weeks turned into me leaving on the 4th January! We had fallen head over heels in love!
Describe the marriage proposal.
On December 17th, we came back in from shopping and there was a ‘Sorry we missed you’ slip in the door. Don said he’d go and get whatever it was and be right back. So while he was gone, I tried out the new ‘South Park’ CD we’d bought and settled down into a nice game of Zelda! So there I was, intensely playing Zelda and listening to ‘Oh My God They Killed Kenny’, when all of a sudden, a half dozen roses are dropped into my lap and Don was kneeling down in front of me and saying ‘I love you. Will you marry me?’. I almost died. I started blubbering yes and hugging him and saying, ‘oh my god oh my god yes oh my god… I have to call my mamma!!’
How long did you spend preparing for the day and how was it?
Not long enough. I had about five months to get everything ready and it was barely enough!.
What type of wedding ceremony did you have and where?
The ceremony itself was very quick and simple. We were married outside in a gazebo, on Monday May 1st in Annan. We had a piper to escort us up the hill and to my groom. My brother walked me up, but as he was getting ready to hand me over, he hit his head on the gazebo! God, I thought we were all going to die laughing!
Where did you hold your reception and what was it like?
Our wedding was held at the Queensberry Arms Hotel and I highly recommend it to anyone getting married near Annan! It was absolutely wonderful! The reception was perfect and everyone went far beyond the call of duty to help us. My colours were silver and gold and we had balloons at the top table and a five-course meal and speeches. Afterwards we had a DJ and lots of drinking and dancing – it was more a party than a wedding. All in all, everyone had a great time!
Thinking back to the ‘big day’ what did you especially enjoy?
The things I most enjoyed were getting ready with my family and friends. It’s a very special time somehow to have a bunch of girls in a small room, all half dressed and sharing hopes and dreams and making bawdy jokes. When I first stood beside Don was magical… and the kiss! Who could ever forget that!
Is there anything you would change, with hindsight?
The pictures were great fun – we were all acting up in those! And the entire reception was a blast! But with hindsight, I would have gone over a few details more carefully with the DJ. Our first song was messed up (right CD, wrong track) and I would have explained to my brother and his girlfriend just how nervous I was the night before, instead of blowing up at them. I was just a nervous wreck!
What advice would you give to couples currently planning their wedding?
Give yourself plenty of time, for one thing, and get everything in order. The night before the wedding, take a valium! I could have used one! I wasn’t too nervous until the night before and then I almost backed out! But this is normal and I think the best thing you can do is go away with your fiance and just talk. That’s what I did and I felt so much better. On your big day… forget about everything – you’re getting married – and remember everything is being taken care of for you. That’s why you’ve been planning things all those months ahead – so you don’t have to think about anything but looking beautiful and trying to be reasonably on time! Have a wonderful day and a fairy-tale ever after!
