Somehow, someway I ended up in Baltimore … I never thought I’d live here, but I do love this city. I grew up in the small town of Hudson, Ohio and went to Miami University in Ohio. I worked on Capitol Hill for awhile in DC then moved up to Baltimore and started working for an advertising agency. When I found myself living on wedding blogs and loving the event work I was doing at my job, I took the leap with a friend and we started an event planing company, lemon & lime event design.
On the other hand, my fiance, Matt, bleeds Maryland pride! He grew up here and attended University of Maryland and I don’t think there’s a team in the area that he doesn’t hold dear to his heart. He owns a few Jiffy Lubes in the area and our house is decorated with Ravens, Orioles and Baltimore skyline pictures. He’s your true Maryland man.
We had quite a little Baltimore-themed love journey looking back. We initially met at Mums bar in Federal Hill (a great dive bar by the way), after a Ravens Monday night game with some mutual friends. After he heard I was a Steelers fan, he didn’t pay much attention to me and me to him either. Yes, I am a Steelers fan … a die hard one which is an interesting portion of our relationship. But our evening didn’t last too long as we had also taken a few shots of “evil” (they won’t tell you what’s in it, but it’s deadly!) so we went home soon after meeting. Months later we were at the same house party in Canton, but like most row houses, it was crowded and cramped, so we didn’t get the chance to talk. We were again in the same group at an O’s game, but when it started pouring rain out of nowhere in the middle of the 5th inning, we all ran to different bars and didn’t end up at the same one.
It wasn’t until we were on Baltimore’s own Urban Pirate Ship on Halloween of 2009, where we actually talked and hung out … in the bathroom line of the ship of course. If you haven’t been on the pirate ship, I highly recommend you go right when they open back up in the spring … it’s a great time! You bring your own drinks and dress up like pirates—can’t ask for a better night out. ANYWAY, there is only one bathroom, so toward the end of the cruise, the line gets a little long. Matt and I were next to each other in line and started talking because I had no idea who he was dressed as—he was Kenny Powers, mullet and all (from the HBO show) and I was Snow White— and there is where our story finally begins.
Mateys for life.
A few dates around the city and hanging out with friends later we were casually dating. It wasn’t until the Ravens/Steelers game here in Baltimore where our relationship was really put to the test. Our friends tricked us and switched tickets at half time, so we’d sit next to each other. Ha ha very funny. I am a very intense fan, so I was a bit nervous to show my “true pride” in front of Matt so soon in our relationship. Matt was embarrassed to sit next to me (pretty sure I had yellow face paint on and at least thee terrible towels in my purse), but we both dealt with it. People around us booed and gave us crap which didn’t help. It was a very heated game that went into overtime. At the start of overtime, the lady next to us was not looking good, she became really pale, passed out and was slow to get up … very scary. It turned out she had become dehydrated, so nothing serious, but at the time we didn’t know that, so the paramedics came and we stayed with her hysterical daughter to make sure they got on the ambulance OK. Needless to stay we missed the Steelers kicking the field goal to win in the game, which ended up working out for the best. I would have been annoying with the win and said a few not-so lady-like things I’m sure to fans who were messing with me, he would have been angry and we probably would have turned on each other. It sounds stupid, but if you live in Pittsburgh or Baltimore, you know how important football is to you and how much you despise the other team. We still joke that if she hadn’t passed out we don’t know where we’d be now.
Marriage will seem easy compared to football season,
We continued to date and have a blast around Baltimore and of course the pirate ship (a few more times). I moved up to Towson about a year ago to move in with Matt, and our dogs Oxford and Jim became best pals. Matt proposed when we were in Eleuethra, Bahamas with my family over the holidays just a few months ago. I had thought we’d get engaged next holiday season, so it was a total surprise to me.
The moment the planner became the bride.
After I celebrated our engagement with my family, my wedding planner switch turned on! My mind immediately began turning and twisting and going 9999 miles per-hour. I’m not lying when I say I did not sleep for about three days. Whether it was how I would ask my bridesmaids, or what our favors would be, or how we could make our vows our own, it didn’t stop. Weddings are my life … I talk about them every day, I go to them almost every weekend and in the “off season” I’m meeting with clients, florists, DJs, bakers, etc. The fact that it’s now my turn to be the bride is still a bit shocking, but I know it will be a pretty hilarious ride either way and I’m excited to document it. In the first very brief email I sent to my parents about where to start in the wedding world, my dad responded “OMG” nothing more, nothing less … so here we go! – Katey Clark
