Daniel Dopler Photography. Asan, Guam.
Dhruv and I met in Baltimore on July 4, 2008. We were both out celebrating Independence Day with friends that night. Having already enjoyed the fireworks downtown, both of our little groups ended up at Mother’s at the same time.
I distinctly remember the moment I saw Dhruv from across the room that evening. I knew immediately that I wanted to talk to him. So, in a completely uncharacteristic move, my friend Courtney and I sidled up next to his group of buddies and struck up a conversation.
As it turned out, Dhruv was in the Navy and lived in Virginia Beach at the time. On the night I met him, he was just a month and a half away from heading off on his first deployment to Iraq.
In spite of the short time Dhruv had left stateside, we started dating. I was living in Baltimore at the time, so we would take turns travelling to see each other on the weekends, amidst busy work schedules.
Dhruv’s first deployment was harder than I could have possibly imagined. Meanwhile, we knew that when Dhruv returned, he would be moving across the country. There were so many unanswerable questions, and so many variables that seemed determined to keep us apart. So we decided to take a step back from our brand new relationship. It was a decision I immediately regretted, yet couldn’t see any way around.
Over the next four years, Dhruv and I remained friends in spite of everything. He was often the first person I called when I had good news, when I was upset about something, or when I needed a sounding board. When Dhruv was in town, he’d call so we could get together and catch up.
During that time, I finally completed my Master’s degree, and was pouring myself into a job I loved. Dhruv’s career in the Navy advanced as well. He deployed once again to Iraq and moved across the country twice.
There was always an unspoken connection between us. It was as if we both knew we were meant to be together, but we never opened our minds enough to think it was a possibility. Finally, the turning point came in May, 2012.
Dhruv was set to deploy again (are you seeing a pattern here?). This time, to Afghanistan. It was Memorial Day weekend, and he asked if I wanted to see him off at the airport in Virginia Beach. Of course I did.
Maybe it was the inevitable emotions wrapped up in saying goodbye before a loved one heads off to a war zone. But everything we had pent up for the last four years tumbled out before we said goodbye. We decided that day to do whatever it would take to make things work.
Daniel Dopler Photography. Asan, Guam.
The next six months crawled by while Dhruv was deployed, but it was so worth the wait. He returned home in December, 2012.
We headed to England later that month to celebrate the holidays. On Christmas night, after spending the day with family, we headed back to our hotel in Birmingham. He led me up to the rooftop deck to watch as cheery, red fireworks popped in the distance. At that moment, he got down on one knee and proposed.
Since we’ve gotten engaged, I’ve learned one thing for certain about Dhruv’s life in the military: there’s never a dull moment. He had already received a two-year order to Guam, so we had some big decisions to make after the engagement – the biggest of which was that I would be moving to Guam with him.
Once again, Dhruv and I said goodbye to each other in February, when he was scheduled to report to his next duty station. As Dhruv settled in to his new job, I spent the next three months preparing for the biggest move of my life: selling my house and most of my furniture; getting my dog, Scout, special vaccinations so she could travel with me; shipping things overseas to Dhruv; planning our upcoming wedding; and of course, spending time with family and friends before heading to the South Pacific.
That May, Scout and I boarded a plane and moved to the tiny, faraway island of Guam. Although I have missed my family and friends back home every single day, our life here in Guam has been nothing short of amazing.
I wanted to write this blog to share our experience living overseas while planning a wedding back home. Although our situation is certainly unique, I imagine there are many couples out there that face similar challenges of planning distant weddings, and coordinating with family and friends strewn all over the world.
Our biggest assets in this process have been our wedding planners. We have been working with Lemon & Lime Event Design from the very beginning, and it was the best decision we made to involve them in this process. We have access to a talented team of ladies who keep us organized, focused, and on schedule.
Before I left for Guam, I relayed information about the wedding back to Dhruv via emails, phone calls, and FaceTime. We decided on a wedding date, a venue ( Chesapeake Bay Beach Club), and a photographer (Love Life Images) together from afar. I also bought my dress before I left, with the help of my wonderful, supportive mom and two of my bridesmaids.
Since I headed to Guam, Lemon & Lime has been fantastic at communicating with us regularly and keeping us in the loop. With their help, we have chosen Mixing Maryland to be our DJ, who were kind enough to introduce themselves to us via FaceTime. We signed contracts with three area hotels to block rooms off. And we hired the custom paper goods company Little Bit Heart to design our Save the Dates and wedding invitations. Dhruv and I were also able to finalize our guest list, organize addresses, and send out our Save the Dates.
When we need to sign contracts, Lemon & Lime scans them to us. When we have questions, they respond right away. And when we want to FaceTime or conference call a vendor, they arrange a meeting.
I went home in November to visit my family and friends, and was able to do a hair and makeup trial with Up Do’s for I Do’s while I was in town. I also met with the ladies at Lemon & Lime to check in on our to-do list, and went over some ideas with their designer, Caitlin.
Right now, we are working with Caitlin to smooth out the little details that will make our wedding even more memorable. You know, all those fun but also overwhelming decisions like centerpieces, color schemes, lighting, and place settings. Caitlin has managed to make the process much less intimidating than I had previously feared, but we still have a lot to decide on in that department.
We’re also working on the pre-wedding events. We have a lot of family and friends coming from out of town for the wedding, so we are coming up with ideas on how we can welcome them to Annapolis, where our wedding will take place.
Hopefully by my next blog post, I’ll have some updates on that front! I look forward to sharing this process with you, along with our adventures in Guam! – Jackie Small
