Every married couple has their own meaningful tales-and occasionally horror stories-of wedding preparation. Few couples, however, have that time as intricately and intimately documented as Alexander and Ahesha Catalano. 365 Days Until ...: The Journey to Our Wedding details the year-long journey to the Alexander and Ahesha Catalano's wedding day. Every night, for 365 days prior to their wedding, they recorded everything they did in preparation for the wedding. They chronicled all of the foolishness, the things they learned about each other, and the things they learned about marriage, each in their own journal. They considered everything from mundane details to what it would take for them to reach their golden anniversary. Most importantly, they wrote about all the fun they had coordinating their wedding and how much they truly adore one another. But there's a twist-neither of them read each other's journal until after they were married. Independent of each other, they captured all of their emotions at each step in the process of organizing their most important day. What began as a way for them to keep everything organized for their wedding accidently turned into something much, much more important. 365 Days Until ...: The Journey to Our Wedding offered an opportunity for Alex and Esha to share all of their most intimate thoughts and fears about getting married with each other, and it will encourage others in preparation for their own wedding day.

365 Days Until ...

The Journey to Our WeddingBy Alexander Catalano Ahesha Catalano

Abbott Press

Copyright © 2011 Alexander and Ahesha Catalano
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4582-0041-9

Chapter One

So how did you ...

People often ask us, "So how did you come up with the idea for this wedding journal book?" Actually, it came about like most good ideas ... accidentally over a bottle of wine.

My then-fiancée and I had just finished our dinner, and we were working on my tiramisu birthday cake. We were also working on our second bottle of Moscato. After we finished devouring the cake, we began talking about our wedding. We chose August 8, 2010, and the reason was simple. Esha wanted to keep our wedding date the same as our dating anniversary date, which was just fine with me. It's one less date to remember.

Just so you know, I proposed to Esha in November 2008, in Jamaica. Right after the new year, we began discussing possible wedding locations. Were we going to have a destination wedding, and, if so, where? Or were we going to have our wedding somewhere near home? After a couple weeks of weighing out the pros and cons of both, we decided to keep our wedding somewhat near home. We began looking at many wedding facilities, in person and online. After visiting a few places, we settled on a place right on the beach in New Jersey, about an hour and half away from our house. Yeah, we knew it was a little bit of a drive, but the place was beautiful.

The day we drove down to the location to meet with their wedding coordinator, do a tasting, and possibly put down a deposit, we were running a bit late due to traffic. We called to inform her that we were going to be about twenty minutes late. When we arrived, the wedding coordinator left us waiting in the lobby for forty-five minutes, never once saying hello. The hostess told us that, because we were late, the wedding coordinator decided to take walk-up customers despite the fact that we had called to say that we would soon be there.

We were irate, and I informed the general manager that we were taking our business elsewhere. We got in our car and sat in traffic for three hours. That ride home really friggin' sucked, but, now that I look back, I couldn't be happier with what had happened.

The next day, one of Esha's sorority sisters, an event planner and wedding coordinator herself, sent her an e-mail with a few Web site links of possible wedding locations. After we checked out the Web sites, Esha really liked one called Auletto Caterers. The next day, she called the location and made an appointment for the following day.

The place was amazing and had everything we wanted: a large lake as a backdrop for an outdoor ceremony, a wine cellar, and a big ass dance floor. After we tasted all their different food options, which were delicious by the way, we knew we found the perfect place, a one-stop shop for our wedding ceremony, photos, and wedding reception.

Our next discussion took about two seconds. Since I proposed to Esha in Jamaica, which is a story all by itself, and since we were having our wedding in the summer, it was a no-brainer that the theme of our wedding would be beach/Caribbean.

Anyway, since we decided we were going to do everything ourselves, we began talking about the need to make lists and keep notes on what we were doing for the wedding. I knew she was already doing this, so the talk was basically a polite way for Esha to tell me what to do. I told her that I would get a notebook and start writing down whatever I did or needed to do for our wedding.

Right then, I had one of those lightning bolt creative moments. I told Esha that we should both keep a journal pertaining only to the wedding that we would write in every night from August 8, 2009, until August 7, 2010. And so the book was born.

For three hundred and sixty-five days, we wrote down what we did for our wedding, our thoughts on getting married, our fears, our wants, what we learned about each other, what we learned about marriage, and what we thought it would take for our marriage to reach the golden anniversary. Then I threw in a twist. Neither of us would read what the other wrote in our personal wedding journal until after our wedding. Cool, huh?

What really just started out as a way for us to keep everything organized for our wedding accidentally turned into something much, much larger. It became a way for us to share all of our thoughts on getting married and blow off steam when childish drama occurred, which happened multiple times.

Let the Countdown Begin!

365 days until ...

So today is Saturday, August 8, 2009. In three hundred and sixty-five days, I'll be getting married. I'm excited. Who could ask for anything more? We have booked the location and chosen the dresses. All that's left is to wait ... not! There's so much to do and think about. I never know where to begin. I'm sure it will all come together. Well, I hope. Tonight's the engagement get-together, but nothing fancy. A few of our friends, who haven't met one another, are meeting us at a local bar/restaurant. I wonder who will show up. Let the excuses begin. In situations like this, people sometimes reveal their true colors. I hope I'm not too disappointed.

Speaking of disappointed, I'm a little disappointed in myself. Alex and I decided not to go all out, like we usually do, on our anniversary gifts for one another. I was going to do it anyway and get Alex a bracelet with our anniversary engraved on it. Since I was very last minute in thinking it up, I decided against it. It wouldn't have been ready in time, so I psyched myself out of getting it. When I got home from running around all day and we exchanged gifts, guess who got a bracelet? I could've strangled myself. I also almost got him a Christmas tree ornament of Superman since he is my Superman. We even joke about how he never goes anywhere without his cape. He's always willing to help someone in need. I decided against it the day I saw it in the store because it's August. I didn't think people gave Christmas ornaments as gifts outside of the holidays. Guess who received a Wonder Woman figurine? Still kicking myself! Great minds think alike, right? What kind of mind chooses the perfect gift twice and then decides against it twice, only to get the love of her life two cards and a $25 ESPN gift card? I'll make up for this day until our next anniversary, our wedding. Let's hope I don't screw up too many more things until then. Hopefully, not at all. Knowing me, that's asking for too much. Oh, well. I'll be taking it one day at a time, and tonight we party! Three hundred and sixty-five days and counting. Whoopie!

Later that evening ...

That engagement party was a hot mess.

So tonight is our kickoff party. I invited some friends and a few of my family members, but most couldn't show because of prior commitments. I guess that means more shots for me. I'm looking forward to meeting a bunch of Esh's friends and partying again with the few I have already met.

So far, we put a down payment on a location, and I'd like to think that we are ahead of the game. We visited a bunch of places, but each one had something that we didn't like, and we weren't about to compromise with our vision. We almost put a down payment on a location down the shore on the beach, but the manager kept us waiting for over forty-five minutes without saying hello. She just left us in the lobby. She was also extremely rude to me over the telephone. I was so heated with her, but I'm actually glad...