Shane and Crystal

Tuesday - October 10, 2006:
Some of you may remember the “log” of events that I kept as I worked on Crystal’s proposal. It detailed everything I went through to create her special day. Well, I’ve decided to do it again leading up to her wedding day because I have a few surprises in the works that she doesn’t know about and I’m once again having to hide so many things from her! Here is a run-down on what has happened so far.

Honeymoon Suite:
Ok, so Crystal suggested we get a “regular” hotel room near the airport on the night of the wedding and save our money for Maui. Wellllll…that’s what she thinks I reserved…cause…well…I lied to her (SORRY). All she knows is that we are staying at the Renaissance Concourse by the Airport in Atlanta…that much is true. What she doesn’t know is that we will be staying in the Governor’s Suite! I have no idea what it looks like, but it sounded nice over the phone…ha. We’ll have chocolate covered strawberries and some sort of “honeymoon” package…and a limo ride to the airport the next morning. I could have gotten a regular room, but hey…you only have one honeymoon night.

The Wedding Slideshow:
Crystal is under the impression that I am creating a slideshow of our engagement photos that will play with Steven Curtis Chapman’s “I will Be Here” in the background. Now, that’s a beautiful song and the slideshow would be great…but our dad’s came to me with something that would be MUCH more special.

First, Crystal’s daddy approached me about a poem he has written and will give her at the rehearsal dinner. He had thought about putting it with pictures and having a slideshow done, but had heard I was doing a slideshow for the wedding. So what we came up with was for me to scrap the Steven Curtis Chapman idea and put his poem to music and play a slideshow of pictures of her growing up. Now this was an amazing idea in itself, but something else came along to add to it!

My dad calls me about a week later (I hadn’t spoken to him or told him about the poem and slideshow that was being worked on) and he tells me that he had taken a song he use to sing to me when I was a baby and rewrote it to go with my life and marriage to Crystal. It immediately became clear that I had to use his song as well to show pictures of me growing up and then finish with pictures of Crystal and me together! So this was the beginning of a slideshow that is going to be an enormous surprise to Crystal (hopefully a good one) and will definitely be more special than anything else I could have done alone. Having our fathers be a part of this is just…amazing.

So a girl is supposed to know every detail of her wedding day and have everything exactly how she wants it…right? Well, I’m sticking my neck out and going for broke on this decision. I can’t imagine her not liking the slideshow, but I KNOW it’s going to make her squall like a baby. That’s not my intention, but I know it’ll happen. She refuses to see the video before the wedding and I can’t show her anyway, because her dad doesn’t want her to know about the poem until he gives it to her at the rehearsal dinner. So she can’t even prepare herself for what will be shown!! I COULD tell her after she receives the poem that the slideshow won’t be what she was expecting and to prepare for something much more special, but then that will somewhat ruin the natural emotion that she’d have while it’s playing…decisions decisions. I just don’t want her balling and have the wedding (and her makeup) “ruined”.

Saturday - October 7, 2006:
Crystal is in Pigeon Forge this weekend visiting me and so I wake up Saturday morning and walk into the living room to find her with dozens of pictures of me growing up and she’s putting them in frames and planning on taking them back to GA with her for the wedding! I ask where she got the photos and she says that Mamaw had given them to her…well, Mamaw had been gathering up those photos for me to use in the slideshow!!! So I ask Crystal to leave it alone and that I would take care of them…cause I couldn’t let her leave with them or else I wouldn’t have any pictures to use! She made a remark about how it wouldn’t get done unless she did it and I assured her that it would. Then she made another comment about how she was already doing them so she may as well finish…the girl is stubborn! I come back with something like, “It’s your last weekend here in Pigeon Forge…let’s get ready and go do something together.” THEN she gets upset and says “Fine…but this will never get done.” HA! She has no clue what they’re going to be used for…but fortunately she left them with me…WHEW.

Monday - October 9, 2006:
I received a package from Crystal’s parents that has a CD of her daddy reading the poem and then a bunch of pictures of Crystal growing up that goes with the poem. I was talking to Crystal on the phone when I was going through it and I told her that I wanted to visit with my family and I would call her back in a bit. Well, I did visit with my family, but I got to work on putting the poem to music. Her daddy’s favorite movie is Forrest Gump, so I put the instrumental of the “Feather Song” behind his words, which turned out great! It took me about 2 hours to get the poem to fit with the music as I had to cut & loop some parts and adjust the volumes to go with each other. So I call Crystal back and she teases me about blowing her off for a couple of hours…haha…little did she know I was working on a HUGE surprise for her. During the conversation, she asks me if I wanted to have pictures of us growing up in what she thinks is going to be the slideshow at the wedding. I said “sure” and she asks me how I plan on getting the pictures of her. Hmmm….I couldn’t exactly tell her that I had a bunch sitting right in front of me!! Then if she went to her parents’ house to get these pics, she’d wonder where they were! Talk about a rock and a hard place. I told her we’d go through some on my next trip down…maybe she’ll forget by then…heh. We chatted a bit and then she went to bed…and I got back to work on scanning her baby photos and starting on the slideshow. This secret is getting harder and harder to keep.

Wednesday - October 11, 2006:
I managed to convince Crystal that I didn’t need her to find pics of her growing up to use on the slideshow…so I thought I was home free, but then she says she still needs to gather up her pictures to frame and post at the reception….grrrrrr. So I had to finish scanning all of her photos late last night, package up the pictures, and then send it back to her parents house next day air so that she wouldn’t wonder where all of her baby pictures were…thanks a lot, Crystal.

Saturday - October 14, 2006:
I didn’t go to GA this weekend and Crystal didn’t travel up here, so I had all day today to work on the video. I worked for 14 hours straight on it (ok, so I took a break to watch Georgia lose to Vanderbilt) and have it about 3/4 of the way done. The intro is done that dedicates it to loved ones and then I got all of Crystal’s poem completed. I created an intro that describes my dad’s song and then got the first verse of Dad’s song put with video. I should have everything completed tomorrow and will burn it all off to a DVD. It’s 7 minutes and 20 seconds long, which hopefully won’t be too painful for some people. HA Maybe I can sneak some Kleenex into the aisles?

I have to admit…I was putting Crystal’s part together and kept seeing her baby pictures over and over. She was just way too cute! Those big blue eyes and blonde hair just get me every time.

It’s 1:25am and I’m beat. I’ve had to keep this whole project a secret and it’s exhausting! There are so many things that could slip, but so far everything has went as planned. I’ve convinced her to simply put “Special Video Presentation” on the program since she thinks it will be a short slideshow with the music of Steven Curtis Chapman. I’m not even going to mention to her that it’s completely different…this way she’ll give her true reaction. ha…at least she will have already said “I do” by then!!!! This could be our first spat as a married couple…but I think she’ll like this slideshow a LOT better…at least I hope!

Ok…bed time.

Sunday - October 15, 2006:
Not much to do? That’s what Crystal says about me and the wedding preparations. She thinks I’m simply putting photos of us on a simple 2 minute slideshow. She has no idea that I have worked with our dads to get the songs and voiceovers, scanned tons of pictures, ripped a DVD and edited the footage, used two different computers & five programs!I’m not saying I have more than her to do, but she comments about every day on why I haven’t called so and so or done such and such since I don’t have anything to do. haha I can’t say, “I’ve been working on the slideshow” because she will wonder why it is taking so long. So I just apologize and promise to do the stuff the next day.

Friday - October 27, 2006:
FINISHED! I completed the video presentation last night and got it burnt to a DVD. I had to tell Crystal that I was watching a TV show when she called and then I had to tell her I had to finish packing…which was sort of the truth! I got everything completed around 1:30 in the morning and watched it on TV to make sure it played ok…and it did! I know people will probably want copies…so that’s the next step. Now I just have to keep this thing hidden from Crystal for one more week! To view the video, simply click the box below.

If the video doesn’t play, click here to install the Flash player

I have to say that the people I work with at Fee / Hedrick Family Entertainment Group are amazing. Because of them, I don’t see working there as a “job”…they honestly make going to work incredibly enjoyable. I had an overwhelming reminder of that today as I had a HUGE surprise for me at lunch. A few of us typically go to lunch every Wednesday and some of them wanted to eat at The Alabama Grill today. As we walked in, there was a massive table where about 30 employees were sitting. I thought they were having a meeting, but all of a sudden they started clapping and cheering when i walked around the corner. I was puzzled at first and then I saw “Congratulations” on a banner, a chocolate cake made by the executive chef of the company’s catering division, and a rather large giftbox. I suddenly realized they were all there for me!

Kathy Turner, the Creative Director of the company, had organized this massive get-together to celebrate my recent graduation, upcoming wedding, and impending departure from the company to start my new life in GA. I have never seen this many people in the company together in one place at the same time…ever…not even the Christmas Party! I was completely floored. People from at least two theaters, three shows, and three businesses showed up…over 30 people in all! The president and vice-president were there along with general managers, marketing and sales directors, etc etc. A lot of great things were said and it’s something I’ll never forget. The people that came and that I work with every day are simply amazing. I love them like family and hope that the career I take in GA will have people that are just as great. Kathy has been an incredible person to work with and the company is extremely fortunate to have her as their Creative Director. I just can’t say enough about her and the rest of the staff!

As for the giftbox…well…I went to open it up and it was FILLED with dollar bills! I thought for a minute that it was tissue paper, but I then realized it was real! Everyone had pitched in to create this huge box of money. I just don’t know how I’m going to get this thing through the teller window at the bank…

Whew…WHAT a day! The money was a great gift, but the amount of people that showed up and signed the card meant so much to me. I know everyone had a ton of things going on at each business in the company and knowing they took time out of their day to be a part of this is simply amazing. I’m still floored.

Did the title scare ya? I graduated on September 23, 2006 from The Art Institute Online with a Bachelor of Science degree in Interactive Media Design. I spent 3 1/2 years working on it and am glad to say it’s finally over. Crystal has been patient and understanding of the lack of time I have had to give her, so now I’m sure she’ll want to catch up on everything we’ve had to pass up because of me being in school. I guess I don’t have a good excuse to get out of wedding-planning stuff now huh? HA!

Crystal is still the smartypants with her Master’s degree…but I refuse to call her “master”…

It’s no secret that I’ve been rather, um, horrible at helping with the wedding planning and getting things to Crystal in a timely manner. She often asks me to do the simplest things and I will completely forget an hour later. I could blame it on having a full-time job and full-time school (as I often do), but I just can’t stay focused on anything about the wedding unless I write it down. I admit it…I’m probably the worst groom-in-training ever. haha (Crystal probably isn’t laughing)

The fact is, if it wasn’t for Crystal we’d probably be getting married in a drive-thru chapel in Gatlinburg somewhere (no offense to anyone who has done that). She’s been amazing with the whole wedding planning tasks and is so organized with everything that I feel like a kid that’s just tagging along and going with the flow. I’m just going to show up and try not to get in her way at the wedding. hahaha

I also want to say thank you to everyone that has helped out with everything. There are so many names to list that I’d be here all day typing, but you know who you are. I’m amazed by all of the people that have pitched in their time, energy, talents, resources, etc. I wish I could take ALL of you to Maui with us…but you’re going to have to settle for free food at the reception…unless of course your Crystal’s parents.

I just finished uploading the rest of our engagement photos that Victoria DeLoach took, so there are now something like 50 photos of us to look at. You can see then all be clicking here. Once again, we’d like to thank DeLoach Digital Photography for taking these images of us!

Victoria (our photographer) sent us a few more pictures, which I posted to the gallery. Just click on any of the images over to the right to see them.

Crystal called me this afternoon somewhat stressed about the wedding planning. I thought everything was going well…I mean, shoot, I’ve been breezing right through it! (That’s sarcasm for those in the back since I haven’t done much with the planning) I have to collect addresses of my friends and family, so if you’re reading this…and you’re my friend or in my family…send me an email with your name, address, and the names of the people you want to drag bring with you to our wedding. It’ll be a good time that you don’t wanna miss! Besides…there will be free food there! Well…free for you. I just hope you like spam sandwhiches.

You hope I’m kidding about the spam sandwhiches don’t you. Well, you’ll just have to come and find out and when you see it isn’t spam sandwiches, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with whatever it is!