After all of the fights with everyone telling us how we "should" get married, and what is "the right thing" to do, we then took matters into our own hands, and we started planning the wedding we had only dreamed about.

On May 23, 2000, we met fifteen close friends and family, along with two photographers at the Philadelphia International Airport to leave for our dream wedding in Key West, Florida. Two friends from Seattle were already awaiting our arrival, and my parents were on their way to the airport to take a later flight.

We boarded the half-empty flight, hung my dress, Mike’s tuxedo, and a few of the bridesmaids’ dresses behind first class, and took our seats. Realizing that the flight was not full, some of us rearranged our seats so that we could talk and make the time go by faster. Two-and-a-half hours later, the flight landed in Miami, we collected all of our luggage, loaded our luggage into a van, and loaded ourselves into three limousines bound for Key West, Florida. After stopping for refreshments, we were on our way.

Due to buying too many refreshments, the trip to Key West took a little longer than expected. However, the time flew by along with the gorgeous scenery. We arrived in Key West about six hours after our departure from Miami. It was hot, sunny, and beautiful. We all checked into the Seascape Inn, a bed & breakfast that had rooms and cottages to accommodate all of us, unpacked, and met up with our friends from Seattle and my parents.

The photographers left to scout out the picturesque locations they would use as a backdrop during the next day’s photo sessions, and the rest of us went out to find a good place to eat dinner. After dinner, we split up. Some of us went out to check out Key West’s nightlife. Some of us went back to the inn to hang out with friends. The rest of us went back to the inn to get some sleep we would be having a big day the following day.

The next day began early for Mike and I, as we needed to get our marriage license in person and had arrived too late the night before to do so. After stopping at the courthouse, we went back to the inn to grab some breakfast before going our separate ways until pictures were to begin later that afternoon. Most of the girls went to go get our hair styled for the wedding. Mike and some of his groomsmen went to take care of some last minute details at the ceremony and reception sites. The rest stayed at the inn, taking advantage of the pool and sun, and waiting for the flowers to arrive.

When our hair was styled, the bridesmaids all went back to the Sailor House cottage to eat the lunch that was laid out for us by our man-servant (maid-of-honor’s boyfriend), and get dressed for the wedding. At three o’clock the pictures were set to begin. Our first photo session was just for Mike and I. We were brought to the Hemmingway House separately so that Mike could see me in my dress for the first time without everyone else around. The tours kept going as our photographers staged us in the gardens and on the porches around all of the people.

After a half-of-an-hour there, we met up with the rest of our bridal party and guests to move to the second photo session location, the beach. All of our formal pictures were taken on the sand, with the beach rolling in behind us. Although it was hot, a few groomsmen made sure there was plenty of water for everyone, and the photographers had enough paper towels to mop everyone’s’ faces. After two hours on the beach, everyone moved on to the ceremony.

The ceremony took place aboard the Dreamcatcher Schooner. We took a two-hour ride aboard the sixty-five foot sailboat. There were drinks and hors d’ouvres while a jazz guitarist played. There was not a cloud in the sky, there were dolphins in the water, and the sunset was magnificent. Reverend Deborah Noeker, Healing Minister, presided over the ceremony that was co-written by her, Mike, and myself. The ceremony was timed to take place as the sun was setting, and they even told me that birds flew overhead as we became Michael and Jennifer Rissi. About fifteen minutes after the ceremony was over we were docked and went off to the reception.

The reception was held at Michael’s Restaurant. We had great food and a beautiful wedding cake. At Michael’s we were able to do most of the little traditions found at most traditional weddings. My father and I, and Mike’s mom and he had our respective dances. Our Best Man and Maid of Honor toasted us. We cut our wedding cake (and did not smash it into each other’s faces, as it was way to hot to become any stickier than we already were), kissed when the little bells left at everyone’s place were rang, and I tossed my bouquet outside of the restaurant. After all of that, the wedding was over.

We had planned to go out to the bars that night to continue celebrating, however it had been a long day for everyone so we decided to go back to the inn and retire for the night.

The next day was a free day for everybody. Some of us went to the beach, some of us went shopping, and some of us rented scooters to explore the island. Everyone came back and met at the inn later that afternoon, separated from Mike and I, and went snorkeling and for a sunset sail. While they were all off, Mike and I and the photographers went back to the beach for another photo session.

Our two photographers wanted us to take full advantage of the scenery and to take "engagement pictures" as the sunset was setting behind us on the beach. With such beautiful surroundings in Key West, and our very eager photographers -- who were we to say no? Evening came and some of us regrouped for dinner and relaxed that evening while others took advantage of Key West’s nightlife. The “wedding” was coming to a close.

The next morning, our three limousines and our van came back down to Key West to pick everyone up and transport us to Miami airport. Four hours, and a beautiful ride later, we pulled into the airport and dropped everyone off and said our good-byes. Mike and I left in one of the limousines, bound for Fort Lauderdale, where our honeymoon cruise awaited us the next day.

It was during this limousine ride that we decided to turn our dream wedding planning into a business, and so Far and Away Weddings was born. For more information on our wedding, please visit our website.

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