Love Story Spring 2008

Ea & Sanel Valjevac

September 28, 2007
at The Essex - Vermont's Culinary Resort & Spa
Essex, Vermont
Photography by: Gregory L. Strom Photography

How we met

I met Sanel in 2001. I was good friends with one of his roommates at the time and she and I use to carpool to work. Most mornings as I’d pull up in front of their apartment to pick her up I would see Sanel walking out to his car to go to classes at UVM. We always exchanged smiles and waved to each other even though we'd never met. Our silent morning ritual went on for quite some time until finally one morning on the way to work my friend told me that Sanel wanted to meet me.

To break the ice, she invited me over to dinner. We had a great time and began talking about Valentine’s Day which was a couple weeks away. We made plans to have dinner at their place and he’d do all of the cooking. I should have known right then and there that he was a keeper! Unfortunately, plans fell through and at the last minute I ended up having to cancel. Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months... and we lost touch. In the back of my mind, I always regretted the fact that I had had to cancel and for a while I couldn’t help wondering “what if”.

As fate would have it, I decided in April of that same year that I was going to move home to Maine to start a new career. Fate works in very mysterious ways! The lease at the condo where had been living ended May 1st, but I had agreed to stay at my job until June 1st. Needless to say, I needed a roof over my head for a month, so my friend made no hesitation in offering me a couch to sleep on at their apartment.

That month turned out to be one of the most memorable, ever! Sanel and I became inseparable – I had truly met my soul mate. A week before I moved, we started dating. Talk about bad timing! We dated long distance for about 5 months, during which time I realized that my heart really did belong back here in Vermont.

How we got engaged

The day we got engaged was my birthday. We wined and dined that night at a new restaurant in town, enjoying the Christmas ambiance through our window overlooking Church Street and all of the lights.

We finished our dinner and Sanel started to tell me that he felt badly that he had not had time to get me a gift earlier that day. I was a little bit disappointed too but I reminded him that he’d already surprised me with flowers at work, and had taken me out to dinner. He still maintained that he really wished he had something to give me. After we finished our dessert he said “well, maybe I do have one little gift for you”. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out an engagement ring. Through my tears and our excitement he told me how earlier that day he had decided that he wanted to propose that night. He had called the jeweler as he left work and asked them if they would stay open until he got there so that he could pick out a ring. In an act of pure kindness the jeweler closed up and stayed late to allow Sanel to pick out a center stone and setting.

Length of Engagement: January 2007 – September 2007

How We Decided On a Wedding Date:

We knew that we wanted to have either a late Summer or early Fall wedding. After we got engaged, we liked the idea of getting married in September during the foliage. We considered several venues before deciding that the Inn at Essex would be the perfect location for our wedding. September 28th was available so we booked it. It wasn’t until after we had set the date that we realized its significance. We had started dating on the 28th (of May 2001) and my license plate ends in “928”. It was fate!

Ground Work:

I really wanted to plan a wedding that was unique and that incorporated many of our personal touches. Choosing a color theme was probably the most difficult task. After finding a black Ann Taylor cocktail dress for all of the bridesmaids, a vibrant autumn themed color palette came together. I have a degree in graphic design so I enjoyed designing our wedding programs and table names. After finding a dress and booking all of our vendors, we were able to take a little break to enjoy the excitement being engaged! The planning really kicked into high gear about three months prior to the wedding.

Most Memorable Details:

I would have to write a novel to truly do justice to all of the absolutely memorable moments that we cherish. …The way the rain held off, despite the forecast, until just after our ceremony had ended. …Our ceremony, written and performed by my father. …The song my father sang during our ceremony that he had made up and used to sing to me at bedtime when I was little. …The feeling that time had frozen and the world had melted away during our ceremony. It still takes my breath away, even now.

A few weeks before our wedding I decided to go through all of our old photographs and put together a collection of photos of us throughout the years. I framed them and had them arranged throughout the room at our reception for our guests to enjoy. Another personal detail was our table names – we’ve done quite a bit of traveling together so we decided to name each table after a country that we’d visited or a place that had special significance to us. We were also blessed to have Sanel’s cousin and his daughter make the journey from Bosnia to join us. This was especially meaningful to Sanel, which was priceless. We were also blessed to have my grandmother make the trip from Trinidad to be with us. The list goes on and on.

Most memorable was the love and joy we embraced that day from our parents, families and friends.

Update:

Since the wedding we’ve have settled comfortably into our lives as a married couple. The biggest adjustment has been calling each other husband and wife! We never really got used to saying fiancé(e) so we still slip sometimes, but it’s been a lot of fun. We hope to start a family soon and Sanel is thinking about going back to graduate school.

How’s married life? Couldn’t be better!

Some Planning Advice to Future Brides and Grooms:

Treasure your engagement and have FUN planning your wedding day! Don’t get caught up the obsession of perfecting every little detail. When your wedding day arrives it will be perfect, no matter what! All eyes are on you. Enjoy every second…

Index of Love Stories at Vermont Bride Magazine