The Down-Low

So.. I'm going to share with our [small but very significant] blog community an e-mail that was strategically drafted and submitted to a good amount of my big fat Greek family and close friends-- unfortunately I don't posses EVERYONES e-mail address but for now, this is just to spread the word. And when I say "strategically drafted" I mean to imply that I was profusely sweating the entire time, viciously deleting and re-typing, and deleting, and re-typing and sweating some more. But: this is us announcing to the general public what's going on AND HOW FREAKIN' EXCITED WE ARE! Ready... Set...

Hi Family and Friends!!

            As I’m sure most of you have heard, if not from our blabbering blog than from hear-say, that Zach and I called off the shin-dig on June 4^th. We just weren’t happy with the way things were going. It just didn’t feel like “us.”

            Initially, after we decided to nix our plans, we were just going to elope and call it a day. But then we started thinking. And talking. And we realized that even though we weren’t doing the big sha-bang, we still want the people we love to have the opportunity to be with us. Isn’t that what being a family is all about?

            So, we’ve reverted back to our first idea for a wedding, the idea that we felt the closest to but opted out of—this is what we’ve secretly wanted to do all along. We’re getting married on the beach in Carillon Beach, Flordia [gulf side]—it’s a private beach community near Seaside and Panama City Beach. We’ll be doing a very casual/relaxed, short and sweet ceremony ON the beach [we’re talkin’ no tuxes, no shoes, no problem] after which we’ll feed everyone and then spend the rest of the day/weekend on the beach/hanging out with those who are able to come out and be with us. We really just wanted a day—a weekend to be able to enjoy each other and spend quality time with those who are able to attend. This allows us to do that—and also allows our friends/family a bit of their own vacation and also to enjoy each other.

            We’ll get something more formal [aka an e-vite] out to everyone this week with more details and the ability to RSVP. We’ve updated our wedding website to reflect our plans. I just wanted to inform as many of you as I could ASAP:

theknot.com/ourwedding/MaxineDounis&ZachMcClure

            In short:

·         Our super casual fun-in-the-sun wedding will take place around 11:30AM [before it gets hot-hot] on Saturday, May 21. You’ll be fed and drinks (both non-alcoholic and alcoholic) will be provided, after which Zach and I will change into our swim suits and enjoy the beach with any/everyone who feels like playing! If the beach isn’t your thing, there is some great* shopping not too far out and we’re close to both Destin and Panama City Beach [home of the airbrushed t-shirts; where “spring break” never ends]

·         I’ll be down there probably on Wednesday the 18^th to do some prep-work and some relaxing, so if you plan on coming feel free to come earlier than Friday [you can crash with me until Friday!] if that is more convenient—we’ll make sure you have a ride from the airport—also, and EVERYONE will be provided with a map and list of things-to-do in the area as well as driving directions to/from Atlanta.

·         We bumped up the date because:

·         A) the rental rates for hotels/condos/houses are much cheaper in May than in June and we know that traveling is expensive enough as is so we wanted to be an economical as possible for the sake of our guests and ourselves.

·         B) it’s just generally A LOT less crowded in May, so we won’t be competing for the use/enjoyment of amenities and finding places to stay seemed easier.

If you are thinking about coming check out www.Carillon-Rentals.com for information about renting a house/condo/room at the Inn; all of which are located IN the community/subdivision of Carillon. Some of the houses can sleep up to 14 people so it might be worth it to look into splitting room/board with some friends/family. There are of course many cheaper options outside of Carillon that are only a few miles away—for those who would rather stay outside of Carillon, we will of course acquire guest passes to the community so that you may have access to all of the amenities at Carillon. Also, for those of you who will be flying in—check out flights into Destin or Panama City. If you want to get a look at the actual community, www.Carillon-Beach.com would be the place to go.

Side Note(s): I don’t have all of the family e-mail address so in lieu of e-mailing I'll be resorting to the oh-so-classy act of facebook messaging, so feel free to openly gossip about how crazy my husband-to-be and I are.

We’re sorry for the inconvenience of changing our plans—really & truly, we feel a little silly about it all—but we want to LOVE our wedding day but more importantly, we want to love the way that we start our marriage and to do so on the beach, in the company of our loved ones… well, that sounds like perfection to me and now that we’ve found a way to make that happen, we’re thrilled and would LOVEfor you to be there. PLEASE let us know if you have any questions. 

...and now I can [kind of] breathe. Surprisingly enough, we've received a massive amount of support for "doing what YOU [we] want to do." We're just overwhelmed with gratitude and excited/hopeful to have an awesome beach-y weekend with friends and family!

Okay, I have to go and shower off all of the anxious sweat now..

Z+M