Mike and I are both graduates of Rio Grande High School, class of '85.  We met again at our 25 year reunion at the Hard Rock Hotel.  Even though Mike was hair-challenged (that means he had shaved his head) when I first saw him walk in, and I hadn't seen him for 25 years, I recognized him immediately.  Did he see me?  No. He and his friend Lawrence immediately went to the bar for drinks, and I went to hunt up my friend Kathaleen.

Later that night i was talking with friends when Mike approached me.  Within about 2 minutes, Mike kissed me!  I was surprised, that's for sure.  Kathaleen and a couple of other people saw that I "needed rescuing" from Mike, so they came and whisked me away.  Did Mike give up?  Nope.  He found me while I was standing by myself and took me to dance.  What a dance!  Mike is an avid twirler, so much so that he twirled me right on my butt!  (I'm sure the 5 inch heels didn't help). 

We had a laugh about that, and still do to this day.  Mike and I spent the rest of the night talking and laughing.  Mike actually asked me to be his girlfriend that night, but I resisted for a couple of weeks.  Mike and I have talked every day since that night, August 13, 2010.  We went on our first "date" (coffee at Starbucks) the following Tuesday, and an actual dinner and a movie date the following Friday.  We've been together ever since!

3 weeks after Mike and I began dating, I was attending a rally at the Hotel Albuquerque.  If you haven't ever been there, check it out some time.  It's really a beautiful hotel, with an amazing courtyard.  This courtyard is used for weddings, amongst other things ("Breaking Bad" was being filmed there one afternoon that I was there).  I told Mike that I wanted to get married there, in a semi-joking tone, while we were having margaritas with Michelle P in the little cantina.  Mike took me very seriously and said he was going out to buy a ring that very afternoon.  

Guess you know the end to this segment.  Mike did indeed put a ring on lay-away that very afternoon, and teased me for 6 months with it.  Did he or didn't he?  I half believed him, but didn't quite! Valentine's Day came, and Mike and I made plans to go to St Clair's, my favorite restaurant. on February 13 (I hate the crowds on actual Valentine's Day).

Mike had a couple of presents for me, one being a beautiful diamond ring similar to one that had been stolen from my house the previous December.  He also gave me the new Anne Rice book (love her).  He told me that he had read something interesting on page 37, so I turned to it.  There, Mike had cut through several pages with a heart hole punch.  The ring was nested inside..  Mike dropped to his knee and asked me to marry him, in the middle of St Clair's.  The rest is history.  ;)

Oh, I found out later that Mike had met with my parents at their second home (Hard Rock Casino) and asked them for my hand in marriage BEFORE he asked me.  How romantic can you get?  He even wrote out what he said in a hand-made card and gave it to me!

After a couple of false starts, where we learned that weddings are very, very expenive, we decided to push the wedding back from October 15, 2011, our original wedding date, to September 22, 2012.  The Hotel Albuquerque did not work out, so we decided to go with Hard Rock, where we had met again after all those years. 

The actual ceremony will be held at 3:30pm on the Isleta Eagle Golf Course.  There will be a string quartet, which will play for cocktail hour immediately following the ceremony, right there on the golf course.  Bring your requests, because this quartet rocks!  The group's repetoire ranges from classical pieces, to the Beatles, to Metallica (I was very excited about that)!! We will be hosting a limited alcohol menu during cocktail hour, which will end at 5pm.

The reception will immediately follow cocktail hour.  The reception will be held in the Seminar Room at Hard Rock Hotel Albuquerque.  Dinner will be buffet-style.  There will be a cash bar during the reception. 

Dancing will begin around 8pm and will continue until midnight.  Please try to stay with us until then!  The DJ we have will knock your socks off!  And Mike made sure he got a wedding cake big enough for everyone to get as much as she/he desires ("south valley slices").  And don't forget the photo booth!  Everyone is encouraged to take pictures using a variety of props supplied.  You get a copy of the pictures and place a copy in a keepsake book for Mike and me.  Fun!

The hotel is offering a discount on a limited number of rooms for our guests.  When reserving a room for that night, please reference room code "MSW0912", or just tell them you're a guest at the Michael Silva/Tami Mead's wedding and would like the discounted room rate.  It's not a huge discount, but every little bit helps!

Mike and I have decided to travel to Mexico to celebrate our marriage.  To that end, we have a honeymoon registry through Rio Grande Travel.

If anyone is interested in using this medium, there is one catch;  there is a 7% surcharge for the Web site which will be added to any gift you give. 

Mike and I would like to thank our families and friends for everything.  We are blessed to have all of you in our lives.