Whoops! Change of plans.

Melissa decided to start reserving hotel rooms for our June 7 wedding in Jonesborough. When she started making calls she discovered that another wedding party had booked all of the rooms in town. Jonesborough is a small town, so that's easier than it sounds.

Melissa has a small panic attack, but perseveres. After talking to hotels and to Patty at The Wedding Loft, Melissa moved the date to Saturday, August 16.

She also booked all 15 rooms at the Eureka Hotel and three rooms at Blair-Moore House. That should be plenty of rooms for friends and the Knoxville side of our families. Half of Melissa's family - the Moore side - live in the Tri-Cities area near Jonesborough, and probably won't need hotel rooms.

Friends who are interested in spending the night, please let us know so we'll set aside a room for you. The Eureka is a beatiful hotel, as you can see on their web site, with second-story porches front and back. They have a terrific back patio that we may use for the after-reception shindigs when all of the respectable people have gone home. Cost will be around a hundred dollars per room.

Other wedding news

Melissa bought a dress. I'm not allowed to see it, but apparently it's ivory, off the shoulder, and chapel length. What any of that means, I don't know, but her cousin Charla went with her, and she said it was beautiful. The same night, Melissa and I went on a double date with Jay (who lives in Maryville) and Charla (who lives in the Tri-Cities). Melissa and I think Jay will be upgrading his cell phone plan real soon. Jay and Charla are both in the wedding.

The same day Melissa bought the dress, we bought the engagement ring. We did things backwards, because I'm stupid about this stuff. My mom gave me her ring to give Melissa. I gave it to her as an engagment ring at Thanksgiving dinner, only to find out that it's a wedding ring, rather than an engagement ring. There's a difference? asks I.

Apparently modern engagement rings have one large stone, possibly surrounded by smaller stones. A wedding band is either a solid gold band with no stones, or a band of small stones like my mother's ring. So now I know in case I need to get married again. I mean, really, how useful is this information to a guy? I'm letting it go in one ear and out the other.

The engagement ring is an antique from Blair House in Knoxville, and dates to 1945, the same year my parents married. It matches the wedding ring really well, with a large stone in the center and two smaller stones on either side.

We're trying to decide on music for the reception, and a destination for the honeymoon. Any ideas?

I'm leaning towards a bluegrass string band for the music. There are lots of good ones around here. East Tennessee State University where Melissa is finishing her degree is nearby, and they offer a degree in bluegrass. The Down Home in Johnson City hosts a lot of good bands.

Hey, Melissa. I just created a blog!