Hi there, thanks for stopping by. I'm Scott, 37 years old, and from Christchurch, New Zealand.
I'm the groom.
And if you ask me, that makes me about the luckiest guy I know.

What a great year. Saving Private Ryan is released, and becomes the biggest grossing film that year at the box office. Will Smith turned his back on his Fresh Prince persona, and started "Gettin' jiggy wit it", and the Backstreet Boys were charging up the charts with "Everybody"...
But for me, even more significant than the peak of the BoyBand genre, 1998 was the year that a perky American girl with the nickname of "Krey" messaged me on ICQ.

I'll have to be honest with you. I wasn't expecting a long conversation. I'd been to the USA once before, and the only American girls I'd met were from Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. In bars. Or Casinos. Let's just say that intelligence and strong conversational abilities weren't exactly strong associations for me with American girls.
Kristie was a breath of fresh air. From very early on, I felt a strong connection and close friendship forming. I was 25, and recently out of work, after the collapse of the company I dearly loved, PC General. Although she didn't know it at the time, Kristie was an integral part of my recovery.

I managed to pick up a job working for a competitor of PC General (Pegasus Electronics), and moved to Hamilton. I knew a grand total of 0 people there, but never felt alone. After coming home from work each night, I'd invariably find Kristie online on ICQ. The internet was all dial-up in those days, and I don't think either of us had webcams or microphones in those days, so 1998 also became the year of the insane phone bills, for both of us. (I'm so sorry Mr Bodeutsch!!)

My heart never really was in my job at Pegasus. I never got over the feeling of working for the enemy, and towards the end of that year, we parted ways amicably, and I took a three week vacation in Australia for my first time. About half-way through my first week, I started getting headaches, and noticed I had a bit of a lump on the back of my head. I've had minor headaches all my life, so didn't think too much of it at first. But a few days went past, and I still had the headaches. With only my thoughts to keep me company, I began to imagine the worst. I became convinced I had a brain tumour, and that I was dying! It seems so hard to believe, but at the time I was so mad, because I was sure this would mean that I would never get a chance to meet Kristie in real life! I spent a week or so, and drove from Brisbane to Sydney. I was mostly pretty miserable. I felt too ill to go swimming or sightseeing, and when I got to Sydney, I think I spent nearly all my time in bed, trying to sleep. The biggest highlight of my trip, and I remember it vividly still today, was a phone call I made from the Centra Hotel in Sydney to Kristie, from my cellphone, that lasted nearly 3 hours. I don't think I told her that I thought I was dying, and in fact, I don't recall the topic of our conversation, but I do remember feeling hope and determination. Once again, without even trying, Kristie had been there for me when I needed her.

Fast forward to 2006, and eight years after I "met" Kristie online, I'm standing at Christchurch International Airport awaiting to see her in real life for the first time. People have often asked me whether I was nervous at that point. The truth is, no. When enough people ask you that question, you begin to question whether perhaps you should be nervous, but Kristie and I had spent so many hundreds of hours together over the years, I was pretty confident we'd be just as good friends in real life.
What I wasn't prepared for was how quickly we would fall in love.

Six months later, and I was preparing for my own trip, this time to Seattle. After some helpful hints from Kristie during her second trip to New Zealand in June, and after becoming a mini-expert on diamonds, with the helper of a local jeweller, I designed an engagement ring, which was finally ready in typical Scott Ferguson fashion, at the last minute, on the morning of my flight. I had really hoped to keep it a big secret from everyone, but after my workmates were becoming suspicious at my new found interest in precious stones, (and I'm looking at you mainly Corina..), I had to share the surprise with Kylie, Corina, and Melissa. From that point on, the ring never left my side. I was too paranoid to even take it out of my pocket on the plane trip over, in case I fell asleep, and another passenger went through my bag!

Kristie treated me to a few days in downtown Seattle, and on the last day we decided to check out the view from the top of the Space Needle. We'd been the night before, and while I of course had the ring on me then, it didn't quite feel like the perfect moment. This day though, was different. Earlier in the morning, we'd started the day with a trip to Pike Place Market, and after what was probably the best breakfast crepes I've ever had, Kristie picked out an incredible bunch of flowers, and we decided to go back up the Space Needle. The day had been cloudy, but when we got to the top, the sun was streaming through. I was taking some photos when one shot in particular just left me awestruck. I had lined up the shot with Kristie in frame, looking absolutely stunning, holding this beautiful bunch of flowers, with the sun bursting through the clouds in the backdrop. It was at that moment that I knew I was about to get down onto one knee, and that when I got up, I was going to be engaged to be married to the girl of my dreams.