Help me get to My Best Friends' Wedding!

LISA, COLIN & ME //

I'm Veronica, a 28 year old artist and filmmaker living in the north of England, originally from Hyde Park, New York.
In middle and high school I made quite a few best friends, forming a tight-knit group that is, amazingly, still close today! Two from this group of video gaming, art creating outcasts are Colin and Lisa.

13 years ago I became fast friends with Colin, a fun, outgoing, and kind comic book artist who happens to have the most amazing family. He even took me to my Senior Prom!

April 2003 - That's our friend Rob on the right there, who will also be in attendance!

Two years before I knew Colin existed I met Lisa online in some art-related chat room (do you remember chat rooms??) and we basically haven't stopped talking since. Since Lisa was so cool I had to introduce her to all my friends and it didn't take long before we were all connected to this far-away artist from Fort Worth, Texas via the wondrous world wide web.

April 2009 - When I flew down to meet her for the first time!

In 2011, not long after I moved to the UK, Colin moved down to Texas, met up with Lisa, and, I'm sure you saw this coming, they fell quickly in love. It made complete sense to me- they were clearly made for each other! They started dating on Halloween 2011, got engaged exactly a year later, and are getting married on the same date this year.



Here is their website to read more about their story :)
http://whiteandcrose.ourwedding.com/





Lisa & Colin feel that they wouldn't have met if it wasn't for me and they've expressed how important it is that I be a bridesmaid at their wedding. Since they've been such long-time and important friends, I want nothing more than to celebrate their special day with them and the rest of our motley crew!


THIS IS WHERE I NEED YOUR HELP!



WHAT I NEED TO GET THERE

While filmmaking is a perfect career for me, it's incredibly hard financially to start out in. It's been impossible for me to save for the wedding, but it's too important for me to go to not try everything to get there!

This is how the budget breaks down:
29 OCT - 4 NOV (these were the cheapest dates for flights without staying for 2 wks)

Manchester to Dallas-Fort Worth return flights - $1100 (£688)

Air BNB (as hotels are far too expensive) at $50/night + service fee - $280 (£174)
Friend of a friend's place in Colleyville, Tx - $0 (£0) That's just a 25 min drive from where the wedding will be held guys!! I have amazing friends C:

Enterprise Car Hire, Economy class - $203.10 (£126.40)

Estimated gas usage at apx $3.50/gal - $105 (£65)

Food, at $50/day - $300 (£187) - (this will be used as well for during my travel from Leeds and coming home. £1 = $1.60. I'll cook food wherever I'm staying as often as I can, but I'm going a bit on the safe side here)

Bridesmaid dress - $120 (£75)

Subtotal: $2108.10 (£1314.92)
22/09- Free place to stay $-280.00
New Subtotal: $1828.10 (£1140.10)
GoFundMe 7.9% + $0.30/don fee: (apx) $157.95

TOTAL: $1986.05 (£1,240.00)



WHAT YOU CAN GET IN RETURN

I'd like to be able to give back to every single person who donates, so I thought I'd offer my fine art & music skills in exchange for donations.

Here are a few examples.


For the $5 reward- Violin song request (see the 2nd update for me playing 'The Bridal Chorus') OR request something for Joe to say so you can hear his English accent :D


Those who donate $10 will take home a small, quick sketch that could look like this:




Those who donate $20 will take home a more sophisticated sketch that could look like this:

Those who donate $35 will take home a sophisticated rendered sketch that could look like this:

Those who donate $50 will take home a sophisticated rendered drawing that could look like this:




The first 3 to donate $75 could take home a digital painting, or for $125 a small (12"x12") oil painting, that could look like this:





The first 3 to donate $250 could take home a print of maybe this photo:


Or the first, should there be one, to donate $500 could take home a large oil painting that maybe looked like this:


For more examples of my work and prints to choose from, please visit my DeviantArt page: http://xxcelticdragonxx.deviantart.com/gallery/



Other Ways You Can Help

It will mean the world to me if I somehow manage to make it to this wedding, but if you're skint like me and this story has touched you in some way, please spread the word. Tweet, share it on Facebook, on Tumblr, whatever social medium you're using!


Most important of all THANK YOU for reading, watching and giving!