Even though my wedding came and went before I could blink, I still love weddings! I love talking about Weddings, I love giving advice about wedding planning, I love hearing others' dreams about their own weddings, and I LOVE going to weddings (come on, friends, get married!)
Last Friday, I wrote about my thoughts on newlywed life after three months of marriage. After that post, I decided it's time to talk a little bit more about our wedding.
But before we talk about weddings, I feel like I should talk about our engagement (we have awesome photos for that conversation, too). So today will be all about our engagement story.
Really quick background: Nick and I met at the beginning of our sophomore year in college at a dance that took place at the pavilion in the middle of campus. He taught me how to salsa dance and I kind of fell for him right away. Long story short, we went back and forth and didn't end up dating until the end of our Junior year (there was a lot of time in between to hurt each other a bit, but ultimately build a strong friendship first). We are so thankful that God continually led us back to each other and made our love story so beautiful and full of grace. On April 1, 2012, we finally started dating.
How he proposed:
Now of course there are two sides to every story, but here is mine. It was May 10th, 2013, a day that I was looking forward to since the previous October when I found out The Great Gatsby (my all time favorite novel) was coming out in theaters. Of course, Nick and I would go and see it on opening night.
Nick took my excitement and anticipation as an opportunity to tell me to dress up and make a date out of it. Also, it was my last day of classes on campus (ever), so perfect for a celebration and date night. Really, I was way too excited when the day finally came.
When the day came, it felt a little bit weird. My mom and brother kept calling and saying they were coming to visit, but then they decided they weren't, or they were, then they weren't. As I was getting ready that night, a bad storm started coming in, and we'd have to drive at least 20 minutes to get to the movie. I got worried and called Nick to see if we even should go (of course, he said yes).
But then he called and told me, (1) we have to leave late, and (2) I have to meet him at the school because he needs to print something in the library, and (3) I should have my roommate bring me instead of just bringing myself.
"Um…why?!" was my response in my head. I wanted to get to this movie. Why did Marissa (my amazing best friend/ roommate at the time) have to bring me to the school? I wanted to be on my own schedule with this thing I've been waiting for since October, thank you very much! Sidenote: I believe most engagement stories include at least a certain part where the girl gets a bit bratty because things usually seem a bit strange…this is where I became bratty…but I tried to keep it to a minimum.
Regardless, I went along with it all. Marissa stalled me a bit but assured me that she had a reason to go to the school, anyways, so it wouldn't be a problem. Then, when we got there, Nick told me to meet him at the pavilion in the middle of campus (remember, this is where we first met, perfect). He said he was hanging out there after the library because it was "nice" out. It was raining, but I guess it technically was kind of nice out. The best part was, because of the rain and it being a Friday evening, campus was pretty empty other than us.
When we got to the pavilion, Nick had Marissa take a few pictures of us "since we looked nice." He was just stalling, though, so we kept changing positions for more pictures. I was just ready to get to the movie!
But suddenly, I heard some people walking towards us, and I did a double take only to realize that it was a few of my closest family members and a few of Nick's family members and one of his best friends, walking in procession with umbrellas, cameras, and video cameras. Then, it hit me, and I started tearing up.
I turned around and Nick took my hand, said some simple words about this is where we had met, how much he truly loves me and wants to spend every day with me, and he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.
This is his favorite part: Of course I said yes, and instead of embracing him and allowing him to put the ring on my finger, I pulled the ring out of the box as soon as I saw it and did it myself! It was perfect! But then I realized that wasn't right way to do things, so I took it off and let him do it ;)!
The whole thing was perfect. Nick knows how important family is to me, so he involved both of ours and our closest friends in such a special day. He is just so good at this stuff, and he knows me so well! I wouldn't have had it any other way. It was simple, yet elaborately planned, and it meant so much to me.
Following the engagement, Nick had reservations for us to celebrate with our family and friends at a nearby restaurant, and THEN we still when to see the Great Gatsby, just the two of us. As excited as I was about the movie, I was a little bit distracted by the sparkle of my ring in the dark theater and how excited I was to be marrying my best friend.
I felt like I was walking on clouds the entire night, so excited to tell everyone that I get to marry my best friend. It was one of the happiest days of our lives, and saying yes to Nick was my best decision.
Little did we know, though, that the year following this day would be so difficult. Engagement periods can be extremely tough, and ours surely was. But that is for another post! Check back next Friday for the continued story of our year-long engagement and wedding planning, tips for how to get through it, and what I wish we would have known!
About our Photographer: My talented cousin (and maid of honor) took our engagement photos. You should have her take pictures for you if you live in western PA!
Mikaela Jaros Photography
Friday Blog Hop, Weeks End
