Voila – the bridal party boutonnieres are finished! Last week I sat down and decided that I was going to finish the guys boutonnieres for the wedding – mind you our bridal party doesn’t count the ushers, brothers, and pastor… this is … Continue reading
Two Sundays ago I attended the Hello Lovely 2012 – Indie Bridal Fair - at the fair there were several wedding photographers. They were all fantastic and awesome – and all had some kind of deal for all the brides who attended the bridal fair.
There was one photographer there in particular who was giving away a free wedding photography package in a contest for all the lovely brides (and their fiances’) who wanted to enter. All you would have to do is take a picture that’s special to you and your love, place/hold the photographer’s card somewhere in the shot, and then upload it to his page and have all your friends “like” and or share it. The couple with the most ‘likes’ by April 21st wins.
The photographer I’m talking about is BCREATIVE|TULSA – they do a fusion of digital and film and take a more artistic approach to wedding photography rather than your typical straight on ‘traditional’ shots… like me! Bryan (whom I met at the bridal fair) is a really fantastic photographer. You should definitely check out his website and facebook page if you live in Oklahoma – though I think if you really wanted him to photograph your wedding, he’d travel for sure.
Anyways, Patton and I did our “contest entry” photoshoot last weekend… and we took a pretty different approach. We went vintage. Well.. I guess it’s not too different now-a-days as the whole “vintage” look is coming back in style… but regardless – it was fun.
This was the silly “save-the-date” picture we came up with… closely followed by this next one…
… which I personally think is so fantastically awkward it needs an award. The look on Pat’s face is priceless. And our outfits… they’re completely ridiculous.
“Golly gee, it feels good to be a gangsta – don’t ya think, Sally?”
** One of my favorites **
“D’awwwwwww”
And yes, I do realize that our outfits make us look much older than we are. It freaked Pat out a little bit – but then he laughed. So I guess everything is alright then… 
This was one of three pictures that we were going to use for our contest entry… but I felt that this was much too “rom-com” for us. We’re way too goofy for this serious picture. It’s sweet though.
This was the second option – which was the original idea that I had for the shoot – think American Gothic – nerd style. Unfortunately it was extremely freaking windy outside so my background stand wouldn’t stay up (because I forgot the sandbags to hold it down) and the little plastic string that held the photographer’s card to the frame kept breaking. It still makes me chuckle. But the one that we went with was one that was really us… through and through…
So this is our ‘contest entry’ for BCREATIVE|TULSA’s wedding photography package giveaway. If you click on the picture it will take you to our entry page, once there it would mean the world to us if you could ‘like’ it or share it with your friends. I’m one of those kind of people that if I could photograph my own wedding I would… mostly because we are on a super tight budget. Winning this would make life so much easier! Every like helps. Pretty, pretty please!?!?!?
The story behind the photo:
This is us, back in a time where life was slower. I’m a professional photographer so I’m sporting my little Brownie and Pat is a computer tech, so he’s working on his “computer.” Anyways – this is our representation of what we’d look like if we were back in the 40s or something like that.
Honestly it was a nice way to do a simple themed session, baring the wind. We’re going to be doing another “serious” session for our actual engagement session and probably another goofy nerdy “more modern session” for our friends. It was really fun and will add to our small collection of couple photos. More times than not, I’m behind the camera and he hates being in front of it. I guess we’re perfect for each other.
Something in the picture doesn’t belong.
Stay tuned for more!
-Steph
As soon as we got engaged I was wondering about the details – dress, decorations, venue, and flowers. There are so many wonderful D.I.Y. websites and ideas out there – it’s just hard to choose which ones you want to … Continue reading
A week ago, my future Mother-in-Law sent me some information about a new “indie” bridal fair that was going to be in Tulsa, OK on March 11th. I took one look at the event’s website and was on board. Not only was it cool looking, it was craft oriented! DIY FTW! I called my step-mom and asked if she’d like to go, she was thrilled. She came up with the idea that the ‘guys’ can go hangout while us ladies (my step-mom, my future mother-in-law, and I) went and did this. Brilliant if you ask me. That way I don’t feel bad draggin’ Patton along and the guys can spend some quality time … plinking targets at the range.
Here’s the video for the event – it honestly doesn’t do it justice.
Sunday arrived – as did Daylight Savings (which I wasn’t so happy about) – so we all piled in the car and drove up to Tulsa for the Hello Lovely – Indie Bridal Fair. When we first got to the venue – I was overwhelmed. It was absolutely beautiful
The event took place at the Vive la Ranch “The Barn” up in Tulsa and it was BEAUTIFUL! It’s rustic and vintage and I wish we could get married there. There’s a small little cottage that the bridal party can use to get ready in, a pond, tons of pretty foliage, and more. If you have any more questions about booking your event there please email – Vive.le.Ranch@gmail.com Take a look! 
Once we got there (which was about an hour late) they had just started the bridal fashion show featuring the four styles of brides they were aiming towards: Bohemian, Rustic, Vintage, and Romantic… personally I’m more of a mix between the Rustic bride and Romantic bride. It was so packed in there during the fashion show but as soon as it was over, people dispersed into the various booth areas. Unfortunately, due to the crowd of people I didn’t have enough room to pull my camera out of my bag to snag a couple of pictures from the fashion show. The ladies were absolutely gorgeous. Some had beautiful paper flower bouquets made by The Crimson Poppy, one had a brooch bouquet, and the rest had fresh flowers.
There were several talented photographers there – BCREAVITVETULSA, Alpha Dei Photography, Blue Elephant Photography, and Edit Nouveau just to name a few. It almost felt weird being on the other end of the wedding photography business (being that I’m a wedding photographer). I mentioned that to a few of them and we joked about photographer stuff. I still don’t have a photographer booked for my wedding, /slaps hand, I know I should take care of it but I’m trying to come up with a concept to have everyone involved {secret plan will be unveiled in the next few months}. BCREATIVETULSA is having a contest/giveaway for a free wedding package until April 25th. Patton and I are going to take a pretty awesome picture and then we’ll need your help. Once we post it to their page, please go like it. The most likes by the end date gets a free wedding package. That would be nice.
This event had dozens of unique vendors – calligraphers/printers/graphic designers, food artists, bakers, crafters, musicians, and more. Every booth was delicately decorated in their own unique way – it was absolutely wonderful.
They strung paper airplanes on yarn from the ceiling (definitely going to borrow that idea for the reception), had beautiful paper wheels decorating the walls, used magazines to make ring garland for some displays and created wooden signs for all the vendors. Oh and as a bonus – I got that awesome “Hello Lovely BRIDE” button. Pretty sure I wore that the entire day, I’m a dork.
Every hour they hosted a raffle with various items donated by the vendors. One of the prizes that caught my eye were a set of bridal party hangers – you know the ones I’m talking about. They’re wooden hangers and the wire that goes across the bottom spells out “Bride, Bridesmaid, etc” Unfortunately, while we were there my numbers weren’t called but that was ok. Several happy bride-to-bes’ got wonderful prizes. I’m going to try to make some of those hangers. The display that stated everything that was being raffle’d off (and the times of the raffle) was made by using a door, and then writing on sample paint swatches. This would be a fairly cheep and inexpensive way to do several reception decorations… and the wheels in my mind are turning.
They had two or three different “sample” bars of deliciousness. Everything from your standard cakes to mini-cupcakes and even a frozen yogurt bar. I’d be worried that the yogurt would melt during an outdoors wedding/reception but apparently it holds up fairly well. And tasted delicious (I had the Brownie Batter flavor… yummmmy). Of course, EVERYONE kept these tables fairly busy because let’s face it – it’s free food. Free tasty food.
There were so many unique displays – it really incorporated the theme very well. Nothing seemed out-of-place, which was awesome. I came away with so many ideas and a fire inside of me to do as much DIY stuff as I can. Pat is a little worried – but the outcome will be glorious.
I’d like to give a special thank you to my step-mom and my future mother-in-law for joining me. I had a ton of fun with you ladies! Also, many thanks to the vendors, sponsors, and the 4 special ladies who coordinated Hello Lovely 2012! You guys made my day and gave me the best gift of all. Inspiration.
You’ve decided to do a D.I.Y. wedding, have you? Well that’s just awesome… /highfive. Luckily you live in the 21st century and there are MILLIONS of resources at your fingertips. I’m really grateful that I’m getting married during this era. I don’t know how people did it ‘back in the day.’ I’m fairly sure life was simpler, including weddings. It seems like now-a-days there is so much emphasis on “you must do this, buy this, get the fanciest dress, have an expensive photographer, etc” that it takes away from the true meaning of a wedding – which is when you and your love get married. My fiance and I aren’t rich, we don’t have 10k+ to spend on a wedding, so we make due with what we have… and what we have is good and enough.
For us – we knew that we’d get married eventually. I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen till next year, but low and behold, I have a ring on my finger and a date in the books! During the time we were just ‘talking’ about getting married I kept a few ideas in my head about what he liked, what I liked, etc… and that has helped me. Though, to be quite honest – actually being engaged rather than just “talking” about it is pretty daunting. Not in a bad way, just in a “Holy crap, we set a date and now I have a deadline to pull this off.” I have brief moments where I sit back and am a little stunned still. I’ve been around the “wedding world” for a few years now doing photography and helping a few friends plan their weddings, but for it being my wedding – it’s a whole other ballgame. Yikes! Do you / Did you have moments like this? (comments!)
Anyway, here’s a few things that I’ve found to be quite helpful in the early stages of ‘wedding-planning-bliss:’ (these are in no particular order, either)
1) THE INTERNET IS YOUR FRIEND! There are so many wonderful wedding blogs, diy blogs, sites like pinterest and wedding gawker are awesome and so very helpful for ideas, tips, advice, and more.
2) SUPERMARKET BRIDAL MAGAZINES ARE HELPFUL, BUT NOT NECESSARY. These are actually all borrowed from my best friend, Kate, who planned her wedding and executed it brilliantly last summer. They’re filled with gorgeous dresses (many of which are 2k+), helpful timeline charts, weightloss plans, etc. Good news is – you can do like this nifty diy lady and turn the pages of the magazine into decorations.
3) ORANGE JUICE! ORANGE JUICE! ORANGE JUICE! – Poof, a big bottle of O.J. appears in front of you… oh sorry – I must be channeling Beetlejuice. Sue Me. Back to the point, drinking orange juice is not only good for you – it’s tasty and can help keep you from getting sick. All hail Vitamin C! I think I go through a gallon at least once a week, I may be going a bit overboard… but it’s so delicious! Smoothies and vitamins are also good for you! Start taking care of your body (if you haven’t been doing that already) when you first get engaged. Waiting till the last minute to loose a few inches or grow your hair out, will inevitably bite you in the rear.
4) HAVE A HARD COPY! There are several “Wedding Organizer” books being sold in your local bookstores. Sometimes, you don’t have the internet to consult during your wedding planning adventure. You may write in it, because it’s yours. It’s full of charts, tables for organization, wedding statistics, advice, and wedding FAQs. It’s pretty nifty. My step-mum gave this to me as an engagement present. I have yet to finish the entire book from cover to cover, but I’m jumping around from section to section.
5) CALCULATORS MAKE MATH EASIER! You don’t have to be a math wiz to budget out your wedding, just have a calculator handy. They’re not expensive, they even come on your phones now-a-days. Your budget is your friend and having an idea of exactly how much you’ve spent already will really help you plan for what is to come.
6) BUY A WHITE BOARD OR CHALKBOARD, YOU’LL THANK ME LATER! It’s not in a book or pile of papers, because it’s up on your wall right in your face. You can put your ‘Days till Wedding” count down on it, list what all stuff you have left to accomplish, weekly goals, ideas, and more on these nifty boards. Not to mention, if you’re doing your own Save-The-Date pictures, you can use them as props.
7) KEEP ALL YOUR IDEAS/BUDGETS/WEDDING STUFF IN A NOTEBOOK! That’s my “Wonderful Wedding Planning Compendium” Basically, what it is is a nice notebook that I write all my wedding planning ideas in. It’s got the story of how we got engaged (his side of the story and mine), wedding registry places, wedding sites that I signed up for on the web (and their passwords), budgets, and addresses for friends and family. My goal is to use this book at the reception and have it out so people can write advice to us, well-wishes, etc. It’s not fancy, but it’ll be nice to have everything in one place. Now, in case you end up losing your book – make sure to have a digital copy of it as well. It just makes life easier and sometimes things happen out of your control.
8) Talk with your family and friends who have already gone through their weddings! They’ve been there. They’ve planned, stressed, and fretted over details. Everyone has a different take on ‘how to plan a wedding.’ Some ideas are really helpful, others you’ll just nod and say thank you even though it’s not your style. The older you get, the more “married” friends you’ll have, too. Don’t ever turn down help from them. They can have good ideas, but just make sure that they know – it’s your wedding and you have final say. Also, it’s generally a good idea if you have a ‘no drama’ rule. It’s stressful enough having to plan the blasted thing, you don’t need added stressors. Leave your drama, and their drama, at the door when they come in to help… then afterwards, go out and just hangout, relax, and then share that stuff. It will help you in the long run.
9) GIVE YOURSELF PLENTY OF TIME TO MAKE THINGS! I cannot stress this enough, doing a little bit at a time, over a long period of time will keep your stress low and won’t be as harmful to your wallet. Example) This month – my goal is to make all of the wedding flowers (bundles, boutonnieres, corsages, etc) and we’re going to gather all the address of people who we’re planning to invite, so we can then send out our DIY save the date announcements. I’m not going to do everything in one day, not even in one week, but over the course of this month WE WILL CONQUER ALL OF THESE THINGS.
10) BREATHE! Take time to breathe and relax. Yoga and meditation are pretty nifty – don’t knock it either because it’s really beneficial to your sanity… plus it will help you in the long run. If you start learning how to relax now, on your wedding day – when you may get a little worked up – you’ll know exactly what to do and everything will go smoothly. 
________________
The month of your engagement – if you’re having a wedding within the year – you’ll need to discuss a few things with your partner-in-wedding-crime. Make sure to ask what they like. Don’t put up with “I like what ever you like” more than twice. This is a fast route to “You can plan the entire wedding, I’m just going to show up on the important days.” My dad told me this very useful piece of advice “It takes two to get married, it takes two to start a life together, so it takes two to plan a wedding.” Plus, if you decide that you want puce for your main color and end up finding out (years down the line) that your now-husband HATED that color, you’ll feel bad.
Don’t be a bridezilla if you don’t get your way. Your relationship will work if you learn to make compromises – equally.
Sit down after a nice meal, (home-cooked meals work really well!) and just talk about what kind of things you want to accomplish for the wedding. And take notes! Talk about colors you both like (nifty “picking out color blog” that I’ve already written), what kind of venue you’re looking for, food, music, time of year you’d like to have your wedding (set a date?), and probably the most important of all - how big of a event you want it to make. Are you going to have a big gathering of friends and family, just family, or a few close friends and family? There’s a whole slew of ideas you can talk about. Have fun with it, joke about it, don’t make it a “business meeting” - instead, make it a game.
After you have an idea about what kind of venue you’d like, sit down and do research on it. Remember – the internet is your friend and venue owners WANT your business so they will take the time to talk with you and show you their estates. And, a little bit of haggling is acceptable… just don’t go overboard. Create a list of about 10 venue options if you’re unsure about where you and your partner REALLY want to have your wedding at. After you’ve made your list, set up appointments to visit with each venue and see what they have to offer. Nothing is in stone when you go meet the people who have the venue, so that is refreshing. Also remember this – if you don’t like it or it gives you a bad vibe… DON’T GO THERE. Some things can be changed if they’re “for aesthetics or part of the decor” but if a place gives you the heebee geebies – you’re just going to worry about it, and you don’t need that stress on top of everything else. Make sure that if ALL of your guests decide that they want to show up for your wedding, make sure that the venue will have enough room.
Just have fun with your hunny when you’re planning. It will go by fast (so I’m told), cherish it. It may will be hectic at time, but it will also be wonderful… and it all culminates into one wonderful day that will be the beginning of the rest of your lives, together.
I hope this helps and I’d love any feedback from you all. Sometimes I wonder if anyone is even reading my wedding-rambles.
You all are beautiful and awesome… don’t forget it. Just take a deep breath and dive head first. It will be a great experience and you’ll feel so proud about it when you’re done.
-steph
It’s weird. I haven’t been engaged for an entire week yet and I’m like a frakking squirrel with my ring. It will catch the light just right and I’ll be like “OOOOO shiny” and then proceed to stare at it for the next 5 minutes, being completely oblivious to what I was doing previously.
I don’t know if you’re like this, but I’m not used to wearing a ring on my finger most of the time – so it feels weird. Did that / Does that happen to you?
I have no doubt I’ll get used to it, but dang – it’s interesting how something like a ring can throw off the weight of your finger. Not to mention the fact that you have to be extra careful so you don’t scratch yourself – or anyone/anything else for that matter – with it. It’s insane!
Even though there is all that – I love it. I’m one of those people who DON’T like to draw attention to theirselves at all – but this week I’ve been like “See my ring, isn’t it pretty?!” I find myself tapping the back of the ring (to some random song playing in my head) on the shopping carts at the store. I don’t even notice it – then people start to stare at me like I’m ‘special’ and it gets all awkward. I’ll stop for a few isles and then continue all over again. Different song. Same scenario.
That’s not the reason why I’m writing this blog – well, somewhat but the bulk of the blog is for this – RING PICTURES!!!
You know how it goes – you ‘announce your engagement” on the internet and all of a sudden EVERYONE AND THEIR BROTHER are demanding pictures of your newly acquired “finger bling.” What better way to make everyone happy then take a few pictures that look total boss… It’s SUPER easy to do too!
Check it out – I’ve got manly hands, but they’re good for playing piano/guitar and articulating things very well.
Don’t leave the “fancy ring pictures” for just your wedding. Be proud.
Know that it doesn’t take a professional photographer to get shots like this, I mean don’t get me wrong (being a professional photographer for reals) I love taking these sorts of shots at clients weddings… but still.
All you need is a point-and-shoot camera (with a macro function), some good light coming in from a window, something to set the ring on, and your ring. Then just have fun with it. Your family and friends will love to see pretty pictures of your ring after you take the pictures – and as a bonus they make great desktop backgrounds for your computer. Then you can totally boast about it at work – your coworker comes up “Wow, that picture is amazing…etc” and you can totally be like “Yeah, I took that! And it’s my ring.” Conversation starter right there!
Start simple – you don’t need lavish things to prop your ring on – the flower above is actually a hair clip-thing that I bought from target for a date night a few months ago. Play around with different things: flowers, books, kitchen utensils, dolls, computer equipment, etc. It’s truly up to you and once you’ve got the pictures you like – show them off.
If you have any questions – don’t hesitate to leave a comment if you need any more help/suggestions/etc. It’s what I do.
Enjoi!
I found them. The perfect wedding shoes. And they’re awesome.
… drumroll please …
That’s right everyone – I’m choosing comfort over high-dollar fancy-shmancy, make your feet hurt from wearing them more than an hour shoes. And – as a bonus – they’re in our wedding colors… well most of the colors anyways.
I do know that my parents are probably going to scoff and be like “those aren’t appropriate.” BUT WHO CARES. Your wedding is supposed to reflect your personalities, and well – I’m a tomboy most of the time (and am either wearing chucks or flats … if I can’t be barefoot). Not to mention the amount of time you – the bride – are going to be on your feet for the rehearsal and wedding day itself. … sorry, I’m starting to ramble again. I do this. You’ll notice this about my posts, so I’m apologizing now.
Converse.com has this great option to ‘create your own converse.’ You can choose from hi-tops, to these, to even leather chucks. It’s awesome.
I shot a wedding a few years ago and the daughter of the bride actually did this kind of thing for the bride as a wedding gift… (see image below)
Plus I’m one for discrete awesomeness… it’s not like I’m going to be wearing a tea-length wedding dress… even though I thing pulling that combo would be pretty awesome too. In all reality, I’m shooting for an A-line dress with a corseted top and a reasonably long skirt/train combo thing. I think the thing I love most about these shoes is that the ones I created have the wedding date on the heel stripe.
ROCK YOUR OWN STYLE, LADIES. It’s your day to shine.
Learn this now: Wedding colors are a big thing in the whole world of “planning your wedding.” I was one of those people who really didn’t think too much of it until I sat down and began planning this thing. And also, your fiancee/husband-to-be will probably have very little care as to what they are. Figure them out fast because everything that you get/buy/make will reflect those colors.
It was like pulling teeth to figure out what kind of colors Katsai liked and or wanted for the wedding but we finally picked them. He told me he liked purple and hunter green… well I can totally work with that! Both look awesome on me too, which is another bonus.
Drum roll please?!?
Dun dah dah daaaaaaaaaah! I’m pretty stoked.
Here’s the Hex Codes for each of them (in order): #510364 #476403 #645103 #EBFDC2 #70C02B – I dabble in graphic design too (as well as photography) so I think in code when it comes to color. Knowing the hex/RGB/CMYK codes for your color will also help you out when you start printing invitations/stationary/etc.
I realize that green and purple aren’t ‘original’ when it comes to wedding colors – I’ve been looking around on weddinggawker.com and some other fantastic wedding help sites and they show up fairly regularly. But hey, it’s a fall wedding so I think it works.
“But how’d you figure out those colors and how do you know that they’ll go fairly well together?”
I went to ColorSpire and started with the main color that we’d like to use – which was purple. I then figured out what “kind” of purple that I wanted… cause let me tell you – there are millions of different colors that each color has. If that makes any sense at all. I didn’t want a neon purple, a pastel purple, or a plain purple… but I did want a darker ‘royal’ purple. After I figured that one out – they have this nifty little color wheel that shows you all the complimentary colors and colors in the same shade family – I looked at the darker green and that was exactly the kind that I wanted. Same with the brown. Now the cream color I wanted something brighter to help balance the three darker colors (same thing with the light green). That was a matching game, I tweaked it a little bit to see what looked right and then got the final approval from Katsai and our colors were set.
You don’t need to be a genius at color theory, just know what you and your fiancee like and go from there. Start with two colors and then build from there. Go as complex or keep it as simple as you’d like – because remember – IT’S YOUR WEDDING.
Also, I’d love to hear what kind of colors you guys have picked out for your weddings. It’s always good to see what everyone else is doing differently – especially if you’re doing purple and green in a different hue. 
One of my greatest pet-peeves is when I find out something important from close family over FACEBOOK or some other kind of social media.
I think I’ve spent the last couple of days trying to get as many phone numbers, skype addresses, and emails as I can to tell everyone that I consider to be family that “Hey, Katsai and I just got engaged.” I’ve got several close friends, surrogate siblings, and parents of friends that I consider to be quasi-parents as well… all of them got a phone call, skype video chat, google meet-ups, etc to share the good news. And that wasn’t a small list either, on top of having a huge biological family there’s several dozen people who I consider to be part of my family as well. It took a few days, but it was worth it.
Sure, sending one big status update or changing your relationship status is super easy to do – but it’s about respect. It doesn’t take all that long to call someone and share the good news. Also, ESPECIALLY if they’re not technically ‘related by blood’ they will absolutely LOVE the fact that you took time out of your day to call them and tell them. I know that’s at least happened to me with 100% of the personal calls I’ve made. Even if you can only get in touch with them over facebook – just send them a message before everyone else finds out. Have your fiancee do the same and with both of you working on letting everyone know, it will be done in half the time.
The internet is great, it allows for communication over thousands of miles with only the push of a button and now with webcams getting better – being ‘face-to-face’ helps a lot. I have a ton of family that lives on the eastern seaboard and that’s over a thousand miles away from me. I don’t get to visit as often as I’d like but with all this technology, I feel closer. I love it.
Just take the time and make them feel important. It doesn’t take long and it’s pretty darn classy. Plus, I can pretty much tell you that with all those people you told – their day gets a little bit brighter. Spread some joy and happiness around, it doesn’t cost very much but it goes a long way.
‘The more you know…”
You know, that token JLP phrase uttered so many times at the helm of the USS Enterprise – spoken with such force and feeling that you knew that what adventures that lay ahead were going to be completely awesome. And they were. /adjusts thick black-rimmed glasses and does this kind of laugh-snort thing.
Too nerdy? Alright – we weren’t talking about Star Trek anyways.
Let’s just say that how this all started was not your typical engagement scenario.
It was a Monday. The last Monday of January, which was the 30th – to be exact, and I had a root canal. Root canals aren’t pleasant and mine really wasn’t either – seriously 4 hours in the chair with my mouth held open while the doctor was playing with his dental version of a dremel on one of my molars. So much fun I tell you. My Dad drove me home, since I was pretty much numb still from the lovely injections. Nobody was home so I decided to crawl in bed with my dog-children (Bently and Vala) and just chill because let’s face it – I was pretty exhausted and a touch out of it. Katsai came home and we went back out to get the prescriptions that I had previously dropped off, picked those up, and by that time – the numbing agent that the dentist used to numb up my mouth had pretty much worn off by then. Good thing we just picked up the meds. I came home, took the medicine and went to lay down. Katsai decided that he was going to make me some soup – tomato soup in fact.
He brought it in the room and there I was sitting on the laptop typing away to some friends. “Oh I forgot to get something, I’ll be right back.” he said. Little did I know that whole ‘right back’ was going to be 25 minutes later, I’m still typing away – telling everyone about how ‘awesome’ having a root canal is – with intermittent breaks to drink some delicious tomato soup. He came back in and sat next to me on the bed. “Your birthday present came in!” he informed me. Next thing I know he tosses me a small box, I shake it – because thats what I do, I still have moments when I’m a 5-year-old. It rattled slightly and then I opened it up and inside was a gorgeous ring. My eyes got big – I can only imagine that I was pretty close to “big anime eyes” at this point. I was speechless for a bit – then caught my breath.
“Is this a birthday present or a birthday present plus?” I asked – with a bit of a lisp, because part of my face was in fact – still numb.
“Well, it’s a birthday present plus. I was hoping to give it to you on Friday (my birthday, but you probably got that already)- but the postman decided that he was going to take his sweet time in getting it here so – HAPPY ROOT CANAL DAY!” He chuckled.
At this point I’m about to bawl my eyes out, but I’m a tough ole’ bird – so I didn’t. Then he put his serious face on and all the while in my head I’m saying “please don’t let this be a hallucination. Holy shit (in a good way) Oh gosh, it’s not. Don’t cry. This is awesome. Crap, I have a lisp. Oh well.”
Then he asked me to marry him.
And without any hesitation I said “Yeshhh. Yeshhh. Yeshhh.”
So the rest is history – or it’s at least history in the making. I found out later that the whole “I forgot something, I’ll be right back” thing where he took so long was when he asked my father for my hand in marriage. YES PEOPLE STILL DO IT! I was so happy that he did too. I mean, everyone was expecting that we’d be getting engaged/married sooner or later. My thought was that it wasn’t going to happen till next year – but hey, it’s really hard to surprise me – and he definitely did that.
That night we called/skyped (I love the power of the interwebs) all of our parents and as much of our immediate family as we could. My father joked that it took me being “dopped up” for Katsai to ask me. I’m fairly sure that joke will stick with him for the rest of our lives. Woo Hoo.
That’s how we got engaged. It wasn’t your typical ‘rom. com.’ proposal but it was us and I have no doubt that it’s unique. Every time we tell people, they laugh – and you know… I like it that way. Also, after giving it some thought, it’s really sweet. Katsai asked me on a day when I was certainly not my best and turned it into one of the happiest days of my life – thus far. When you think about it, having it happen on the “perfect time/moment” happens all the time. How many couples actually get engaged during real life moments? Just food for thought.
