the story of our wedding // part 1 {the engagement}

our story began 1 year, 8 months, and 1 day ago with life changing french toast.{you can read about the beginning of our story here} i spent the spent the next 1 year, 6 months and 2 days writing that story with my boyfriend. and then 2 months and 2 days ago, on the gorgeous island of sint eustatius our story turned another page; my boyfriend became my fiancé. and i became the happiest girl in the world. our story continues here. part 1 – the engagement.

it was the final day of what had been an incredible vacation; a week in the Caribbean with [b] and my family just relaxing and enjoying our time together. it had been wonderful.  had i wondered if perhaps this would be the trip that [b] would pop the question? of course. relaxing vacay; beautiful views; my family was there – i mean jackpot right? but i decided to not think about it. i didn’t want to be hanging on every moment wondering – is this it? but of course, i still wondered maybe… until that morning, swinging in the hammock with he when he said…”so cliche to get engaged in paradise, right?” ((background: my cousin and his wife got engaged in statia years ago and we were chatting about it with my aunt and uncle the night before)) i sarcastically responded, “sure…” and thought to myself, well… not this trip.

my mom, dad, brothers and uncle had gone out snorkeling, my aunt was working at the shop and [b] and i had stayed back. he was camped out inside (he’s not a fan of sun) and  i had set up shop with an ocean view, sunshine, my kindle and a diet coke. it was overcast and [b] came out to chat for a little bit, until that pesky sun came out again. i went back to reading and was in the midst of taking a selfie to snap to my dear tashy, continuing to rub it in that i was on vacay, when he came back out and sat next to me.

we started talking about what a great trip it had been when it started to sprinkle, so we started talking about pina coladas and getting caught in the rain – yes the jimmy Buffett Rupert Holmes song. and [b] was educating me on the fact that the song was actually about a husband and wife that were trying to cheat on each other, but they ended up together so it was cool. romantic, right? then he took my phone to take a picture of us, yes a selfie, which was nothing out of the ordinary. he took a couple pictures and then he shifted (to get down on one knee) and something sparkly caught my eye. and then i heard, “i’m not so good at speeches, will you marry me?” i said yes, immediately and then proceeded to stare at the ring, with no more words, other than repeating yes. was real life? truth be told i have no idea of anything he said after he asked, i was in my own world of happiness realizing that i was going to get to marry my best friend, my rock, my person, and i was going to get to spend the rest of my life continuing to fall for him every day. as my dear friend would say, it was everything i never knew i always wanted. 

we got to spend the next little while just the two of us, enjoying the moment, letting it all sink in and realizing that [b] had photographed him asking; so on top of a wonderful moment, we have pictures to remember it even more. we emailed a picture to [b]’s momma and waited until the family got back from snorkeling to tell them. i had these grand ideas about fun ways to tell them, but i pretty much just shoved my hand in their face and said GUESS WHAT!? thankfully [b] was able to capture those moments. that night watching the sunset, toasting with prosecco, i was full of pure joy and happiness. i could not have imagined a more way to start this next chapter of our lives. i simply couldn’t be happier.

but first, let me take a selfie.

oh.my.gosh. YES.

we’re getting married!

simply couldn’t be happier

carter’s reaction was priceless

toasting to [b] and i – bling front and center, of course

i cant wait to share this story with you as we venture towards our happily ever after. stay tuned for part 2 of our wedding story: {a girl and her bling}. whats your story? i would love to hear it :)