How He Proposed

If you haven’t heard yet, Andrew and I got engaged last week! First of all, I want to say thank you to every single person that has reached out to both of us during this incredibly exciting and special time. Your blessings and kind words mean the world to us and have made the engagement that much sweeter. Second of all, thank you to all of you who have been so patiently waiting for this post and for me to get back into the swing of things. Ever since the proposal, I have spent all of my time with my nose in a wedding magazine, staring at my new ring, and making exciting phone calls and plans. Having this time to simply enjoy being engaged has been so necessary and fun but don’t worry – I am ready to get back into work and fully into wedding planning. If you want to hear more about our relationship pre-engagement, head over to this post about everything I’ve learned from our 7 and a half years together. Andrew and I have spoken about getting married for years now but it just finally started to feel right this year, financially and otherwise.

First of all, anyone who knows me is well-aware of the fact that I have been wedding obsessed since I was a little girl. I even went to college and majored in Event Planning simply because weddings became such a passion of mine. Pinterest has been an app on my phone since the year that is was created and my wedding has been fully planned since I was about 10 years old – yes, seriously.

Backstory

Before I get into the actual proposal, let me give you a bit of a backstory on everything you need to know about the day. A couple of days before the proposal, Andrew came home from work and told me he had exciting news. He explained that there was a charity event to be held at the Estancia La Jolla on Friday and we were invited! This was totally believable because he went to this same event last year with coworkers but this year, he told me he got a plus one – yay! I immediately planned my outfit in my head (a white off the shoulder dress with bell sleeves – could it be more perfect?!) and got excited for a fancy night out! Estancia La Jolla is one of our favorite places in San Diego. We stayed there when we came on a vacation to California, two years before we moved here, and fell in love. I honestly think that was exactly where we decided to make the move to San Diego! Such a special spot for us.

The actual date that he proposed on, May 5, has so much meaning to me and was one of my favorite parts of the entire proposal. No, he didn’t propose on Cinco de Mayo because I love tacos so much – although that is what my sister initially thought! So funny. He proposed on this date because it is the same date that I received my First Holy Communion and the same date that my beloved Nonna (Italian for “grandmother”) received hers, which is a monumental day in Italian culture. Since she passed away when I was so young, this has always been a reminder that she and I have a special connection even though she isn’t here physically. It was so important to Andrew to propose on this date because he knows that I would have loved for my maternal grandparents to be there.

May 5, 2017

On the day of the actual proposal, I was totally clueless and just having the best day at home. Andrew wasn’t able to come home for lunch because “he was in Orange County for work” so I had the whole day to get work done for the blog and get ready for the “charity event” that night. Looking back, I would have set aside much more time to get ready – one of the first words out of my mouth after he proposed were “I knew I should have washed my hair!” – but that’s just about the only thing I would have changed about the day. An hour before the “event,” when it finally came time to get ready, I did my makeup and struggled to put my hair in a messy pony (it was just one of those hair days) and then had to leave. I took an Uber to the hotel because Andrew was meeting me there since he was “in Orange County.” I gave him a five minute warning when I was about to arrive, which I am sure he appreciated, and then I was there! He came to get me from the valet and took me to the back of the garden, where there is a small suite. On the walk over, I talked his ear off and told him all about my day, the exciting makeup package, and other things he definitely wasn’t fully listening to. I was totally unsuspecting and clueless!

As soon as we walked into the suite, I spotted a single candle on the floor and started saying “oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.” Before I could totally get my thoughts together and catch my breath, a violinist started to play “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Cue the tears! He grabbed me by the hand and guided me down an aisle lined with hydrangea and candles, the most romantic scene I’ve ever seen. At the end of the aisle, there was a small table and a single chair – set up with a laptop. He told me that he just wanted me to see one thing before he continued – I obliged, even though I was literally trembling.

Andrew pressed play and a video of him asking my parents, who live in Florida, for their permission to marry me began. Cue the ugly tears! He sent them a DVD in the mail of him having a heart-to-heart with them, telling them what an amazing job they did raising me and why he wants to spend the rest of his life as my husband. He went on to say that he wanted to ask them in person but since he couldn’t, he wanted them to be able to do the same things he’d always pictured. For my dad, he sent a box of fresh golf balls because he planned to ask him during one of their many rounds of golf together. For my mom, he sent a gift card to Starbucks because he planned to ask her over a cup of tea, one of her favorite things. The fact that he went through all of this trouble made me even more excited to be engaged to this man and meant more to me than he will ever know.

After the video finished playing, he grabbed my hand again and got down on one knee. Andrew was choked up but didn’t let a tear fall before he told me how much he loved me and how long he’s been waiting to do this. Before I knew it, he opened the ring box and the words I’ve been waiting to hear spilled out of his mouth, “Lauren Jaclyn, will you marry me?” I waited a minute to wipe my tears and catch my breath and then said “Of course!” to avoid what I really wanted to say, which was “DUH!” We kissed and hugged and I couldn’t stop saying “is this real life!?” Andrew kept assuring me that it was – even though it still doesn’t feel like it! Just like that, a waiter came out and poured two glasses of champagne for us and the biggest surprise hadn’t even happened yet.  Andrew told me that we had dinner planned and then we could call our family. He assured me that our parents would be awake when we called because he warned them what time it would be on the east coast by the time the proposal was over. I agreed but I think the only reason was that I was distracted by my new piece of jewelry, which I was finally able to catch a glimpse at. Two seconds later I changed my mind and said “I can’t wait any longer! I want to call our families!” The first people I called were my parents – an unanswered FaceTime call to my mom made me so nervous that I wasn’t going to be able to speak to them tonight. Andrew encouraged me to call again because he knew they would be awake. Just as soon as the second call went unanswered, I saw both of my parents walk around the corner (they were ugly crying, too!) and I let out the biggest gasp ever. This proposal was already magical and perfect, especially because of who I get to marry, but the fact that my parents were able to fly all the way across the country to be there made it a million times more special. Andrew inviting them to come share the day with us is incredibly special and I’ll never forget the moment as long as I live. Once I was able to pull it together, we called my in-laws, siblings, cousins, and friends – all of which were over the moon and shocked. Sharing the news with everyone who was so happy for us was equally as exciting as getting engaged – there is nothing better than telling good news to those who love you.

To make the weekend even more special, Andrew told me that we were going to spend the next 3 nights staying at Estancia La Jolla, with my parents right across the hall. We quickly went home and grabbed some clothes (a lot of white pieces got packed, duh) and hurried back to the hotel to continue our engagement weekend. When we arrived back to our room, it was covered in fresh rose petals and complete with champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. It literally just kept getting better and better. And the best part is, it only gets better from here. I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life with Andrew – he is my best friend and true love. 

Photography by Alex Wegner.

Website: alexanderwegner.photography

Instagram: @adoubleyouimaging

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