Welcome Back-I'm Engaged!
Welcome back to B in Bloom! It has been a year and a half since I have said hello and a lot of exciting and new things have happened. First and foremost, I am engaged! To the most amazing, loving, and handsome fiance!
After 4 years of long distance, prayer, and adventures we are getting married! I couldn’t be more excited, this feels like a dream come true and I can’t believe I get to marry the man of my dreams in less than a year.
The Ring
I believe it was right before we celebrated our one-year anniversary Anthony started asking me what type of rings I was interested in (yes we both knew back then, and actually way before that, that we were going to spend forever with each other). I vividly remember the first time he brought it up, we were sitting at Cold Beers and Cheeseburgers in Scottsdale, AZ, and I started describing the perfect engagement ring. I began sketching it onto a napkin; halo setting, diamond band, oval shape with an aquamarine (my birthstone) center stone. It was very unique, and I had never seen anything like it in real life, but every time I closed my eyes I could visualize it. Anthony, being the most amazing and caring man he is, knew he wanted to make sure I got exactly what I wanted. Instead of taking it upon himself to choose a ring all on his own, he wanted me involved in the process. This meant the world to me, as we were going to go through this process together. I wanted the design of the ring to be elegant and timeless with an oval shape and halo setting. I also wanted it to be unique to me and allow it to speak to my own style; which makes the aquamarine stone perfect for a one of a kind piece. After visiting different jewelry stores in Arizona and California, we didn’t see anything that was close to what I had envisioned. It was then we decided to design a custom ring together. We went to a local family owned jeweler in Arizona, and they made my dreams come true. After a few appointments, we chose the stone, setting, and size. I knew it was going to be exactly what I wanted, but I didn’t see it set and assembled until he proposed.
The Proposal
Anthony proposed on Friday March 22nd in Huntington Beach, in front of my home. I was completely in shock, and even though I knew the engagement was coming (we had designed a ring together!) I had no idea when, where, or how he was going to do it! We had finished designing the ring around Thanksgiving time of last year, and I knew a holiday proposal was not in the plan. I had a feeling that he may be planning something for the beginning of this year. But when Valentine’s Day came and went, I started wondering...was he going to do it around my birthday (March 20th)? Or our anniversary in April? I really didn’t know when it was going to happen, but I had faith that he was going to make the moment special.
Two days after my 25th birthday, I picked Anthony up from the airport. Instead of going straight to dinner (our go to place in California is Stacked when he lands in Orange County) he had asked if we could go home first, which was not our usual routine, but I didn’t think twice about it. Little did I know that the ring box was carefully tucked into his carry-on in the back of my car. We came into the house and he said he had “forgotten” his bag in the car…..after 10 minutes of waiting for him to get his bag (I wasn’t even suspicious at this point), he came into the house and said he was having trouble locking my car. Now this I thought was strange so I quickly went outside and walked towards my car when he pulled my hand back and looked at me with love in his eyes and I knew in that moment there was nothing wrong with my car, he was about to propose! I wish I could tell you what he said but honestly my mind went to mush and I just couldn’t stop saying “Yes!” It wasn’t until I saw my sister (and maid of honor!) Alicia hiding in a bush that this was really happening and I wasn’t dreaming.
That weekend we spent the next few days celebrating my birthday and our engagement with my family and took time to tell our close family and friends the news before sharing it with everyone a few days later. It was the best decision to keep it to ourselves for a few days before posting it to the world, we felt like we were living in a magical bubble on cloud 9 with a secret only we knew. That is the best piece of advice I have to give to anyone who is about to be engaged! Take the moment to cherish it with your new fiancé before you are answering hundreds of messages on social media, and allow yourself to smell the roses before all of the planning and decision making starts to happen.
The Planning
We have been planning over the last 6 months since we got engaged. So far we have the venue, photographer, florist, and music. I have been spending my weekends flipping through wedding magazines (The Knot, Together Journal, Hello May are a few of my favs!) and scrolling through all of the wedding blogs (Green Wedding Shoes, June Bug Wedding, and The Wedding Wire are my top 3). I plan on taking you with me on this process while I do some more planning over the next 10 months until we say “I DO!”
xoxo~B