Wedding Wednesday - The Proposal

Sorry I have been kind of MIA for a week. I was in California!! Yay, my trip was so lovely, I'll be sure to blog about it soon, but for now, it's Wedding Wednesday, and this week is all about the proposal

1. how it all began: how you met, first date, first kiss, how long did you date? first picture together.....etc.
2. when you knew he was the one: self explanatory.. but how and when did you know?
3. proposal: how it happened, how long were you engaged for? was it a total surprise?  pictures of that... etc.
4. the ring:  tell us about it! did you pick it out? did he? pictures! tell us about his ring too!
5. engagement/bridal pictures: let's see em!
6. the colors: show some of the flower and colors you used
7. the dress: was it what you always imagined? did you have it made for you? white or ivory?
8. the little accessories: you know, veil? shoes? jewelry? what did your bridesmaids wear?
9. the reception: where was it at? show us some pictures! what day did you get married?
10. the cake/food: i love food. so tell me about what you had at your wedding!
11. your song and/or the first song you danced to at your wedding: share a music video or lyrics if you can!
12. favorite part of the day and least favorite part of the day: can be anything.
13. honeymoon: where did you go? was it good?  ;) haha...jk.
14. thoughts on marriage: what is the easiest/hardest part? if you could change anything, what would it be?
15. first place that you lived together: pics if you have them!
16. kids: do you have any yet? if not, when do you plan on it? how many do you want? any tips on good/bad birth control?
17. most recent picture of you and your significant other and what you love most about them :) and any other thoughts.

After much searching I finally found the video that was taken of when we got engaged. My friend thought she was taking pictures, but she was actually taking video, so they aren't the best quality, but they're still treasured to me.

So here is the story of my proposal. It's nothing exciting or outrageous, but it's sweet and it's mine. Hal's grandmother had just died and he was leaving for San Fransisco on Saturday morning. I told him he better propose to me before leaving me for a week. And he did. I got engaged on a Friday. My friend, Monica and I were helping, oddly enough, to set up a wedding. A couple was getting married, my sister and I set them up, it was her husband's cousin, and my neighbor who were getting married and my friend Monica was their wedding planner. I took that day off of work, and helped set up for the wedding. We went to get a snow cone in our runnings around, and I remember telling her that I thought Hal was going to propose to me that night, but I had no idea when he was going to do it. Funnily enough, right after that Monica got the call, to be there tonight or miss out because Hal was going to propose. I then went and bought a new dress, because I wanted to have a pretty dress, just in case he did propose.

That night I had planned a big dinner with all of my close friends. I love planning big fancy dinners with my friends, so I was really excited about this. This is why I was so confused, because I didn't know when he was going to do it, since we had the reception to go to, and then the dinner. When he met me at the reception he was going crazy. That is the most nervous I have ever seen Hal, ever, even to this day.

After the reception we went to dinner with all of our friends. I literally didn't suspect a thing. I was bummed that two of our friends had ditched out, and even more bummed later when I found out that they new I was getting engaged and still didn't come. How lame is that? Ok, back to the awesomeness of the story. We were all just chatting and playing with my friend's baby and ordered our food. Looking back on this, I can't believe I didn't suspect anything. This picture was taken literally seconds before he proposed.

Well, they brought out everyone's food except for mine. She apologized for it not being ready, but I didn't care, so I sat there patiently waiting. I really can't believe I didn't see it coming, or see it on anyone's face as the waitress brought out a giant calla lily (my favorite flower) with red and white poka dotted ribbon (which I was using as my wedding colors) tied around it, and at the very top, tied in a bow was my ring.

I'm pretty sure that my eyes were probably about to bug out of my face at this point. I was not suspecting a thing! Then Hal got down on one knee, and I literally don't remember a word that he said except for "Will You Marry Me?" Apparently it was so loud in there that he didn't even hear my response, he just saw me shaking my head. He was still shaking so bad, he couldn't untie the ribbon to get the ring off, so I had to untie it, and then give him to put on my finger. After that I had so many butterflies in my tummy that I couldn't eat any of my dinner.

So Backstory that I found out after the engagement: Hal had driven down to my friend's in law's house and left the ring in the care of my good friend who was supposed to bring it to the restaurant and talk to the waitress. Her and another good friend worked together to find the perfect ribbon and get everything ready. It's so nice that we had so many people who love us and wanted to help us start our life together.

Ok, here are the videos of that night. I don't think there is any sound on them, but they're still cute.