We're Engaged! The Full Story! - Wear Bows and Smile

~ Everytime I think about this day, I’m brought to tears. It was without a doubt the most special day of my life so far, which makes it so hard to put into words! But, if there’s anything I’m good at, it’s giving too many details when I tell a story (LOL), so here it is…the full story of our engagement, no details (*or exclamation marks) spared!

The RING Part

First off, the ring is a big part of the story! Matt and I had designed my ring together over 2 months before we got engaged. My Aunt Gail left me the most beautiful and generous gift: a round brooch filled with diamonds that had a diamond bow on it. Truly, I had never seen such sparkly diamonds in my life! I knew I wanted to somehow incorporate these special small diamonds into my ring. I know in my heart that she is up there in heaven blessing us and cheering us on. The ring truly deserves its own post – the story is so special! The long of the short: I was correct in thinking these diamonds were something special…top in color and clarity, giving them their unmatched SPARKLE! Dan and Alex from the Diamond Cellar sat down with us for 2.5 hours and so patiently helped us design the ring. It went from me trying on different shapes and saying “I’d be happy with ANY of these!” to the ring you see on my finger today! (*I truly had no clue what I wanted) The diamond bow that is under the basket is so special. When Dan sketched it, I cried! I had never even THOUGHT to do that or knew it was possible. He truly captured me and us in a ring SO perfectly. No words!

In any case…I felt like this was important to mention because, yes, I knew that it was coming, but really it didn’t take away from anything! I had never tried the ring…my ring…on in person to even know the scale or sparkle of it.

The Week Before

~ The week before we got engaged, I was ON THE GO with my dear friend Patricia for a travel partnership with Visit Amelia Island. I was pretty much convinced it wasn’t going to happen Memorial Day Weekend. I even joked with Patricia, “What if this is my last girls trip before I’m a FIANCE…Nah, probably not!” Little did I know that EXACT DAY, Matt was picking up the finished ring!

My nails were terrible by the end of our FL trip and I almost didn’t even get them done. If we had not gotten to the airport early (*a first for both of us), I wouldn’t have had time to get them done at the airport spa there. I really did NOT think it was happening.

When I got back to Columbus, I had less than 24 hours to turn everything around to head back to my parents for Memorial Day Weekend. The plan was to stop at my parents for some pool time, and then head to Annapolis on Sunday for the day to take newborn photos for my friend Alison. Important context…I have 3 best friends/sisters that I talk to every single day: Alison, Lauren, and Sarah. They all still live in MD, where I went to college and we try to get together with them whenever we are back East. This trip was different…before the baby was even born, I had planned to do newborn photos on this weekend.

While I was unpacking and re-packing Thursday night in Columbus for our trip back East, I asked Matt if he wanted me to text Alex (*President of the Diamond Cellar who helped us with the ring) to see what the hold up was. I was thinking I didn’t kick the CAD back and forth…we approved it right away…they said 6 weeks max…WHAT THE HECK IS TAKING SO LONG. Then Matt asked, “How long has it been since we designed your ring?” I was infuriated. How could he not even remember?! This was important?! I said, “I don’t know! Check your camera roll on your phone. It’s been more than 6 weeks…” To which he answered “WOW! Yeah, it’s been over 8 weeks! I’ll shoot Dan a text on Tuesday and then if we don’t hear anything, you can text Alex.” Guys…this man deserves an Oscar nom for this stellar performance. I was FOOLED.

The next day, Matt said “if you’re going to be taking family photos of your friends, why don’t we get a photo too!” I thought that was super weird, but I still didn’t think anything was up. Matt loves being in front of the camera (*but hates taking blog photos!)

THEN, the weather took a turn for the worst. It dropped down into the 50’s. Alison had said she wanted family photos on a dock before brunch. This just didn’t sound like a good idea! I suggested doing the nursery photos first while everyone was warm and happy before brunch. Alison responded saying that her mother-in-law was coming over in the morning to see the baby and that wouldn’t work. She then suggested I stay overnight so we didn’t have to drive back. In my head I was thinking, “Al…why would we sleep in your basement when you have a newborn right now?!” I responded telling her that we really wanted to get in SOME of the ONLY sun that weekend by my parents pool on Monday and were happy to drive back Sunday night.

Alison texted me a few hours later saying that she and her husband, Pat, had a room credit at the Chesapeake Beach Club from a wedding that got cancelled due to COVID and offered it to us to stay. This seemed SUPER fishy to me. This was just out of the ordinary for Al…a planner…someone who would LOVE a staycation at the Chesapeake Beach Club. I would feel so guilty taking this room credit! She said it was the least they could do for having me take newborn pics for them (*Alison also is currently being nominated for an Oscar). In my head I thought…ok…we can take the newborn photos in the sun the next day and then drive back to OH, so this makes sense. I had gotten a new lens for this shoot! I pulled inspo! I was READY!

I said to Matt, “I would feel so guilty taking this room credit!” and he said, “Rhi, they have a newborn! I bet they won’t be going anywhere for awhile.” TRUE! I couldn’t argue with that. My next immediate thought was, “I wonder if Lauren and Dan are free now that we are staying the night?!” knowing that Sarah was gone that weekend. Literally 5 minutes later, Alison texted me saying “Now that you are staying the night, let’s see if Lauren and Dan are free for brunch too!” Their SCHEME was in motion 🙂

The Night Before

~ The night before, my parents asked me where I wanted to go out to dinner, and for me, the answer is always the Berkshire Country Club! The staff there really welcomes me back like family – and I love to see them whenever I am home. It’s across the street from my parents, so we spend a good amount of time there. We got drinks at the bar before having dinner and Matt asked if we could get photos outside. This also felt fishy to me…it was freezing and rainy! I also wasn’t particularly dressed up in my white pants and the only sweater that I had packed (*WHY did I not pack anything warm?!). I asked if we could just get photos inside after drinks.

My mom took a photo of Matt and I and started crying (*she says she wasn’t, but I saw what I saw!). I thought “Maybe it IS happening this weekend!” but still couldn’t ration with the ring not being done. Matt was so convincing about that.

When we stay at my parents, we stay in the guest cottage (aka “the carriage house”). It’s so nice to have a place of our own, especially when I’m working back east. On Saturday night, Matt was over at my parents and came back to the carriage house with 3 cigars from my dad…which also kind of tipped me off that maybe it was happening soon.

Want to know the crazy part about all of the above?! MY PARENTS DIDN’T KNOW HE WAS PROPOSING THE NEXT DAY. Matt’s explanation to me and my mom for this: “Loose lips sink ships.” LOL

Matt shared with me much later that he facetimed them both the Wednesday prior to ask for their support (*which I think explains my mom’s tears). The cigars were from a golf tournament and my dad didn’t want them! My parents had no clue they were potentially giving something away!

The Day Of

~ Alison had given me a spot for brunch on Kent island (across the bridge from Annapolis) and we agreed there would be less people there for family photos on the dock. That morning, Matt was really stressing about his outfit. I had offered to take family photos for Lauren and Dan, too, since they would be coming to brunch! Matt said “if all your friends are getting dressed up and taking photos, we might as well grab one too.” I knew this was going to be a somewhat dressy brunch, but had initially just planned to re-wear my sweater from the night before…until I spilled on it (*unsurprising for me). I felt like the next warmest thing that was dressy was my new comfy cotton Lilly midi dress with a denim jacket. I have ALWAYS wanted this life moment to happen in Lilly and it was FATE that it did!

We had all planned to meet at 1, but as we got closer, I got a text from both Alison and Lauren saying they were running late and telling me to go find a good spot for photos. I think I said something to the effect of “I hope you bundled your babies…it’s freezing!” obviously still confused as to why this was happening in the cold!

Matt was texting and driving…which he NEVER does…and I called him out for it! He said “sorry, the cryptocurrency market is going crazy right now,” LOL…it was believable!

We pulled up to a spot that looked like it might be good for photos and Matt suggested getting a drink first while we waited for everyone, which sounded good to me. This is when things started to feel super weird to me…Matt grabs his BLAZER from the back seat, and I was like “Why are you getting so dressed up?!” And THEN he asked me to fold his pocket square the way I do it for men’s shoots (*which he usually never lets me do and doesn’t like!). I felt like something was up.

He was like “let’s check out this spot over here,” and then he walked me out onto a dock. Then he said, ” I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that your friends aren’t coming”….I was so sad and confused and just thought for a second we weren’t seeing them at all and I started to cry! LOL! I said “WHAT WHY!?”…(*Matt says he probably should have quickly followed that statement up with a ‘we’ll see them later’)

Then he said “we’re here for another reason today”….and he started saying all these nice things about qualities I have and to be honest, I think the moment it HIT me what was actually happening, I completely forgot what he even said! I started sobbing. At some point I realized there was someone with a purple rain jacket on the edge of the dock. It was Katelyn, the KINDEST most wonderful photographer that Matt had hired on his own!

He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I can’t help but cry happy tears even typing this. Matt is everything I could have ever wanted in a husband and more. He is my dream partner to do life with and an answer to many prayers! 2 weeks before, I found an old prayer journal entry that I wrote after I went through some heartbreak years ago. I was specific about what I wanted and what felt I needed in a partner…and it’s incredibly wild because MATT HAS ALL OF THOSE QUALITIES TENFOLD! There’s not a day that I take him for granted or don’t feel thankful to be with him. He makes life better…from the big things to the little daily things…it’s all more fun because I have him by my side.

So my answer, of course, was “YES…OBVIOUSLY YES!”

(* A few of you asked on instagram, so I wanted to link to my dress, earrings, and sandals!)

~ BIGGEST thanks to our new friend Katelyn for these photos! I truly feel like she was meant to be there…her happiness and joy for us was so palpable and these photos are just the biggest gift!

After we took a few more photos with Katelyn (*in between crying!), Matt spilled all the details of the plan. He had been texting with my three best friends for weeks! He was the one to get us the most stunning room at the Chesapeake Beach Club, and he even had the rest of our day planned!

EVEN MORE SURPRISES

~ First, Matt had reservations for us at a spot on the water, Pussers, that makes my VERY FAVORITE rum drink! I used to stop at Pussers in the BVI’s the summers I lived on a catamaran there, and the only Pussers in the US is in Annapolis on the water! I was so excited! On the way there, we facetimed my parents since they were driving to a wedding and we realized if we didn’t catch them, they might be the last to know! We shared the news with them and then took some time to ourselves during lunch at Pussers. We got Pussers Painkillers (*in the mugs so we could keep them) and sat at a table on the water. I definitely cried more happy tears as it all set in. I facetimed my 3 best friends who were in on it, and let Alison and Lauren know that YES, I definitely wanted to see them and celebrate! Matt had some “tentative” plans in case I just wanted time to ourselves….but I couldn’t WAIT to see them (*and meet baby Winnie), and share this moment with them!

~ Alison was SO SWEET to host us and have a bottle of Veuve waiting for us to celebrate. I’m so grateful for these amazing sister friends of mine…I can’t imagine this day without them being a part of it and I’m so happy that they were!

After a couple of hours, we checked into our hotel….I was BLOWN away by the Chesapeake Beach Club! We stayed in the “Barn” which is newly renovated and everything is by Restoration Hardware….it’s simply STUNNING.

There was another SURPRISE in our room…a beautiful bouquet with my favorite flowers (hydrangeas and Lilies) and another bottle of champagne! The lighting in the room gave the BEST sparkle to my ring and I couldn’t stop looking at my hand….we were almost late for our dinner reservations!

~ Matt had TWO dinner reservations for us, but we ended up eating at the farm to table restaurant right where we were staying. I’m so glad we did…..dinner was amazing and we were sent glasses of champagne from the kindest strangers at the bar who had heard we were engaged!

After dinner, we decided to pop another bottle of champagne and then we facetimed my siblings and my grammy! One of my nieces was at a sleepover, so I wanted to wait until they were both together to tell them!

Then…we got a huge surprise…instead of sending us a preview of a few photos, Katelyn sent us THE WHOLE GALLERY of photos that she took of the proposal! We got to sip champagne, flip through photos, and relive the moment…we cried!

The Next Day

~ We walked around the beautiful grounds at the Chesapeake Beach Club, explored their colorful garden, and then packed up to head to downtown Annapolis. We walked around the harbor and then walked up to brunch. After we sat down, I got facetime from my nieces….I COULD NOT wait to tell them! And telling them/seeing their faces was a top 5 favorite moment of the weekend. Immediately Laney said “WHAT AM I GONNA BE IN THE WEDDING”…LOL, I think that after Matt and I, Laney is the most excited 🙂