Save the Date and Invitation Preview...

Oh my GOSH!!! Tres and I are sending out the CUTEST Save the Dates ever!!! I am so excited about them I could scream!!!


Save the Date.... HANDKERCHIEFS?!?!? Yep, that's what all of our guests will be getting in the mail in the next few months. I have included a few examples of them, but ours will look much different than these. They will of course match our color scheme (gold and pink) and go with our theme (southern-vintage). I CANNOT wait to get them done and sent out so I can blog about them!!!

Also, we are getting custom-made invitations done, and the sample should be sent to me this week. I honestly believe we have one of the best graphic designers out there doing it too! I know this because I work with her on a daily basis, and I swear anything she ever sends to me for the website is almost jaw-dropping because it's like way better than I ever imagined it to be in my mind. After seeing her work, I don't even know if I could fathom the thought of anyone else doing them! I am 100% confident she will send me like the best invitation I have ever seen that matches perfectly with our theme... soooo exciting!

Steel Magnolias and Gents

It has been a long time coming, but we finally have a wedding party! We have officially asked all of our bridesmaids and groomsmen to be in the wedding. We both decided to do a formal invite – me mailing my bridesmaids one of my “crafts” and Tres asking his groomsmen with a bottle of wine from one of the wineries we went to in Napa Valley (Tres still has to give two of his groomsmen their gifts, but I couldn’t wait to post the blog)!

Paper Dolls with all hair just like my girls' hair! hehe!
The Invite (above)
The Reply Card (above)

Without further ado… here is our wedding party:

The Steel Magnolias
Stephanie Porter – Matron of Honor (childhood/high school friend of the bride)
Ginger Stewart – Matron of Honor (sorority sister of the bride)
Melissa Stokes – Maid of Honor (cousin of the bride)
Erin Hendricks (high school friend of the bride)
Sara Leach (sorority sister of the bride)
Amy Claire Smith (sorority sister of the bride)
Tracy Scott (sorority sister of the bride)
Lori Piety (adulthood friend of the bride and friend of the groom)
Renee Haralson (sister of the groom)

The Gents
JG Ketchen – Best Man (long-time friend of the groom)
Trevor Piety (long-time friend of the groom)
Mike Martinez (long-time friend of the groom)
Brandon Mize (long-time friend of the groom)
Joey Kaegi (college friend of the groom)
Steve Hines (college friend of the groom)
John Patrick (college friend of the groom)
Craig Hodges (college friend of the groom)
Randy Tatum (brother of the bride)

We wanted to do something special for our bridesmaids and groomsmen, so as you see in the pictures, we both made something special for each and every one of them! For my invite, I thought the paper dolls were a good idea because each of my girls would not only get invited to be in the wedding party via mail, but they could also immediately know who else I invited! The paper dolls took forever but the invite and reply card were pretty simple. For the invite, I wrote a personalized poem for each of my girls that referred to our friendship past, present, and future. The last line on the card in pink was on all my girls' cards. It says: "A Steel Magnolia is a southern woman who is strong and independent; yet very feminine. You are one of my Steel Magnolias." I thought of the Reply card idea because I needed my girls’ sizes and I wanted them to give me their take on Bachelorette party ideas and ideas for the wedding!

Bottles of wine with old pictures tied to them
The question card

The FRANK wine! haha!

Tres’ invite was all his idea… the only thing I helped with was the crafts part of it! After going to Napa Valley and visiting a winery that we loved, Frank Family Winery, Tres decided he would give all of his groomsmen a bottle of wine from there (his nickname is Frank, so that made the wine bottle even funnier). He got copies made of old pictures with his buddies, and attached a “Will you be my Groomsman?” card to it! We are so excited to announce our 18-member wedding party and can’t wait for all the festivities to begin with them!

My Something BLUE must be my SHOE!!!

Wow… it has been way too long since an update. I am really behind on wedding planning… my Knot To Do List is starting to yell at me through the computer screen. I have a good excuse though. First of all, it’s the beginning of the holidays and we all know how that goes. But second of all, I just got foot surgery about two weeks ago, and I have been laying low for a number of reasons. A) It hurts, B) Being started at by complete strangers because I can hardly put one foot in front of the other is one of the most awkward situations I have ever been in (for crying out loud…. Do people’s parents not teach them that staring is rude anymore?), and C) Do you know me at ALL?!?!?! If I’m not in heels, I don’t usually feel myself. My new slogan: “The higher my shoes… the higher my spirits!” …ESPECIALLY after being banned from them for three months. Yes, you heard me right… THREE MONTHS. I also cannot workout for three months, and if you know my obsession for heels, you also know my desire to work out at least 3-5 times a week. Needless to say, this situation is a disaster, but I will be kickin’ it again in no time. And when I finally am, those kicks will not be coming from just any pair of shoes!!!

Long before I had foot surgery, I decided that on my wedding day I wanted fancy shoes. Now, I am known for a fancy shoe here and there, and my closet is not hurting for them, but when I say fancy… I mean F-A-N-C-Y! I have always wanted a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes and have never bought myself a pair, so what better time to treat myself to a pair of them than after taunting foot surgery and for my wedding day!!! Aside from a shoe so exquisite, I would like for them to be BLUE! What better than for your SHOE to be your something BLUE on your wedding day! I have a pair in mind already (shown above), but they may be too tall. I always said a shoe could never be too tall, but I prefer to not tower over my future husband at our ceremony or for that matter, trip and fall down the aisle (oh dear!) So… the shoe search begins!!!

Did I mention after the wedding, I plan to ONLY wear the shoes every single year on our Anniversary date?! If that isn't special, I don't know what is!

The Never-Ending China Debacle

The two china patterns we picked out! Now we just have to narrow it down (and make sure this is exactly what we want)! I'm pretty sure Tres is going to refuse to look at anymore china though! :)

This past weekend, Tres and I gave registry shopping a go. Without actually registering for anything, we walked around several potential registry shops to get an idea of what we would be registering for and what “style” of dinnerware we wanted to go with. Ok, let me rephrase that… I drove Tres crazy all day Saturday trying to decide if we should register for casual dinnerware or china.

After walking around the china section for about an hour, leaving the store, and going home… four hours later I was still talking about what we should get, six hours later I was goggling the differences between casual dinnerware and china, and eight hours later, I was asking everyone’s advice on Facebook. I think Tres was ready to get rid of me! I gave him the whole spill of “We can’t think present tense… we have to think future tense! We will be eating on this the rest of our lives, we may want to pass this down to our children, etc.” Needless to say, Tres HATES china now. I don’t even think he ever wants to look at it again, and on top of it all, he must think that he has an obsessive compulsive fiancé now! Haha!

After all that, and even though most people told us not to do it because they never use theirs, we decided to go with china.
1) Tres made a good point that we already have very nice casual dinnerware. Almost a year ago, for no reason at all, I bought BEAUTIFUL Tracy Porter casual dinnerware that we have never even used (really because I am terrified to put food on anything that gorgeous… not sure how I am going to deal with people eating on the china… haha).
2) Tres picked out the two most beautiful Vera Wang china patterns that I couldn’t help but love. At first, he acted like he didn't have an opinion, but I told him that I wanted him to be just as involved in the dinnerware decision making as I was, so after dragging him around the china section, he told me those two patterns were his favorite. Luckily, I agreed!

One thing I learned from our registry hunting experience: we are very lucky because we already have A LOT of the basic stuff that most people don't have when they go to register. Tres is 31 years old and has been on his own for a LONG time now :), and there is a lot of stuff I have bought since I have been on my own, so there will be tons of everyday items we don't even have to register for, so it only makes sense for us to go ahead and get the china!

P.S. Thanks to all my Facebook friends that responded to my post about the china!!! I need all the advice I can get from the already married! :)

Armosa Studios - Our Photographers!

Its official… we signed the contract, sent in the deposit, and we now have photographers - photographers that are out-of-this-world!!! Sure we are from Memphis and getting married in New Orleans, yet we hired photographers from FLORENCE, ALABAMA! It may not make sense… UNTIL you see the work these people do. Then, it’s quite obvious why we chose these guys to take our pictures… they are amazingly talented and so worth getting from all the way in AL! An additional plus is they are married and seem to be just as awesome of a couple as they are photographers, so we are stoked!

I told Tres as soon as we started wedding planning that photography was ranked #1 on my wedding priority list, so we set out looking for the best, and I think we found them! I had actually seen these guys’ work before Tres and I even got engaged, and I was convinced that when Tres and I got married, we would have to consider them. Their "Vogue/GQ/Vanity Fair" photography style has us so excited to be models for a day… haha! We can’t wait to meet and work with them!

They are Armosa Studios! Check out their work on their website: http://armosastudio.com/index2.php?v=v1

Dear Weather, Please don’t give the bride a heart attack!

(Above: what we DON'T want NOLA to look like on October 17, 2010)

Well, it’s November which means our wedding month is over until next year, and I am already stressed about the month we picked because I have never seen so much rain in my entire 25 years of living!!! Seriously, half the reason we chose October is because it’s supposed to be the nicest month for weather in New Orleans. So, while the monsoon came down here in Memphis all month, I drove myself crazy by checking the weather forecast for New Orleans WEEKLY! Let me just tell you… the weather was no better in the Big Easy – rain just about every single day. But like Tres said to me: “Better it rain every day this year than that one day next year.” (Soooo positive… just one of a million reasons I love him so!)

Our venue is not made for a rainy wedding, and I swear if the day of our wedding it rains, I will DIE… D-I-E… DIE!!! So, please start praying now for good weather on October 17, 2010 in New Orleans! Like I told Tres… we have an entire year to pray. And, if it happens to rain in New Orleans October 17, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. start praying that the bride doesn’t drop dead!

Happy -1 Year Anniversary!

Last Saturday was a very special day… a day we will celebrate for the rest of our lives! The morning of October 17, 2009, Tres and I woke up and begin celebrating our negative one year anniversary!

When we officially booked our date with Southern Oaks in September, they congratulated us with a bottle of “Southern Oaks” personalized champagne! It was adorable, and when we got it, we decided we would drink it on day when we had exactly a year until our wedding. That morning, we popped open the bubbly and mixed it with orange juice for Mimosas! I cooked French Toast and we had a great brunch, while watching the movie “Sideways.”

It was a lazy, casual day. After our movie over brunch, we took naps. That night, we went to a Grizzlies game and did a little bar hopping after that. It was a perfect -1 year anniversary. And now that it’s over it means… WE ARE OFFICIALLY GETTING MARRIED IN LESS THAN A YEAR!!!!

Budget and Beaches!

Money, money, money, monaaayyyy!!!! This past Sunday, Tres and I sat down and had “the talk…” The BUDGET talk that is! :) We spent literally the entire afternoon staring at a spreadsheet and mapping out our budget – what to spend on what, where to save, where not to save, etc. We were lucky enough to be given a great sum of money from my mom and dad to go towards the wedding, so we have been very grateful for that! But we have also learned that no matter what kind of budget you set, you will more than likely ALWAYS go over it. We have definitely gone over it, but we are not stressing about it… I love that saying, “Go big… you only get married once!” haha. And this is true, since we only get to do this one time in our lives, we are planning on not going overboard but having everything we really, really want!
It grows on trees... duh!

Sunday afternoon’s budget talk became Sunday night’s honeymoon talk! Now THIS was much more exciting than the budget talk! We love to travel together, and we do it a lot (I have a Travel Blog too)! So, I had been anxious to have this talk because I just know our honeymoon will be to die for! We discussed what we wanted and didn’t want out of a honeymoon. Here are our bottom lines:
Bermuda: There's nothing more unique than a PINK beach!

• Nothing “touristy”! At first, I kind of imagined us doing a place in Europe neither of us had been before, but the places we want to go in Europe are very touristy. The last thing I want to do is to be running around five different cities in a week’s time, trying to see 100 different attractions, with 10 different maps and tour guides in our hands, and so tired at the end of the day that I don’t even want to curl my hair or dress cute for dinner! No thanks! I am dying to go to Italy, but maybe we will save it for our one year anniversary!
• A relaxing place! Hence, nothing touristy! We will be off work for about a week for this, so I want my feet up and to not move a bone in my body the entire time. I want to be able to enjoy the days with naps in between and enjoy the nights without be tired (and also feel like curling my hair for dinner each night)!
• Not a long flight! This is Tres’ bottom line, and he has a good point. We are already having somewhat of a vacation wedding with it being in New Orleans. We will already be taking off some the week before to get down there and get settled, so we don’t need to go on a honeymoon where we are flying across the entire globe. A 20-hour plane ride will take a full day of vacation away from us on the way there and on the way back… No thank you to that too!
• Finally, a nice hotel room and good food! Just feed me good food, and I’m happy. Just put Tres in an awesome hotel room, and he’s happy... fair game!
The Turks and Caicos... tiny little islands

So, with all of this in mind, there is really only a few options, and they are all in the Caribbean! We, of course, have consulted with our good friends Trevor and Lori on this since they lived in the Virgin Islands for several years. This is what we are leaning towards (and this could completely change on any given day…): Turks and Caicos, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, and Barbados - with Turks and Caicos and Bermuda being the favorites. We like the idea of Turks because it’s different and the development is very new over there. Plus, I have read that it’s where a lot of celebrities go for their “moon”! And we like Bermuda because of the pink sand, the good reputation, and it’s not really in the Caribbean… it’s more north than all the other islands and it’s all by itself! We are going to discuss this further. TO BE CONTINUED…

Never say Never...

OK, so I am really starting to freak myself out with this wedding! The more I plan, the more I change my mind about things. For starters, I am not a fan of pink… nope, not at all. I don’t despise it, but I have never really loved it either. I am a “neutral” kinda girl… blacks, whites, ivories, and earthy colors. Don’t get me wrong… when I dress, I am known to throw in a big splash of color on more than one occasion, but for a wedding… I like simple and elegant. That way, when you look back on your wedding photos in 20 years, you aren’t wondering why in the world you chose hot pink or neon purple as your wedding colors. Now, if those are your favorite colors, I say GO FOR IT, but they are not mine!

(ABOVE: Pic 1 - The bouquet that gave me inspiration. Pic 2 - How beautiful the colors pink and gold are together)

WEIRD THING #1…. I am actually considering pink. Well not just considering, but I am quite certain of it. No, my wedding will not look like Pepto-Bismol vomited on it, but I would like to go with an antique dusty-rose or blush pink with the complementary colors being gold, beige, and ivory. It’s strange why I decided I like this color combo so much, but I ran across a beautiful bouquet on the Martha Stewart Weddings website, and when I saw it, I thought… THOSE have to be the colors of our wedding. The combination is very subtle, neutral, and “warm” for the Fall season. What’s makes me choosing this color even more awesome is, until I decided to choose pink and get my dress from Brides against Breast Cancer, I didn’t even put two and two together and realize it’s fitting for me to choose pink because it’s the Breast Cancer color! AND the wedding is in October, and that is Breast Cancer Awareness month! How COOL! Oh yes, and also awesome… my sorority colors were pink and white, so I will be representing Phi Mu ALL THE WAY! One more thing: surprisingly, Tres is totally ok with pink!!! :)

(BELOW: Gowns I traditionally like and think I would look best in)

WEIRD THING #2 – I have said 100 times since I got engaged and even BEFORE I got engaged that I would never, ever have a full bottom ball gown “poofy” dress… never. I have never really thought it was “me.” Weird thing is…. The more I look at them, the more I like a certain type of them. I have actually even saved some in my “Favorite Dresses” file. To think I may actually consider trying some of these types of dresses on when I go dress shopping is shocking, but to think I could actually choose one of them is even more shocking! We will just have to see when that time comes though. I still LOVE Sheath dresses – very tight fitting, simple, and elegant. That seems more my style, but who knows? The thing about a huge ball gown…? You can only ONCE IN YOUR WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE ever wear a dress like that… so you may as well. What do you think…? Full and poofy? Or straight and tight?

(BELOW: The types of gowns I have been drawn to lately... for some reason)

I am a Bride against Breast Cancer

Things have been crazy around here! So crazy in fact, that I haven’t really even thought about wedding stuff for about two weeks now. But, it’s time to start thinking again… today marks a year and ten days until the big day! We definitely have plenty of time to plan, but I want to soak this up as much as possible because one day we will look back and know we will never have this time back!

The latest news: I have been working on my formal Bridesmaids cards the past few weeks. I wanted to formally ask my girls to be bridesmaids. I love DIY projects, so I decided to once again get “crafty” and make the cards myself! They are absolutely adorable, and I should have all NINE of them out in the mail or to each girl no later than next week. Hobby Lobby has currently thrown up in Tres’ living room, so needless to say, he’s over the Bridesmaids cards and ready for me to get them in the mail already!

More wedding news… My theknot.com checklist is telling me I need to start thinking about a dress, so I have decided where I want to get my dress! If you have never heard of “Brides against Breast Cancer,” look it up! It’s an organization raising and donating money to Breast Cancer research through brides. They go on tour each year traveling all over the country carrying thousands of dresses with them, and they have huge conventions where they sell dresses that are donated from runway shows, modeling shoots, designers, etc. If you buy a dress here, the money goes directly to the Breast Cancer Foundation. I LOVE philanthropy projects, and this concept is just fabulous. I would love nothing more than the money for my wedding gown to go to a cause as good as this! Unfortunately, the organization only travels to select cities, so me, my mommy, and my Nenne will be making a trip to Atlanta in January for this event, and hopefully, I will come home with a great dress!

Our visit to Southern Oaks (September 21, 2009)

What you see online is what you get with this place. No, actually it’s way better in person. We had some friends get married in Destin, Florida a week after we booked Southern Oaks, so we decided on the way home from Destin to take the 4 hour drive over to New Orleans and go ahead and knock out actually seeing the venue we put A LOT of money down for!

We had one of the wedding coordinators show us around the place and answer all of our questions. After looking at the place and seeing how much more charming and beautiful it is in person, we sat down with the coordinator and signed contracts. She gave us a “Southern Oaks” folder that included all the information we needed to know, what forms to mail in, and where to be when – it was all very organized and simple – just how we like things. Of course, Tres, being the business-minded man he is, commented on their business structure and how they presented everything very well. He said, “They know what they’re doing.” :) If Tres approves on their business, I APPROVE!
Here’s why we LOVE Southern Oaks:

1) It’s all-inclusive. The ceremony and reception are both held there with the reception including a 75-item entrée and h’ordeuvres menu as well as a full-open bar with beer, wine, champagne, liquor, daiquiris, and Specialty drinks. Not to mention, the food and drinks are served throughout the entire reception.

2) It’s so Southern! It looks like Tara straight out of Gone with the Wind. It will be the perfect backdrop for a lady and gentleman!

3) VIP treatment. Right after the ceremony, as guests head into the ballroom for food, drinks, and dancing, the wedding party heads into the “wedding party room.” This room is roped off for just the wedding party, and we have our own bar to toast, chat for a minute, etc. After a toast, the wedding party leaves the bride and groom and we have a “private dinner,” where food is brought out to us to enjoy before we head out for all the hugs and congratulations from the guests. I, personally, have heard of many brides and grooms not even getting to eat the food at their own reception, so I like that we get a little moment of our own before being introduced and having our first dance.

4) The night ceremonies are TOO DIE FOR. And, we have decided on a night ceremony. They light up the plantation home with candles and spotlights – it’s gorgeous!

5) The food. I have read several reviews on the food served here and have heard it’s some of the best anyone has ever had at a wedding. I also spoke with some local New Orleans friends we have, and they said the same thing!

6) The service – We will have a full-wait staff for our wedding. This includes food servers for each section of the ballroom, cake servers, bartenders, chefs, and a wedding coordinator. And the best part? Tres will have his own personal attendant, I will have my own attendant, and our parents will have their own, so if we need anything at all throughout the night – they will be there for us!

Why Sunday?

We initially started thinking Sunday because we were going to try to get married on 10/10/10. Unfortunately, that date was already taken, but we still thought it would be good to have a Sunday wedding. I have worried a little bit about having our wedding on Sunday, but there are GREAT reasons why we have picked this day of the week. Here is our list of explanations for having a Sunday wedding:

- #1 reason: Our wedding party will have to take a day off of work regardless. If we had a Saturday wedding, they would have to take off Friday for the wedding festivities. So we figured, they can keep their Friday at work, festivities will be held Saturday, the wedding will be Sunday, and Monday will have to be taken off to travel home. Either way, it’s just one day missed of work!

- It’s a destination wedding, so for the people planning to come, they would have to take a day off of work anyway – no matter where the wedding is held.

- It’s the fall season, which means its FOOTBALL season, Tres says he would feel better knowing that there were no college games him and the guys would miss. So, the Saturday before while my girls and I are at the Bridal Luncheon, the boys can go watch football somewhere!

- We went to a Sunday wedding once, and LOVED IT!!! (SUNDAY FUN-DAY!!!!)

We have to lock down a date!

Sure, we hadn’t even seen the place in person, but we were pretty certain Southern Oaks was it for us. I immediately contacted them, got available dates from Sept-Nov, and sat down with Tres to decide on a date. Here was the bottom line when choosing a date: 1) try to also avoid hurricane season. 2) TENNESSEE VOLS football schedule as well as other important college football games in 2010.

The first thing Tres did was take out the Vols football schedule and got to work! He marked off the weekends with the biggest games and started searching for a possible “off” weekend. He found one the weekend of Oct. 16-17 was an off weekend, so we decided then and there that was our weekend, with October 17 being the date! We also looked at the LSU schedule as well, and so far, it’s an off weekend for them too – perfect!

Even though we had plenty of time to think about it, we didn’t want to take our chances - we really wanted to get a date locked down so no one could take it from us! Without hesitation, Tres called Southern Oaks and booked our date. That week, we mailed in our deposit and just hoped we actually liked the place in person. I never in a million years thought I could be so sure of a place without seeing it in person, but there was something about this place I knew was OURS!

Southern Oaks Plantation = the perfect venue for us!

After only a week of being engaged, I had already put a tremendous amount of thought into our wedding. To explain, I am pretty much obsessed with party and event planning and love to do it in my spare time – it’s really one of the only hobbies I have, so for a girl like me to get to plan an event as big as a wedding, this is like a dream come true. I promised Tres I wouldn’t drive him crazy, and he said he wants to be involved in the planning as much as possible, so I am grateful for that!

The idea/theme I have in mind is something like Southern-Vintage with a modern splash. Since Tres and I are both from the South, and we are having a New Orleans wedding, I thought a “southern” focus would be a great one, so when I ran across Southern Oaks Plantation online, I knew that was where we had to get married. It is the epitome of Southern – a huge Antebellum home with green grass and flowers surrounding it, a fountain it front of it, and a horse and carriage!

I tried my hardest after seeing this place to look at ALL of our New Orleans venue options, and while I picked out a few “maybes,” I knew if Tres liked Southern Oaks, that would be where we had to get married. Sure enough, I sent him a list of options, and Southern Oaks was IT for him. He loved how the ceremony and reception are all in one place, as well as the all-inclusive catering and full open bar Southern Oaks has to offer! After we fell in love with the place, we got to planning!

We are getting married in New Orleans!!!

On our last night in San Francisco we went to a spectacular sushi dinner and then discovered a cool hotel bar, The Starlight Room. While there, we started discussing where we should have our wedding. Tres had heard me say before that I did not want to have a Memphis wedding and he didn’t care to have a Knoxville wedding either. So, we started thinking of destination wedding ideas! We knew we wanted it close enough for all the friends and family to come who wanted to, but far enough and in an interesting and fun enough place for people to have a good time.

New Orleans had crossed my mind before for a number of reasons: His family is from there, a lot of his family is still in or around that area, it’s not too far from Memphis, and most importantly, his 89 year old grandmother who I just LOVE lives there, and this way, she would be able to come for sure if we had it there. So, when we started discussing it, I threw New Orleans out there not knowing what Tres response would be. To my surprise, he told me he had actually thought of the same place, and he would love to have our wedding there! (I’m telling you – we read each other’s minds… I am not even kidding!) We thought about how far it was from all our family and friends… those in Memphis, Knoxville, Austin, Jacksonville, Atlanta, etc. etc. After thinking about it, we realized this was the PERFECT place… all feasible driving distance from everyone! So it was set: NEW ORLEANS!!!!

Engagement (September 4, 2009)

Our special spot

Our engagement was fantastic, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more! On my list of “Top 5 Places to Visit in the U.S.,” San Francisco had been #1 since I could remember. Little did I know I would have my best friend ask me to be his bride there – right in front of the Golden Gate Bridge!

Me and both rings... haha! I thought this was so funny!

We had been in Napa Valley wine tasting and having a blast for two days straight, but during that time, I had no idea Tres was sweating. Not because he was going to propose to me once we got to San Francisco but because the ring he was supposed to propose with was not ready when we left for the trip – he was waiting on it to be delivered to our Bed and Breakfast in Napa. Tres, always prepared for anything, had went ahead and gotten another ring made just in case. This one came in on time, but it was not the right diamond. All Tres ever heard me say was how I wanted an Emerald shaped diamond, and when he got this one, it was a Radiant shaped diamond. All he could do was hope this other ring would be delivered to Napa and it would look exactly how he hoped it would.

On Friday, September 4, after a few more wine tastings in Napa, we headed to San Fran. He had been there many times before, so today was the day he was supposed to show me around the city. He showed me around Sausalito’s, drove through a park area and up a huge winding mountain, and then we headed to the Golden Gate Bridge. He was really stalling because he was trying to wait until sunset to propose, but we were being speedy tourists this day.

Once we got to the Golden Gate, I noticed a roped off area right in front of the bridge, so I had this big idea to put the video camera on one of the posts from the roped off area and film ourselves in front of the bridge. When we got in front of the camera, he took this as his chance, so he forgot the sunset idea and went for it. Most people say they never remember what was said during a proposal, but when he started talking, I made sure I stopped and listened. What he said was short, sweet, and perfect: “I love you so much, these past two years have been the best two years of my life, and I want that forever. Will you marry me?” After several OMG, Tres, OMG Tres, OMGs, I said yes. After a minute or two, I looked at the ring and almost fell to the ground. This man is oh so good to me, and I know he will be for a lifetime.