Wedding Wednesday: WE'RE ENGAGED!!

HE PUT A RING ON IT!!
(and yes, I totally did the dance in my head post-proposal)

One week ago today, the love of my life proposed and I said YES!  HOLY MOLY.  It has been a WHIRLWIND of the past 7 days-- he popped the question Wednesday night and I was on a plane to Texas to visit my family for a planned Labor Day weekend trip at 7am the next morning.  

It could not have been more perfect timing-- while I most certainly wish that Brian could have come along with me, it was initially planned as a quick trip home for me to see everyone, and turned into "Hi family, I've missed you, and I'M ENGAGED!!"  It meant so much to me that it all worked out so that I could share in the excitement firsthand with my family and closest friends and see their smiles and hear the squeals face-to-face instead of over the phone.  My mama and I spent the weekend pouring over my Pinterest boards and flipping through bridal magazines.  My cousin, Nicole, and I talked for hours Saturday night over drinks about colors and themes, pictures and dresses... and I was blissed. out.

A good chunk of this past week's paycheck went towards bridal magazines-- I promised myself a long time ago that I wouldn't buy an actual printed magazine until I had the ring on my finger.  Well guess what, y'all-- 

How did it happen, you ask?  Well, Wednesday evening, we drove into Boston last minute for dinner.  I was perhaps just a tiny bit hopeful, like butterflies in my stomach, but honestly didn't want to get excited since I knew that Brian knew I still needed to pack and get ready to fly home the next morning, so I marked it up to him saving me a night of cooking.  

Once we'd parked, Brian asked if I wanted to take a quick walk since we were half an hour early for our dinner reservation.  I said sure, and we headed off in the direction of the place that I'd secretly been hoping we were heading, the Wharf near the New England Aquarium, where we sat for hours the night of our first date and talked and talked the evening away.  We walked over to "our spot" and he said the most wonderful things ever, I blubbered away and... 

 And just like that, we were engaged!  The best proposal I could have ever hoped for, to the most amazing man I could ever have dreamed of marrying.  We walked (or I floated) back to The Palm for our dinner reservation and I called my parents to tell them the news.  Needless to say, they were just a little bit excited, and didn't quite catch on when I informed them that they were going to have a son-in-law.  Even typing it now, I cannot stop smiling!  When we walked into the restaurant, I couldn't help myself and immediately told the hostess that we had just gotten engaged.  She squealed, the manager overheard and informed us that they would be happy to reserve the backroom of The Palm for any future event needs (I laughed, and then thought "Oh my word, I can actually consider things like this now!!).  Once we were seated, complimentary champagne was sent over, and the smile didn't leave my face the entire night.

Dinner was wonderful, and I alternated grinning like a crazy person at my FIANCE, tearing up, and calling our family and friends.  Everyone was just so happy for us, and we feel so blessed to have such amazing family and friends to celebrate with at this exciting time!  I may have taken two or twenty pictures of my ring because... why not?

We called his sisters and parents on the drive home so we could both be on the phone and tell them the news (his parents had known that it was happening, just so it doesn't sound like we told everyone and then his parents), and I think my favorite reaction was from his oldest sister Meghan (Colin and Meredith's mom).  It's totally normal for us to call and just small-chat with them on speaker while we're driving, so we played it off like we were doing just that, and then Brian says "So I made Aunt Kiki official tonight." Complete SILENCE from Meg. 

"... What?  What did you say?!"  

"I made Aunt Kiki official tonight!"

"You're kidding!  I knew it!  Are you joking?  Did you really?  She's official!?  Ohhhh I want to see the ring!  Tell me how... no, Brian stop talking.  Kiki, take me off speaker and give me all of the details so I can hear every word."

It also sounds kind of corny, but I kind of love that Brian doesn't have any brothers, and I've never had a sister-- now we'll have each others siblings as one big, happy, dysfunctional family.  Isn't that part of what marriage is all about?

As for actually being engaged... I have no idea what to do next.  Since I flew out the morning after it happened, and just flew in late last night, I've hardly spent two minutes with my new FIANCE to plan anything.  Yes, I've had ideas and eleventy billion plans in my head for years now, but since it happened and this morning, I've been asked no less then fifty times Where? When? How many? Who? Colors? Size?  I've even already gotten criticism on an idea that Brian and I have always loved but I'd never even vocalized!  An aunt just out and said how she hates this particular thing and it's horrificially tacky... but we still kind of love it.  

I was all worked up and told my mom what had happened and she said probably the one thing I'll have to keep coming back to throughout this entire wedding planning process: "People are going to give you every opinion and piece of advice that they can think of because they think their input is valuable.  Sometimes it is, but a lot of times it's nonsense.  At the end of the day, plan this wedding for you and Brian because you two are getting married and it's YOUR day.  Listen and smile to everyone and be gracious that they care, even when you don't want to.  If you decide to take their advice, wonderful.  If not, you do not worry about hurt feelings because you can't please everyone and it's not your job to.  At the end of the day, try to involve the people who mean the most to you, and keep yourselves happy or you'll stress yourself to pieces."

This is true.  Mama knows me and she knows that I will legitimately stress myself to pieces to try and please everyone.  We have time to get all into the details, but for now, I want to talk about the fun stuff with my future hubby, and just revel in the excitement of being engaged!  Let the planning begin!!  And be prepared for Wedding Wednesday, my friends-- things are gonna get real!!