I said YES!

After a 10-year hiatus from the blog, I figured there’s no better time to rekindle the flame than by sharing my engagement and wedding stories from the past couple years. In all honesty, I’ve been wanting to return to writing, and what better place to share my creative endeavours than the website that’s been sitting dormant for a decade?

I absolutely love our engagement story—it was truly intimate and perfectly “us.” Since the early days of our relationship, we always talked about our future together, including marriage and kids, so getting engaged felt like a natural progression. Brandon made it clear early on that there was “no way in hell” he was picking out a ring for me (he knows I’m someone who knows exactly what she wants, LOL). So about a year before he proposed, we went ring shopping to ensure he had a good sense of my style. But here’s the thing about ring shopping—it leaves you in constant suspense, waiting for the big moment.

For months, Brandon kept fake proposing, and there were several times I was convinced it was finally happening. I think he actually enjoyed messing with me. He would slowly get down on one knee—only to tie his shoe. While we were on a romantic birthday stroll through Central Park, I thought, “This could be it…” Nope. Then, at Christmas, when my brother set up an elaborate photoshoot in front of the tree, I thought, “This has to be it.” Again, nothing. By New Year’s Eve, while watching fireworks at my parents’ house, I was certain… and yet, still, nothing.

After all the holidays passed, I started wondering, “When is this actually going to happen?” A few days into the new year, Brandon told me he was taking me on a relaxing weekend getaway and that I might want to get my nails done. (Seriously, could he be any more obvious?)

Of course, I got my nails done, opting for a classic nude pink. Brandon had been dropping so many hints that I even told the nail tech, “I think I’m getting engaged this weekend, so don’t mess this up!” (Kidding, but I almost wish I had, because she cut my cuticles so short that my ring finger bled—but I chose to ignore that as any kind of bad sign.)

Friday night arrived, and Brandon was panicking. He’d run all over town, packing this huge camping cooler he recently bought (for all the camping we never do). He was sweating through his shirt, and I couldn’t understand why he was so nervous. I even tried to calm him down by saying, “I can’t wait to be your wife one day.” LOL. We hit the road, and I assumed we were headed to Whistler, but instead, we turned off onto a dirt road in Squamish. (I pinned my location to a friend just in case—because, you know, safety first.)

We arrived at the most adorable little cabin on Howe Sound, but since it was dark, we couldn’t see much of the view. I kept saying things like, “Wow, babe, what a romantic surprise for a relaxing weekend!” The energy between us was so awkward because we both knew what was happening. After all the fake proposals over the past year, the moment was finally here, and we were both so nervous. Brandon, still pale, was feeling the pressure to make everything perfect. We unloaded the groceries and decided to play crib before dinner. We love playing crib, and in that game, I got three heart flushes for the first time ever! I thought, “If this isn’t a good sign, I don’t know what is.” I even joked, “Love is in the air tonight,” which seemed to be Brandon’s cue to finally make his move.

He walked up to the loft, grabbed the ring, and was on one knee in seconds. His nerves were adorable—he even held the ring box upside down— of course, I said yes. Despite knowing this was coming, I was flooded with emotions. I couldn’t imagine what it would have been like to be completely surprised! No one talks about the bittersweet emotions of letting go of your independence and moving into this new chapter. It’s a beautiful thing to build a life with someone, but after spending most of my twenties living on my own, there was a touch of sadness in saying goodbye to that chapter. I almost felt guilty for feeling this way, since getting engaged is supposed to be one of the happiest moments of your life. But when I shared my feelings with Brandon, he admitted he was feeling the same way. It’s crazy—you imagine this day for years, but you can’t predict the range of emotions that come with it. Thankfully, we talked through it all and realized, “Holy shit, this is happening. We’re getting older, and we’re engaged!”

At one point, I burst into tears over how thoughtful Brandon had been. He ran all over town grabbing all my favourite things for the weekend. He packed my favorite loaf of bread from Flourist Bakery, prepared all my favorite meals, brought ingredients for cocktails, and even had a bottle of bubbly for the engagement. He truly went all out to make the weekend special, and it meant so much to me. We finished the weekend at the Scandinave Spa in Whistler, where I spent most of the time staring at my hand, admiring the ring.