Well this is a very exciting post to write! I wanted to update you on some pretty big news that happened in my break away from blogging… I’m engaged! Michael proposed to me in March last year and I’ve been dying to tell you all about how he did it and share our engagement story. This is the first post in a new ‘Wedding Wednesday‘ series on the blog where every Wednesday I’ll be sharing an insight into our wedding planning process, the style of wedding we’re going for, tips for planning your own wedding, DIYs etc. If you’re getting married, know someone who is or just love dreaming about ‘the big day’ then I hope you’re excited because I can’t wait to bring you on this journey with us. We’re getting married this summer and I can’t believe how quickly time is flying by! Before we talk all things proposals and weddings, I thought a good place to start would be at the very beginning of our story.
Photos by Lolography. Grain added by me.
How we met
Michael and I met in college when we were 16. We were in the same Graphic Design class and later, in the same Media Studies class too. Michael had really long hair which he wore in cainrows and was super skinny but wore XXL clothes to copy the style of his favourite American artists lol. I remember the first time I saw him. We were sat in our first Graphic Design class and he was sat about two tables in front of me. I hadn’t noticed him at first as I was focused on the teacher, but then we both looked up at each other at the same time and I was instantly attracted to him. I came out of that lesson, found my friend Gloria and told her about this really cute guy in my class haha.
Later Michael and I started talking in class, but I remember in one lesson he sat next to me and tried to subtly read my ID card because he’d forgotten my name. That was when I learnt that Michael is not subtle at all lol. A few days or so later at lunchtime, I noticed him talking to a girl called Bakita who I knew through friends and was in my form group, so I grabbed Gloria’s arm and said “let’s go talk to Bakita” which was all a ploy so that I could talk to Michael outside of class – sorry Bakita!
At my college we could leave at lunchtime so we all decided to head out for food together and from that day on, we started hanging out together and became friends. As I got to know Michael my instant attraction turned in to a full on crush. I invited him out to my birthday and managed to get his number that night. We started texting as well as spending time in lessons and break times together and a few weeks later, he asked me to be his girlfriend! Michael’s my first love and we’ve grown up together. I can honestly say he’s the love of my life.
The proposal
At Christmas, Michael protested at the fact I’d asked for vouchers and said he wanted to get me something else too, so he handed me a card which said he’d be taking me away for a spa weekend – the dream! My friends asked if I thought he’d propose to me there but honestly I didn’t think he would. He was very clever and said things that made me think he would propose later in the year. I didn’t think he’d been shopping for rings or even thought about how he’d propose at that point.
Getting away to the spa wasn’t easy. My Grandad sadly passed away around the time Michael had booked it and then the spa had to close for renovations at the weekend he’d rebooked. One month and three bookings later and we were finally going. Knowing now that he was planning on proposing, I can’t imagine how stressed he must have been just trying to sort out the booking!
On the day we went, I made us arrive late because I am late to absolutely everything – sorry Michael! We decided not to head to the spa as it was quite late in the day, so we spent the afternoon wandering around the hotel grounds, enjoying the quiet and talking about anything and everything. Looking back now, I really value that time we had together. At one point we even climbed and sat in a tree, something we haven’t done since we were young. In the evening we headed back to our room and got all dolled up for dinner, which was absolutely delicious. After dinner we wandered the hotel corridors, searching for a way up to a rooftop balcony that the hotel had. We felt like school kids, exploring the corridors, opening doors not knowing what would be behind them. We found many staircases, but couldn’t find a way up to the roof. Defeated, we headed back to our room.
We sat and talked for a while then I got up to get something out of my bag. As I turned around, Michael was down on one knee with a ring in his hands. I hadn’t even heard him get up off the bed! I was completely shocked and surprised, I didn’t even see the ring. It was so much to take in haha. I remember Michael said something like “I wanted to do this on the rooftop but obviously I failed… so will you marry me?” and before I knew it I’d said yes and he was standing up to give me the ring. I actually pushed down on his shoulders to get him back down on one knee and said to him that he was supposed to say something nice about us, not just that his original plan had failed lol! So he did kneel back down and told me how he felt which was beautiful and really special. Then he gave me the ring which is the first time I got to look at it properly and he did so well! It was exactly what I wanted, a plain white gold band with one square diamond.
We’d spoken about marrying each other for years, we’d even looked at rings together and got my finger measured so I always thought that when Michael did propose I’d see it coming, but I can honestly say that he completely surprised me. We didn’t know what to do afterwards, I remember asking him if I should call my Mum straight away but we decided to wait until the morning to tell everyone and enjoyed the first few hours of our engagement just the two of us. I found out later that he’d already told my Mum that he’d be proposing that weekend – they’d been in on it together the sneaky pair!
Our Engagement Shoot
An engagement shoot wasn’t something we’d planned on having but actually I’m so, so glad we did! The photos in this post are all from our engagement shoot, taken by Rita from Lolography. She really put us at ease and let us just be ourselves which is what we wanted. We didn’t want forced or overly posed photos, so whilst we may not be kissing or looking intensely into each other’s eyes in all the photos, we’re laughing and having a great time together which is just how we are. Most of the time I forgot Rita was even there with her camera and I was just laughing at Michael joking around as he always does.
We chose Greenwich for our engagement shoot as firstly, I’ve grown up around there so it feels like home for me and secondly, Michael and I had our first date there 12 years ago. Since then we’ve had many more dates there and hung out with our friends a lot in Greenwich too, so it’s a place full of memories for us both. Rita listened to me when I requested we go to certain parts of Greenwich so that we could have photos in those places that mean something to us both and she suggested places too. I just love how Rita has captured us and Greenwich and we will treasure these photos forever. A friend said recently that we look as in love now as we did when we first fell in love in college and that is the greatest compliment we could ever ask for really! I highly recommend Rita of Lolography if you’re ever in need of photos – you won’t be disappointed!
So now you know all about how Michael and I met, how he proposed and got a look at our engagement shoot. I’ve loved writing this post and taking a trip down memory lane so I hope you’ve enjoyed it too. Let me know in the comments below how you met your partner if you’re in a relationship, or your engagement story if you’re engaged or married. I love hearing other people’s love stories!
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Photos by Lolography
