wedding week: engagement story.

our engagement story.

Daniel and I had known we wanted to get married for about a year before we actually got engaged. There were two main reasons that we waited so long: one- I wanted a summer wedding, and two - I was terrified. There were definitely a few times we walked into rings stores ready to pick out my engagement ring, and I  pretty much hyperventilated until Daniel took me out of the store and bought me ice cream to calm me down. After waiting a year, I felt much more ready to get married. After trying on a million rings at every jewelry store in the Salt Lake valley, I finally found the one at The Shane Company.

After showing Daniel the setting I wanted, it was his job to pick out the diamond. It was hard to leave my ring at the store knowing that the next time I'd see it again, it would come attached to the most important question of my whole life.

Cut to a few weeks later. It was March 31st and Daniel and I were watching a Jazz game in my basement. It was halftime, so we went to grab some snacks. On our way to the store I decided to probe Daniel to see where he was in the process of acquiring my ring. When I asked Daniel if he had picked up the ring, he told me it wasn't ready yet. My heart sank a little bit, so I asked him if he'd at least talked to my dad yet. No such luck. I was a little disappointed at the slow process, but I decided it wasn't that big of a deal. I gave up the conversation as we pulled in front of my house. 

We started walking up to the door, but I realized that Daniel was walking really slow - like, painfully slow. I got up to the porch where I waited for him to catch up, and before I knew it, Daniel was down on one knee. My first thought was honestly "What is he doing?" Then it hit me - my boyfriend was down on one knee. That can only mean one thing. He said some super sweet things that I can't even remember  because the entire night was a blur, then came the question: "Mandy, will you marry me?" There was some excited shrieking and some leaping on my end before I said "Yes!" The moment he slid the ring on my finger was surreal. It was perfect.

I think we stood on the porch for a while just taking in the moment together. We admired my sparkly new ring, said "I love you," and just held each other. We finally walked inside and told my parents and my siblings the news, then headed up to Daniel's to share it with his family, too.

tidbits

1. We didn't take a single picture the night we got engaged. I still regret it!

2. I was totally wearing sweats the night Daniel proposed. In fact, I had just gotten over strep throat, so I definitely didn't look my cutest. ha! Maybe that's why we didn't take any pictures...

3. Daniel proposed in the late evening on March 31st, so we didn't have much time to call our friends and family to tell them the good news that night. So, we ended up making most of our phone calls the day after on April 1st. That's right - April Fool's Day! Needless to say, nobody believed us. It made for some pretty funny conversations, though!

4. My brother Steven was out with friends the night we got engaged, so I called him to tell him the news. 

The conversation went something like this:

Steven: Hello?

Mandy: Hey, Steven! Guess what?! I'm getting married!!

Steven: Oh my gosh, that's awesome! To who?

Mandy: ....

Steven: Just kidding! I've always wanted to do that.

We still laugh about it to this day.

5. I know our story might not be as big and bold as other proposals are these days, but I specifically asked Daniel to make it small, make it special, and make it a surprise. He pulled off all three! We had our quiet moment together, and it was extra special because my porch was where we had our first kiss. Oh, and it was definitely a surprise.

6. And just an FYI, Daniel did talk to my dad before he proposed. Such a gentleman :)

up next: engagement pictures.