Although I’ve shared the details of our proposal story on Instagram, it’s only fitting that I do a full blog post spilling all of the details and more pictures that I never shared on Instagram. Now that almost two years (and four wedding dates, thanks COVID) have passed since our engagement, I’ve had time to reflect and process how truly serendipitous and perfect our engagement was. Buckle up and grab a few tissues because this is a long, magical ride.
Our Love Story
Let me take you back in time and set the stage on how long and arduous this courtship was. (That’s not a dig, it was totally worth the wait!) It’s April 2011 in Knoxville, TN, and I’m living up my last month of college before I move to Nashville to pursue my life-long dream of becoming an attorney. One of my roommates (and bridesmaids) was attending a fraternity date party and asked me to come along because #buddysystem. I reluctantly agreed after stalking his Facebook (pre-Instagram days). Despite having polar opposite upbringings, conversation flowed effortlessly, and we had an instant connection. I wouldn’t say it was “love at first sight”, but we were definitely intrigued by each other.
A month after our first meeting, I moved to Nashville to attend law school at Belmont while Justin finished up undergrad in Knoxville. Though we stayed in contact, Justin dragged his feet (admittedly) in pursuing anything further than a casual relationship. Due to my compelling power of persuasion and a job opportunity, Justin moved to Nashville in the fall of 2012. On January 31, 2013, nearly two years after our first meeting, Justin FINALLY asked me to be his girlfriend. I should have known then that he would take his sweet time to pop the question, but I’m so glad he did!
Over the six years of dating, we dined at nearly every Nashville food establishment, enjoyed countless concerts, traveled, championed each other’s careers, and supported one another through loss and heartache. It was nowhere near perfect, but we each grew independently as well as together as a couple. Now, what you really came for, the PROPOSAL story!
Our Proposal Story
Unlike most proposal stories, ours starts out as a house-hunting story. After living together in Justin’s bachelor pad for a year, we decided it was time to buy a place together. Miraculously, I discovered a GORGEOUS historic home the day the house went on the market! We made an offer within the first 12 hours, but so did two other interested parties. We were competing with cash offers from investors. I wrote a three-page letter to the sellers expressing how much we loved the house and wanted to start a family there! The sellers ultimately accepted our offer over a higher cash offer. They loved our story and wanted to sell to a couple that planned to start a family and truly love the house like they did rather than flip the house for a quick profit.
Here we are at closing a mere twenty minutes before we got engaged. Justin had the ring in his pocket the whole time!
I had an idea that Justin might propose on closing day because earlier in the week he asked how long my manicure would last. (*RED ALERT*) Just in case, I made sure to fix my hair and wear white! 🙂 Shortly before closing, our realtor text me that he wouldn’t be attending which I thought was odd considering this was a significant purchase, and he had be very attentive to every need of ours leading up to closing day. Little did I know he was already at our house and preparing to capture our proposal via drone!
During closing, Justin was extremely nervous! His leg was shaking, and he was fidgeting with every small object in sight. His nerves were permeating the air, and Justin is NOT a nervous person. He started asking the closing agent the most asinine questions, and I was extremely frustrated. We were making the biggest purchase of our lives, and he was worried about a couple hundred dollar administrative fee. All of a sudden, the closing agent gets up from the table and has to “go check on something”. When he returns, he says he was “double checking the price.” If you’ve ever closed on a house, the fact that the closing agent would check the price is alarming! (Justin later told me that he was worried about timing because the closing agent was flying through signatures, and he text my best friend to call the closing office and have them stall.)
We finally make it through the mounds of paperwork and walk out without the house keys. Obviously, I ask where the keys are, and he makes up a lame excuse about the keys being in the mall box. I had closed on a home before so I knew this was not the norm. I am really onto him at this point. I follow Justin to our new home to meet my mom and “take a picture” on the porch.
Once we arrive, I see that my mom has decorated the front porch which was a little extra for just a new home picture, but that’s on brand for my mom.
We walked up to the front porch and posed for a couple of pictures. Justin wanted to carry me across the threshold of our new home. (It was truly cheesy just like a movie, and I loved it!) As soon as we were going to walk through the doorway, he stopped and said it didn’t feel right to carry me into our new home as boyfriend and girlfriend. He proceeded to get down on one knee and asked me to be his wife! I’m 100% sure that I said yes, but the whole conversation is a blur.
When we finally did walk into our new home, I was completely in shock to see our friends inside to surprise us! Justin’s mom even flew up from Florida the day before to be a part of the surprise. We were overwhelmed with the love and support that we felt from our friends and family to make this moment truly special and unique for us. We drank lots of champagne and shared lots of tears. It truly was the most magical day and felt straight out of a movie.
Thanks to our spectaluor realtor, Jake Tate, we also have the most AMAZING drove video of our proposal!
View this post on Instagram
The next night we ate pizza on the floor and slept on an air mattress in our new home! It was one of our favorite nights in all of our 10 years together. I remember thinking that I wanted to bottle up the joy I felt in that moment and keep that forever. I took a picture to capture the memory and serve as a reminder of the immense joy and love that I felt in that moment.
Though our original wedding plans were so nasty and so rudely interrupted by that witch, ‘Rona, we have made the best of our extended engagement and all FOUR wedding dates! Ultimately, we know that come August 28, 2021, we will be husband and wife. All of the waiting, uncertainty, tears, and stamp lickin’ will be worth it when we get to say “I do.”
