I always dreamed of getting older – having a husband and children and a house. But, I never dreamed of the steps leading up to that – what my wedding would be like or even the type of person I would marry beyond the fact of him being a good guy. So, when Jesse got down on one knee and asked me to marry him, I literally burst into tears because not only did this amazing human want to marry me, but I was so shocked I was being proposed to at all. This is going to sound extremely cliché , but I was so overwhelmed with emotion I couldn’t tell you not one thing Jesse was saying in his proposal (I’m sure it was super sweet). I felt like I lost my sense of hearing and sight because I was hysterically crying (pictures below to prove it). All I knew was that I had to wait for those classic words “will you marry me?” to get my shit together to say YES! Oh and did I mention we were in ITALY?! It was everything I didn’t even know I wanted and I’m so happy it happened the way that it did.
I wanted to share my engagement story to kick off a new wedding series on my blog because Jesse and I are a year away from being husband and wife! We’ve locked in a date (and venue) for March 20, 2021! To be very honest, it is ever so slightly up in the air due to the coronavirus. Even though we’re a year out and HOPEFULLY things settle down, it is very possible that we won’t be able to bring a big group of people together to have a wedding. But, to remain optimistic, I’m hoping this post brings some positive energy into the universe.
Our trip to Italy in April 2019 was our first trip to Europe and our first couple trip within the 5 years at the time of being together. I was asked a lot if I expected Jesse was going to propose and the answer is no. Of course, all the signs of it happening were definitely there, but I didn’t want to think it was going to happen to get my hopes up in case it didn’t. I just went on thinking it was a regular trip we were taking together.
The one thing that was obvious that I should’ve thought “oh yeah this is definitely happening” was while we were packing, Jesse told me that he got a photographer through Airbnb experience. His explanation was that we don’t have many photos of us together and it would be nice to have someone take professional photos. And, he added on that I could get really good solo shots for my blog. All valid reasons to not suspect he was going to propose, but I could have easily been like… he’s proposing! All I cared about, whether we were taking professional photos or not, was that I had extremely cute outfits for photos anyway (which I think I accomplished).
The second night that we were in Rome was when Jesse was supposed to propose. We were going to take photos right before going to a really fancy dinner. As I was getting all dolled up, it was pouring raining outside! Jesse was frantically coordinating with the photographer to see what to do – should we wait until the rain stops, when would that be, we had dinner reservations! I didn’t care too much about the photographer and was totally fine with canceling it entirely, but when I asked if Jesse paid upfront already, he said “Yes.” So we had to make this work somehow. We decided to reschedule the photo session for 8AM the next morning, right before getting on a train to head to Naples.
I also want to add during this whole time Jesse was pretty calm. He wasn’t being weird or secretive, he was exactly the same. But, I can imagine how annoying the situation must’ve been knowing he had this big thing planned.
As soon as we rescheduled the photo session and I changed my outfit, the rain stopped and the sunset across the city was the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. Although the sun came out, it was still wet on the ground so it made us feel better about rescheduling but we still took advantage and took a ton of photos on our walk to the restaurant. That one walk to the restaurant and back really was the moment that made me fall in love with Rome and it is definitely my favorite place I’ve been. We ate at Roma Sparita and in hindsight, that would’ve been an even more special dinner than it already was. It also made me feel good that Jesse really thought the whole moment through.
The next morning, April 27th, we woke up early to get ourselves ready for our much anticipated photo shoot. I did the exact same hair and makeup as the night before and put on the outfit I was going to wear. I was extremely tired and at a point wished the photo shoot was not happening. But, we got ourselves coffee and met up with our photographer. It was sunny out, the temperature was perfect and there was barely anyone out. Honestly, the folks that were out were also doing photo sessions, but they were doing all these awkward couple photos, which I was cringing over. I said to Jesse “I really hope we don’t have to take those” – HA!
As soon as we met up with our photographer, she got us started right away with taking those awkward couple photos. But, she didn’t make us feel awkward and she made it a natural and comfortable moment. We started out taking photos in front of the Colosseum and then we walked up a hill to overlook more of the Colosseum and Palatine Hill. There was no one around and she told me to stand on my own in front of the Colosseum. I was finally ready to take some solo shots and she told me to start facing the Colosseum and she would let me know when to turn around to capture some fun shots. I really was getting into the moment of having a shot at a modeling career and as soon as I turned around, there Jesse was right on his knee with the ring box open. And, the rest is history!
It turned out the photographer was in on it the WHOLE time and worked with Jesse to make it the most beautiful moment. It was a brilliant plan. And from there, we pretty much had our engagement shoot throughout parts of Rome! It was so magical and surreal; our photographer was amazing and I could not believe this moment was happening to me. All of our photos turned out amazing, I truly wish we could fly her out to take our wedding photos.
Since this all happened around 8:30AM, no one in the States was awake so we had to keep this to ourselves for so long throughout the day until it was early enough to start calling/texting family and friends. Our trip to Naples wasn’t the best, so we just spent most of that day spreading the good news.
From there, our engagement set such an amazing tone for the rest of our Italy vacation and it was one of the most memorable trips I’ve taken. Rome, specifically, became one of my favorite places because of this important moment in my life and it really was a beautiful city to be in. When I look back on being in Rome and getting engaged, I can feel everything I felt a year ago and I miss that place a lot. I can’t wait to go back one day to explore more of the city we didn’t get to.
As you might have picked up already, we are having a long engagement. We decided to wait 2 years before getting married to give us time to save money and plan. I didn’t want to rush planning a wedding, mostly because I didn’t ever think about this enough to know what I wanted to do right away and I didn’t want to put that pressure on us. I wanted to enjoy being engaged, plus there was no rush. Between living together and having Lilo, we’re practically married already. But, I am excited for the day I get to call Jesse my husband. And even if it doesn’t happen in a big wedding that we are currently planning on, I know it’s going to be amazing anyway.
I hope you enjoyed my engagement story and I look forward to sharing more of our wedding planning in this new wedding series!