2.15.20
I am so excited to finally be sitting down and writing out all the details of the BEST DAY EVER! I am so beyond pumped to marry my best friend and he truly could not have planned a more perfect proposal! Joe knows I am not someone easy to surprise but he went to great lengths to ensure this was the best weekend ever.
While Joe was on leave visiting me in Tuscaloosa, we headed home to Indiana for a weekend to visit our families. Coincidentally, lots of my high school friends happened to be in town as well. I was definitely suspicious that he was going to propose that weekend considering so many people we loved were all in one place and we don’t get to see one another often, but he definitely threw me off. He told that we were going to dinner for his older brother and sister-in-law to make an “announcement” aka, I thought they were pregnant!!! I was thinking there was no way he would propose if it meant ruining their special moment...little did I know at the time that was just a cover up!
The night before he proposed, it was zero degrees in Indiana and he let me wear his jacket that whole evening. Little did I know while wearing it, but the ring was in the jacket pocket the entire time! He even took a picture of me sleeping in the car with him holding the ring out right in front of me.
The next day before dinner, Joe told me he was hungry and wanted to get ice cream before we met everyone for dinner. He took me to Handel’s, my favorite ice cream spot + the place where we had our first date. By then I was super suspicious but also confused because he didn’t seem nervous at all! We ordered our ice cream, walked around to the counter to pick it up when he grabbed my hands, told me how much he loved me, and got down on one knee. As soon as he grabbed my hands I started crying.
After he proposed, I glanced to my right to see my family, Genna and Burg, as well as my mom and Mallory taking photos + a video. Cue even more tears. Getting to share in this special moment with them was so so so precious and meant the world to me.
After giving hugs all the way around and me crying A LOT of happy tears, we took some pictures at Handel’s. Literally on cloud nine. I can’t get over this. And the RING! Joe surprised me big time there. It is even more beautiful than anything I ever could have picked out for myself! I’m obsessed to say the least.
After pictures and ice cream, we headed off to dinner with what I thought was just both of our families. There, Joe had planned for an engagement party with lots of our high school friends, our families, and three of my best friends from Alabama (Jordan, Ashley, and Kylie) to surprise me. They drove 9 hours to be there with us on that day and it truly meant everything to me. I am so hard to surprise but these girls made me cry yet AGAIN when I walked in and saw them. You can check out the amazing video that Mallory made, here!
Once back in Tuscaloosa, I had my candlelight with Alpha Chi. Being the VP of ritual and fraternal appreciation, this was even more special and something I was so looking forward to! They had the most beautiful bouquet made for me. Our pledge class all sat on the floor in a circle while the sweetheart song was sung. I got to blow out the candle in the bouquet, share about our engagement, and show everyone my ring! It was such a happy memory and something I’ll never forget.
Just as I thought all of the engagement celebrations were coming to a close, my girls pulled off the SWEETEST surprise ever. Joe was still in town, and we were planning on going to dinner with our friends Julianne and Mason. Julianne brought us to her house where she said she had a gift for me but wanted us to open it together. I was completely clueless when all of the sudden as she opened the door, a TON of people were there crowding the entryway shouting, “SURPRISE!”. I have never been so surprised in my life!!! Joe had no clue either, and it was so fun to feel so incredibly loved by our friends like this.
My girls had decorated the entire place with so much attention to detail. Lining the walls were pictures from all throughout our relationship, from when we started dating in 2016 to our engagement the previous weekend. There was a handprinted sign and some adorable engagement ring balloons. They had all of my favorite snacks and had made the cutest signs such as “he POPPED the question” and “mojitos for the myren’s”. They went above and beyond in making this night special for us and I am still absolutely floored at the work they put into this night.
They had planned games for us to play and Jordan gave the sweetest toast. I’m not sure what to call this first game but we sat back to back and they asked us questions and we had to raise the shoe of the person of who we thought it was. This was hilarious as we couldn’t see one another but everyone could see our answers. Before we had gotten there, they had people right down their best wedding hashtag ideas. We are still on the hunt for the perfect one, but these ideas had us cracking up! Jordan gave such an awesome toast and it was incredible to celebrate with everyone.
I have seriously never felt so loved and celebrated. This night was the best and we all had such a blast. I couldn’t possibly include every photo from everyone who came, but it was amazing the amount of friends that showed up to celebrate alongside of us. These are my people!!! Also, Ashley made the cutest video from the night. Check it out here!
This has been a marathon of a blog post, but the week following our engagement was just so incredible I can’t help but want to share all of the details, and thank all of the amazing people who celebrated us and made the start of this season so special. We started off our first week of being engaged attending Church of the Highlands Marriage Conference! This was the best start to this time and I am so thankful we got to go together. We walked away with lots of important notes + biblical truths. It made both of us even more excited for what’s to come!
Finally, right before Joe had to head back to California, we took our engagement pictures with the one and only Danielle Hickman! Danielle and I have become fast friends and it was only fitting that she capture these memories for us. We met up with her in Montgomery and had the best afternoon together. Photos by Danielle, the edits by me!
If you’ve made it this far, thank you so much for reading! We are beyond thrilled for everything to come and cannot wait to take on marriage together. Here’s to forever as the Myrens!
