I'm Engaged To My Childhood Crush!
When I was 6 years old I had a crush on this 7 year old boy with blue eyes and freckles. Eventually he moved away and we both grew up separately from one another. When I was 18 I saw his blue eyes again for the first time since Elementary School. We slowly reconnected and took our time filling in the blanks of the last twelve or so years. Long phone calls turned into even longer Skype calls which turned into flying across the country for our first date. The cutest boy in Kindergarten turned into a 26 year old man and my childhood crush returned- stronger than ever. One June 27th, 2020, Nineteen years after we first met, that blue-eyed boy took me to an apple orchard and asked me to marry him. He was my first crush, and my last. It was the happiest moment of my life.
Life may have taken us in different directions, and even to different parts of the country, but we still somehow found our way back to each other. And now I’m engaged to my childhood crush.
Here are some drawings of me and my fiance’ that I scribbled in my diary when I was 6 years old:
He proposed to me with the most beautiful ring,
My ring is from Brilliant Earth and contains a beautiful, ethically sourced, pear-shaped diamond. I love that I can wear my ring proudly knowing it was created through responsible and sustainable methods. (Not sponsored, of course! I’m just a big fan of Brilliant Earth and the work they’re doing to change the diamond industry.)
I’m not joking when I say he received ZERO help from me or my friends/family. I guess he has a pretty good understanding of my personal style and preferences. Regardless of how he managed to pull this off, I couldn’t be happier!
So then I realized, I have to plan a wedding.
So then I realized- I have to plan a wedding. Being the most stereotypical female on the planet, I’ve had pretty much every detail mapped out since I was little (aside from that brief phase where I wanted to get married at Sea World, but we won’t acknowledge that). Of course, it only took me a few days to learn my first big lesson;
Planning a wedding on Pinterest is nothing like planning a wedding in real life
It’s so easy to pin a photo of a romantic Hawaiian wedding ceremony in front of a waterfall and think, “I’m going to do that one day.” The problem is once you actually have to figure out the logitics, like ‘can my friends and family afford to attend my Hawaiian wedding extravaganza? and ‘how do I get a Catholic priest to perform a ceremony under a waterfall?’ It’s easy to plan a beautifully lavish event in your head, but in actuality there are lot of moving parts and technicalities that get in the way.
Follow My Wedding Plans on Pinterest!
You can check out every single detail of my wedding and see exactly where my mind is at in terms of decor.
So, you're essentially a bridesmaid at this point.
I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that many of my original wedding plans may not be practical, or possible.
I know this process is guaranteed to contain a few bumps in the road so I figured it would be helpful to chronicle this journey and all the lessons I will inevitably learn along the way. Plus, let’s me honest, I’ll need an outlet for venting (and the occasional temper tantrum).
Unlike all of the wedding advice blogs out there, I am coming at this from a place of admitted ignorance.
Unlike all the thousands of wedding advice blogs out there, I am coming at this from a place of admitted ignorance. I have no idea what I’m doing, and I have a thousand questions swirling around in my head. I’m not sharing this experience under the assumption that I somehow will unlock the secret to stress-free wedding planning. Instead, I hope that I can share a more realistic experience from the perspective of someone who doesn’t claim to know all the answers right away. I want to offer a more authentic view into the process of planning a wedding because I think the internet is over-saturated with impractical examples and impersonal perspectives.
Let's get everything out in the open,
I want to be completely transparent about my mindset going into this, so I’ve compiled a list of all the questions and concerns I have so far regarding wedding planning. For example, how am I going to stop myself from buying wedding decorations from Dollar Tree?! If you’re not already familiar with my Dollar Tree obsession, click here to check out my post about Redecorating Your House at Dollar Tree.
I’m sure in a few months I’ll look back at this and laugh for one reason or another, but isn’t that the point? I’m fully accepting the fact that I’m going to make a fool of my myself many, many times throughout this journey Also, lots of crying.
As I find myself in the very early stages of wedding planning, these are the questions and concerns I have floating around in my head,
- Am I actually obligated to give my single guests a plus one?
- How do you plan for a big social gathering during a seemingly never-ending pandemic?
- How do I plan a timeless wedding that won’t look super outdated in photos ten years from now?
- How do I know when I’m being thrifty, and when I’m just being cheap?
- How do I arrange a Catholic ceremony out of state?
- How do I let go of the fact that I can’t do everything myself?
- Can I realistically enforce an “unplugged” ceremony?
- How can I tell when something’s only a good idea in my head?
- How do I stop myself from getting emotional every time something goes wrong?
I will be posting regular updates to this series and offering open and honest discussion on every topic from dress shopping to monogram napkins. If you’re reading this several months in the future (hey, how’s it going?) or just want to see if there have been any updates, I’ve created a page just for this series. (link below)
Stay Connected
Follow My Northern Charm on Social Media