It’s been a week today, and I still can’t believe Dustin and I are ENGAGED! The outpouring of love from everyone has been so immense and we SO appreciate it! I wanted to share a little bit about how it happened, why it was SO sweet and sentimental, AND I’m answering the most popular question I’ve been asked for years: who will be doing photos for MY wedding. (that still sounds so crazy to say!!)

Last Wednesday was our 7 year anniversary together, and, like any girl who’s been in a solid relationship more than 3+ years, I got my nails painted juuuuuuust in case, no shame there 🙂 We had planned to go to our favorite fishing spot, that we’ve gone to for years, but the weather called for thunderstorms, so our plan was to “play it by ear.”

Before I get into the good stuff, I wanted to share some of my favorite photos throughout the years from our little fishing spot. Look how little Ry was!!! 

I loved this photo of Nikko so much, that I had a painting done!!

So, as you can see, there have been a lot of great memories made at our little spot, and this is the place that Dustin first told me he loved me 🙂

Surprisingly, the thunderstorms held off, the sun came out and we were on our way. I was pretty convinced that nothing was going to happen, he played it super cool, and was pretty engulfed with fishing for the first half hour we were there, LOL. Honestly, I was just happy to be there, beer in hand, no one else there, just being able to sit, chat and relax. We started talking about how much has happened in the last 7 years, and before I knew it, he was down on one knee and I was UGLY crying. He said the sweetest things, and I was so incredibly overwhelmed with happiness, and even though I figured it would happen eventually (you tend to assume these sort of things when you share a life, bills, mortgage etc. together) but I don’t think I could have been any more excited and surprised. I was over the moon happy, especially since this is how I had always hoped that it would happen, alone together at one of my favorite places that already has SO many sweet memories. Dustin totally and completely exceeded my hopes, expectations, everything. I could not have been more happy!

Clearly, considering my hair and lack of makeup, I was pretty convinced this was just a regular fishing trip LOL, but I chose not to slap a filter on these photos, or do any edits, because I want to remember and cherish everything, exactly how it was from this day 🙂

So now that it’s been a week, the joy and surprise certainly hasn’t worn off yet, I can’t believe that he is my FIANCE!! But, I am a little overwhelmed, but definitely excited, about the fact that now I have to actually plan my OWN wedding!! I think it’s a little bit of a blessing and a curse that I am SO emerged into weddings for work, over the years, I certainly have learned a few things, and I’m doing my best to take my own advice, and soak up every minute. The past week has been filled with LOTS of questions, so I figured I’d answer them below!

Do You Have A Date Set? 

Not officially yet, but we have been tossing around July 17th 2021, which is already our anniversary, AND the day he proposed 🙂 Again, I’m all about that sentimental stuff!!

What About A Venue? 

Nope. Haha! Again, taking a page out of my own book (literally) and a venue will be the first thing we lock down. There are a few contenders, but we’ll see!

How Come No One Took Photos Of The Proposal?

I know that some of you may think this is super hypocritical, but I was actually thrilled that it was JUST Dustin and I when it happened. I always kind of thought that I would want photos, but now that it’s happened, it makes it extra special that it was just us and there were absolutely no distractions. I still heavily encourage photographing proposals, but I think for me personally, it was nice to just focus on us and soak in the moment.

Will You Take Time Off? 

For those who know me, know that I will probably be photographing a wedding the week before and week after my own wedding 🙂 There will be a few weekends blocked off for my wedding festivities, but my goal is to have those those dates already blocked off before way ahead of time, to be able to accommodate the best I can. We will be waiting to go on a honeymoon until the colder months, so that won’t affect anything either. 2 members of my wedding party are also getting married, so I will be blocking their dates off as well, of course!

Who Will Take Your Wedding Photos?

Okay, this is legitimately the thing I’m stressed out about the MOST. The easy answer would be to just have my team members shoot my wedding, BUT, I am totally against this, because they are some of my closest friends, and I want nothing more than for them to be able to come and celebrate WITH me. However, Greg, will be ordained and he’ll be the one to marry us!! Plus, I want to be able to be a BRIDE, and I feel like I would micromanage a little bit if I had my team photograph my own wedding haha! I’m certainly anxious, because aside from actually getting married, this is the MOST important thing to me. I know that there are other PHENOMENAL wedding photographers out there, and I am SO excited to start chatting with them, and I’m very excited to be “on the other side” 🙂

So there you have it! Our proposal story, and some of the most frequent questions I’ve been asked. I am holding off until the end of this wedding season to really get into the nitty-gritty of wedding planning, and until then, I plan on enjoying and soaking up this chapter! I figured the best way to wrap this up was to share a little ring shot action that I did, with MY OWN RING!! Ahh!! Still feels surreal!! 🙂