Honeymoon slideshow!

More Engagement Photo's

Our Story Part II

This is the round up of courtship story begun earlier. After our first date, we started spending a lot of time on the weekends together, but it wasn't until about the fourth or fifth date that I agreed to be exclusive with Santiago.

At about week six (mid July 2007), we were at a party, and someone commented on my non-pierced ears. It is somewhat unusual for a 30+ year old woman to not have her ears pierced. I explained that my mom wouldn't let us get them pierced when we were younger, and then when I was grown, it didn't seem that important. Then I made a joke about "waiting for someone to buy me sparklies before I get them pierced". Well, little did I know that Santiago was paying very close attention to this conversation! Later in the week, I called Santiago to chat, and he said that he would call me back, because he was at the mall. I asked him what he was getting, and he was cagey and nervous and wouldn't tell me what he was doing, so I knew something was up! Friday night comes, and when I answer the door, he has his hands behind his back. He comes in, and shows me what he has in his hands, which is a burgundy bag from Helzburg Diamonds. In it was a beautiful pair of princess cut diamond stud earrings! AND he also got a pair of pearl studs! So we ran to Claires and got my ears pierced. Five weeks later I was wearing my earrings.

We continued dating through the summer and fall. He met my sisters at a family dinner in October, and spent Christmas with us, when he met my mom, of course she liked him! It was during the winter that we started to talk little more marriage, and in January we went ring shopping. I wasn't quite ready to make that commitment yet, so Santiago was very sweet and patient for me to catch up. Then in the spring 2008, we decided that the Fall was when we wanted to get married, and started looking at wedding stuff. But it's weird to be planning a wedding when you're not engaged, so Santiago proposed, and I said yes! (that's all in another post) And here we are at the present!

And here are some pics, because Santiago likes them!

Engagement Photo's

I'm so excited that we have a couple of official engagement photos to post! More will be forthcoming when the disc comes in, but this will do for now!

Registry

Before I post our registry information, I must give my most humble apologies for putting it on our blog at all. Santiago and I don't require gifts, but people tend to give them anyway. Emily Post says that it is OK to list this information on the couples wedding website, so we are, as a convenience for the guests who are interested. We are registered at Bed Bath & Beyond and Lowes.

Our Story Part 1

We've had a few requests that we put the story of how we met, and our courtship up on the blog, so here's the Readers Digest Version:



We met in May 2007 at a church Single Adult dance. I (Holly) love to dance, but there were very few men that actually will dance at the dances, so when I saw Santiago on the floor dancing away, I was interested. A little later in the evening he asked me to dance, and we shared a couple of dances. After the dance, we went to IHOP with a few other people and talked a little. He asked for my number, and I gave it to him. We talked on the phone a couple of times, but nothing happened. We met again in June at the church SA dance, and this time, something clicked. After the dance, we went to this awful sports bar and watched and laughed at some drunk housewives dance on each other to a bad cover band.



Santiago called me the next day and arranged a date for the following Saturday. We arranged to go to Stone Mountain, which is a local attraction. We met in the afternoon and drove down, and there was not a lack of conversation at all. We rode the train, and went to the top of the mountain, and then took our picnic to the lawn.


This is really where Santiago hit a big homerun. He had the best picnic packed, in a Real picnic basket! And to top it off, he had a beautiful rose for me tucked away in there as well. So we had a wonderful feast of cold ham, smoked gouda, crakers, Cheesecake Factory cheesecake, and chocolate covered strawberries. (see why I love him?) As we were finishing dinner, the only cloud in the sky covered the lawn and burst open. We shrieked and pulled the waterproof ground cover out from under the blanket and threw it over our heads and the basket. Of course we had to huddle close together to keep from getting wet, and while we were so close, of course it's very natural to, well, you know! ;)

It continued to rain for the next hour, and we "waited" it out under the waterproof cover. We still ended up getting soaked, but we did not care at all. After the cloud moved on, it was dark, and the laser show started. This is a fun event in ordinary times, but that night, it was magical. The fireworks of the show served as exclamation points to the fireworks between Santiago and I. The whole day was like a movie, and the evening was the happy ending of a RomCom.

After the show,we cleaned up as best we could and made our way back to Santiago's car. We were wet, tired, and very happy with the events of the day.

The next steps in our courtship will follow....

Dresses!

This weekend, on a whim, Santiago and decided to go look at wedding dresses, which is funny, because I already have my dress. I tried a couple on, took some pictures, and it was awesome being a "princess bride" for a minute, but it was good to come back to reality aftwards.

BTW... Don't we make beautiful brides? ;)
(also, sorry the pictures aren't that great, they were taken with Santiago's camera phone)

Photos!

We took some time off from the rigours of wedding planning to enjoy a weekend of leisure, and to remember why exactly we're getting married anyway!

Here are some photo's! I hope you enjoy them!

Date is set!

Yay! We have set the Date! Our ring ceremony and reception will be Saturday, October 25, 2008!

The location is Roswell River Landing, in Roswell, Ga. It's so pretty, and right on the Chattahoochee River!

Here's a lovely picture:

The inside is nice too, but I can't snag those off the internet, so this will have to suffice.

Now comes all the work! ;)

It's Official!

Yes, family and friends, it is officially official! Santiago asked me to marry him on Friday, April 25, at approximately 9:30pm at Pastis Restaurant in Roswell, GA. It was very romantic. We smooched a lot!

He knew that I pretty much knew what was going on, so he tried to convince me we were just going out to dinner to celebrate his "real" birthday (that's an entirely different story). But I knew what was up from the first. He made reservations for Pastis in the Old Town Square of Roswell, Ga. It's a cute little french place in an old converted storefront. When he came to my house already dressed in his suit (jacket and all!), it made me more sure. I had spent the previous evening on the phone with a friend picking out my outfit, so I was ready to go when he got to my house. Our reservations were for 7:15, and we left my place right at 7pm. The day had been misty, so there was a beautiful rainbow in the sky. I told Santiago that God was showing his approval for the night, and he agreed. I didn't want to let on too much that I had my suspicions, but Santiago had a good idea what was going on in my head. When a girl thinks she's about to be proposed to, she can't help but be all glowy!

We arrived at the restaurant and they seated us upstairs, which is the main dining room. Pastis is a quaint little place, it has wood floors, a big fireplace, and quirky but beautiful modern art on the walls. We had a delicious meal (I had the duck, he had the pork roast), and talked about our upcoming plans. We've been unofficially engaged for several weeks, so talking about the preliminary plans for our wedding was not uncommon for us. After dinner, we paid our tab and moved downstairs to where the action was.

Downstairs was a much more intimate space, with lower lighting, the bar, and the little jazz ensemble was swinging. We ordered dessert, and Santiago was feeding it to me. It was all very romantic and sensual; he had me close my eyes and imagine as if that dessert was the last food I was ever going to eat, to savor it and get every last bit of pleasure from it. When I opened my eyes, the ring box was in front of me, open, and he had a big, impish grin on his face. He was radiating light, really, I will never forget the look on his face, or the love in his eyes at that moment.

He said, "Holly, will you marry me?"

I squealed a tiny bit and said, "Yes! oh my gosh, it's so beautiful!"

He took the ring out of the box and put it on my finger. Really, wow. That's all I can say!


We leaned over the table and kissed, and although it was a tiny table, it was still difficult to reach, so I scooted my chair to the side, so I could be near him. We smooched and spoke sweet words of love softly to each other for the next half hour or so. I guess we were making a scene, because our server came to ask us "if we needed anything else". I then flashed her the international sign of "I just got engaged!", and she quickly backed off to give us some privacy.

At about 10:15pm, we floated out of the restaurant to the car. The night was so beautiful, so we took the long route home with the windows rolled down, enjoying the fresh air tinged with rain. I couldn't resist taking a picture of my important finger immediatly, so I pulled out my camera phone and took a picture in the car.


When we got home, the first thing we did, of course, was to take pictures of the ring, and ourselves!

The first phone call was to my mom (of course!) She was very happy, and gave us her blessing. The camera phone picture I sent her hadn't yet arrived, so she said she would call us as soon as it came in. While waiting for her call, I called a couple of friends, who were already asleep.

Lauren, who had guessed what was going to happen that night, changed her voicemail message. It said, "This is Lauren and I'm asleep right now. If this is Holly calling to tell me she engaged, Congratulations! Yay! Otherwise leave me a message".

Santiago loved that message so much, he had me call six or seven times to listen to it. He even recorded it on his digital recorder so he could listen to it again. We did leave her a message.

My mom called back to say she recieved the picture of the ring. She thought it was beautiful as well. But really, how could she not?! Earlier in the week, she sent Santiago a birthday card, and he thanked her for it.

She replied, "What I wanted to write in it, but didn't, was that I didn't send you a present because I'm already giving you the most precious thing I have!". That made me a little teary, but I hadn't yet cried that night, so I powered through and held it in. :)

By now it was just past midnight and no one else was up, we decided it was time to declare victory and call it a night. Santiago said a very reluctant and smoochy "goodbye" at my door and drove home. I managed to stay awake until he called to say he was home safe, and then I collapsed into bed and immediately fell asleep.

The next morning, when I woke up and felt an unfamiliar weight on my left ring finger, I put my hand to my face to look, and squealed all over again, falling back into bed laughing from pure joy. I was officially engaged to the man I loved most in the world.