Where does it all come from?

I happily admit to wandering about the bridal blog circuit on a daily basis- on the constant prowl for both inspiration and a smattering of pretty things to make me smile. Still, on occasion (or pretty much everyday) I am led to wonder, how do all of these people pay for this? The food looks five star, the venue is lit like Christmas, the altar draped in flowers, all designed by a top-dollar planner and shot by photographers who have the prowess to make everything look possibly better than it did in reality (and receive paychecks to match). Now, thank goodness I am marrying into a family of photographers, and am a member of a religion that graciously provides gorgeous marriage locations free of rental fees, but even I have to sigh. When I email a discount bridal retailer for a bridesmaid dress quote and it comes back as $500 I can't help but cringe at this industry. And yet another side of me wonders if the old adage, "You get what you pay for" is really true.

Of course, there's also the adage, "The best things in life are free..."

The major wedding planning month is almost upon us, so I suppose time will only tell. Advice?

Proposal Sketches

So I've finally conceded to all the demands and have compiled Sister Kirk's pair of sketches together below. I've had these pictures sitting on my camera for ages and apologize to all you patient people out there. In the end I blame school (Ochemistry midterm in twenty four and a half hours, wooo!) and present to you, without further ado:

The Proposal Sketches!

The first was sketched for about ten/fifteen minutes. Pretty much what Joseph was going to "pay" her to do for us. Sis Kirk did a great job, especially with the both of us looking around rather than at her. She even chastised Joseph for looking at me too much. Daw!

So when I saw this I was still completely clueless.

Cue Joseph dropping the ring, giving me a few seconds to take in Picture #2.

You really have to squint to see the ring. Can you see it?

How about now?

It took me just as long to realize its presence, and by the time I had started squinting at the hand-holding-a-ring-shaped outline Joseph had dropped to one knee.

And the rest, they say, is perfect proposal history.

And so begins the Kristin Mickelson Project

On November 7th, 2009 my lovely boyfriend was given the Saturday off, presenting a marvelous date opportunity. And so, a pair of our friends (a newly married couple) joined us on an outing to Laguna Beach for a day of window shopping and art museums. The weather was to die for perfect as we drove in; the beach was just pleasantly occupied with volleyball players, a few sunbathers and even an artist sitting out practicing on passerbys (you better believe I was jealous). We parked and tried to decide where we wanted to head first- food, museum, walk, no one wants to choose. Finally, Joseph took charge and just started leading us down toward the beach, down the boardwalk and, to my surprise, right up to the sketching artist we had spied on our way in. "Do you think you could do a sketch of us if we paid you?" As you can imagine, I was beyond shocked that Joseph, my Joseph, was doing something this outta the ordinary. He had said that this outing was to make up for our lack of  really going out on dates and he was winning bucko points. She agreed and we settled down on a bench to chat, Joseph's heart going a mile a minute. After she had finished, she called us over to see the sketch of our faces. I looked it over as Joseph dropped something and was bending down to pick it up (that's my boy). The artist then flipped the page to a second, more refined sketch of Joseph...proposing. I looked down and he was down on one knee with a ring in his hand.

Of course, I said Yes!

 

And so Joseph introduced me to Sister Kirk, his friend Cody's mom who had been planted there for the PERFECT proposal. And I do mean that in every sense of the word.

The rest of the day consisted of much enjoying the beauty of Laguna with our friends, eating a delicious Italian lunch and gellato, and calling/texting all our closest with the news. I did not think it was possible to be any happier than I was on the way there, but Joseph has proved to me, once again, that nothing is impossible.

 

Let the planning begin!