In 2019 I was selected to be a guest bride blogger for The Coordinated Bride Blog. This is my first entry describing how we met and the surprise proposal! You can find all of my blog entries on the Wedding Tab of the website.
I am a 30-year-old bride-to-be, who has been dreaming about being married for 45 years! Ironically, I could never picture my wedding with an actual groom until a month or so after meeting Terrence. I was fresh off of heartbreak and done with dating for a while. He had just ended the longest relationship of his adult life. We went into the relationship planning to just be friends. 5.5 years, long-distance, new jobs, cohabitation, and a Ph.D. later, I FINALLY got my ring!!
Once upon a time — How We Met
I was out with some girlfriends in Minneapolis and the line to get in the club was SUPER long. I saw a few cute guys near the front so I crawled under the rope and was like, “Hey can we cut?” They were all like “HELL YEAH!” His friends were really chatty but he didn’t say much. Once we got inside he said, “Yo, I know the bartender, let me get you a drink.” He returned with an Amaretto Sour of all things (I was so unimpressed).
The night got crazy so we left without exchanging numbers. A few days later I get a call from him saying he heard some new Sorors were in town and wanted to make sure we were settling in okay. He totally acted like he didn’t know me! Little did I know he had asked someone else for my number but didn’t want to seem like a creeper lol. That week we talked on the phone all night, every night, like teenagers. One night I was hungry and he was bored so we decided to hit up a diner. Keep in mind I was not interested in dating…I showed up in sweats, a ponytail, and zero effort to impress him.
Fast-forward to a month of hanging out and one day it hit me, “I think I like him!” From that day on I was super nervous and weird around him until he finally confessed that he was into me but didn’t want to start anything. He was leaving to start his Ph.D. in the fall. We couldn’t deny the attraction no matter how hard we tried. As he drove off headed for Atlanta, I got a text that read: 1-4-3. I called him and said, “I knew you loved me, why didn’t you just say it?” 3 months later I moved to Atlanta and the rest is history!
How he proposed:
Let me quickly share my headspace the week of the proposal. I had been a bridesmaid 10 times and literally, EVERYONE around me was getting engaged. I had just flown to NY the week before for my linesister’s engagement. I also knew my cousin and friend were both getting engaged in July. Needless to say, I had a permanent attitude for the month of June. Top it with the fact that he had been Doctor Jordan (ie. Done with school) for nearly 6 months, I loved him but I was FED UP!!
I was home in Indiana visiting family and my mom put together a BBQ so I could see everyone. I had been hoping every day for the last year that it was “the day”, and this day was no different. I obsessed over what to wear, spent 2 hours on my twist out, and added an extra touch of highlighter. When he text me from Atlanta saying he was going to Urgent Care, I sadly thought it wasn’t happening. All-day he had been texting updates and telling me about The Wire, which he was re-watching for the 100th time. I really had no hope left and was kind of down about it.
Little did I know, he was really around the corner at my sister’s house. Not in Atlanta or watching The Wire. A few hours into the BBQ, on the hottest day ever. My cousin put $50 on the line to get me out of the house to play corn hole. As we are playing everyone starts taking out their phones to record “game point.” I was like it’s not that deep…oh wait something is happening!
My 3-year-old nephew runs out of the house with a ring box and goes “Tee Tee this is for you!” I open it and the box was EMPTY! I have now bent over asking “Carson what is going on? This is not funny” and he is shrugging and smiling while everyone else is laughing and recording.
I then look up and see Terrence walking out of my parents’ house. I literally throw the box and turn my back as tears are streaming down my face. He grabs my hand and gets down on one knee and I completely left my body! It was really loud so I got down with him and he was looking like “What are you doing?” After 5.5 years, I did not want to miss a word!
Once he said all of the sweet things, faces started to appear in the growing crowd. I saw he flew in my cousin and his best friend from Atlanta! His family had driven up from Milwaukee and of course, my entire family was there. I was so shocked my mom had to yell, “Let him put the ring on!” It was absolutely perfect!
Planning for #ForeverJordan:
I am the planner of the group and my Fiancé is so spoiled by my research abilities. This event was no different. He asked me to send him “the spreadsheet” and then we could talk. I had my spreadsheet of locations, pros and cons, prices, and commentary. But I sat on it for a few weeks to pretend like I didn’t already have everything planned.
We have known for the last few years that we wanted to do a destination wedding to cut costs. Even though it’s shaping up to be just as expensive as a traditional wedding lol. So all we had to do was select the location. 1,000 podcasts/videos/blogs and 2 travel agents later, we have landed on Dreams Playa Mujeres in Mexico.
The bridal party proposals have been sent and my mom and I just got back from our site visit. Save-the-Dates will be mailed this week! I am in 2 weddings next year on top of mine. So I am trying to get as much done in advance, as possible.
In the few months that we have been engaged, Terrence is shaping up to be a bit of a groomzilla. lol, but we are so very excited to celebrate our love with friends and family in Mexico next year!
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