4 posts tagged “engagement”

So after we went public with the engagement there we got a lot of lovely reactions from people. My mum to Stu: 'You're brave'. My dad to Stu: 'That heat must have made you crazy', which, after a stern look from me got changed to 'I mean it made you come to your senses!'. :P I think on the whole everyone seemed to be very pleased though and we got a lot of gorgeous cards (all of which I'm going to save, I'm starting a scrapbook soon!) - thank you for those. <3

While in England we got treated to a celebratory dinner by Stu's parents. Which was very nice indeed. The whole importance of what happened really hits you when you see how it affects the people around you. I've always felt very welcomed by Stu's family, but it's still a different feeling thinking that I'll be actually officially 'one of them', by name and all. A nice feeling. I can only hope I'll live up to it! :P

Right after getting engaged we were quite adamant that we wanted to have wedding ceremony 'just for us'. As we're planning a roadtrip across the US next summer, one idea was to go and get hitched in Las Vegas. The classic kitch option. :D But in the end we came to the conclusion that we couldn't, and wouldn't want to, exclude our nearest and dearest from the day. So, what's most likely to happen is a small (and I mean small) ceremony in Finland after which we'll leave for our 'honeymoon' roadtrip. Provided of course that we can afford both... Not having family there on the day would just somehow seem wrong, especially after all the support we've received.

- Marianne

In theory, this will be the fourth post today. :D Erm. But not really, because I have slept in between and done a full day of work and stuff. Anyways, never mind. I'm sure I'll slow down once I've gotten the foundation stuff out of the way...

We got the rings back from being sized and engraved today. It's nice to finally have proper rings and no funny 'practice' ones (which made S's finger green :D). Of course, mine is too big... When we went ring shopping it was really really hot and my fingers were obviously swollen or something. I knew the size was bigger than my normal but the saleslady insisted that it can't be any smaller... :| One day I'll learn to trust my own judgement. Don't know how much it'll cost to make the ring smaller, but in any case I'll just have to cope with it for a while since I'm leaving for England on friday and have no time to sort it out now.

Finding rings was an impossibly difficult task. I thought I had a clear idea of what I wanted, but all the more chunkier styles that I'd been thinking about looked awful on me! And each ring that I could have fallen in love with was waaay over our budget. Well, I can't help having expensive taste can I. :P It was the maid of honour who suggested I try this ring on, it wasn't something I would have even looked at myself... and as if by magic it looked really nice! I never thought 'my style' would be so traditional looking.

I've never owned diamonds of any sort before in my life. There's a few teeny tiny ones on the ring (which we can change into a massive one when S gets rich, obviously. :P) and it sparkles like mad. It's strange. I keep on glancing at my finger all the time. While waiting to get it I was really worried I'd done a hasty decision (never mind that we went to way more than 10 jewelers) but now that it's on my finger I'm very pleased. Love it. :D

- Marianne

While on holiday in Italy in July 2006 (to celebrate my 30th birthday) we stayed in Venice for one day and night. It was hellishly hot, especially during the day, but we managed to get the most romantic hotel room ever - with air conditioning! From the get-go the whole 24 hours we spent in the city seemed somehow... perfect. I did think it would be such a perfect place (and date!) to get engaged, but S seemed oblivious to my thoughts...

I was so happy to be with him in Venice because I'd always wanted him to see this magical place, it was gorgeous finally being able to watch how the city charmed him. During the day we went for a lazy ride on the Vaporetto, just taking in the scenery and letting the breeze of sea air cool us off a bit. We went for strolls and took a lot of pictures, and returned to our hotel just behind Piazza San Marco for cold showers and a blast of air con when ever the heat got the best of us.

When the night fell and majority of the tourists abandoned the city we went for a long walk, getting blisfully lost on the narrow alleyways, discovering lovely little cafes and restaurants around the unlikeliest of corners, feeling like we were lost in an old romantic movie or on the pages of a novel.

Eventually we found our way back to Piazza San Marco, which looked truly magical with all the lights glistening and the candles on the tables of cafes flickering. We decided to go for a drink in one of the cafes, knowing full well the prices were astronomical, thinking it would be worth it. And it certainly was... even if we had to pay a premium for the musicians at the cafe and even though we could have gotten at least three times the amount of drinks somewhere else for what we paid there. It was totally worth it. For a brief moment I truly felt like a film star, or one of those heroins in books. The atmosphere was something else!

To be honest, that seemed like the perfect ending to a perfect day and at that point I'd kind of given up hope on any sort of proposal - but it was ok. It was then that S got a bit peculiar and wanted to go somewhere to eat. I didn't feel like eating at all because it was so hot, but I went along with it. We had a nice little meal on a campo close to the hotel. Afterwards S insisted that we go for a little walk along Canal Grande. I thought he was acting a bit funny at that point. :P We walked in silence for a while and then I stopped underneath the column of San Marco to admire the beauty of the Dodge's Palace at night when S came up behind me and whispered in my ear 'Will you marry me?'! I was completely thrown off and managed a meek 'OK' as a reply (I did say 'Yes' properly later). :D When a few minutes later it chimed 11pm from the bell tower, I realised he'd waited until my favourite time of day (22:55) to do it. Gobsmacked I tell you! No matter how much I wished for it, I certainly never saw it coming. 

So... that was the story of the proposal. It was certainly the most romantic, perfect day of my life thus far. <3

The next day, on the train away from Venice, I felt so blisfully content. I'd had the most perfect day and night, was newly engaged, had cold water and a good book. It was one of those rare 'I'm in this moment and I appreciate how perfect it is' realisations that give life a meaning.

- Marianne

Well, for a moment I was confused about what to do with an invite to VOX. And then it hit me. I've been meaning to start a
'wedding blog' that would follow our plans through the engagement and keep those who wanted to know up to date on our ideas. That way I don't need to bore anyone with wedding stuff on my normal blog either.

Now I just need to learn how to use this thing and maybe find a way that Stu could also write entries if he felt like it...

I'll update with a bit of a background story and the tale of our engagement shortly.

- Marianne