A year ago Peter and I were in Paris. He had managed to get an approval to do some research for his dissertation in a very selective archive and I had recently graduated from college. The boss of my internship turned part-time job (later to become my current full-time job) allowed me to work a bit from Paris. Knowing that another opportunity to spend two months abroad would be hard to come by, I had diligently saved my money and planned very carefully to maximize our experience. Let me tell you, the planning was worth it. Every day when we walked out our front door this is what we saw.
Yup, we spent a couple months living under the Sacre Coeur. Peter would go off to study for a couple hours everyday and I would sleep in and then wander the streets or read in a cafe. It was quite heavenly. Then one particular day (March 16, 2009) Peter and I decided it would be really romantic to have a picnic under the Eiffel Tower. At sunset, after he finished his research for the day, he met me at a vintage shop and we walked over to the Eiffel Tower.
We took a million pictures along the way, most of which have the Eiffel Tower peaking out in the background.
The whole time I just remember us laughing, hugging, kissing, pausing for pictures, and laughing some more.
We arrived right as it was really getting dark. The lights on the tower were lit and it gave off such a magical glow from above.
We took our little tote filled with a loaf of bread, a bottle of wine, and some Comte cheese to a nice grassy area. Peter was surprisingly particular about which grassy area we should pick. (I now know that he was worried that if it was too dark, I wouldn’t know what he was doing–doubtful, but it makes a lot more sense.) We selected a spot. Peter spread out the blanket and then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Right when we kissed the tower started to twinkle. It does this about once an hour, but in the moment of him asking, us kissing, and then the tower sparkling, everything just felt so picturesque. It was terribly romantic. We hugged and kissed and felt really excited together. Then, we opened our tote and shared our simple dinner.
Afterward we didn’t rush to call our families. We just spent time together, walking, talking, and enjoying the magnitude of what had just happened. A lot of this happened over dessert. 
Yum!
The ring that Peter proposed with was a simple ring that I had liked in a shop. Awhile before this we had talked about how if we ever got engaged I would want to help pick out the ring. I feel like its such a symbol of the decision that we both made to spend the rest of our lives together, but the one he picked is so meaningful to us as well. I love that he listened to me as I made some off-hand reference that I liked this ring and went out and bought it for me while I was away.
When we got home we had this one made. I could probably write a book on the things that I learned while shopping for diamonds. I will definitely dedicate an entire post to it at some point in the future. It’s a very terrifying process and the more you know about it, the better off you are. Today is not that day. Today is the date the marks exactly one year from when my fiance and I committed to spending the rest of our lives together.
(Sadly, the Hello Kitty car is not ours.)
Happy Tuesday. I’ll be back tomorrow with the fabulous surprise that Peter had for me for our engagiversary. Get excited because it is home related.
I’ve mentioned before that Peter and I are engaged. My sweet nerd asked me to marry him about eleven months ago. All this time we’ve been tossing around grand ideas and setting a few things in stone but now its really time to actually start putting together all the pieces. Recently we’ve spent a lot of time pouring over thrift stores to find some details that will seems a little more unique to us.
Isn’t the top of this vase amazing?
The thing that I love so much about this idea is that all of these items are out on display in the house. (Well, two of the swans are. We actually bought 16.) We’re happy that we’re not just wasting money on things that we’ll have no use for after the wedding and since our friends are so used to seeing these things in our home, it’ll make the wedding feel that much more like us.
For all you married folks out there: what were some of your favorite things from your wedding decor?
We’ve received so many visitors to our site looking for engagement photo ideas that we’ve decided to start a second blog! Our new blog, Pictured in Love, will be completely focused on engagement photos. Head on ever for a little bit of eye candy with a lot more to come. And don’t worry, Starting Out Savvy will continue to provide you with tips and tricks to facilitate your life.
I asked Erica Janke and Amanda Heptner from Blush Bridal Lounge what advice they had for brides looking to buy a perfect wedding gown and here is what they told me.
- Be open-minded! Brides often come into a store expecting to buy a simple dress and leave with something a bit more extravagant or vice-versa. Be open to trying on different dresses and you may leave with something you’d never imagined.
- Bring three pictures of different styles of dresses that you like. Models in magazines look completely different than girls in real life. Use magazine to get an idea of the style that you like but try not to get set on something until you try it on. The way a dress fits a real, healthy girl will look much different than the way it fits an airbrushed model.
- Be patient! Most girls never have that “THIS-IS-THE-ONE!!” moment. Try on a lot of dresses and think about them after you are done shopping for the day. It’s a big purchase and chances are your dress will become the one that you can’t get off your mind.
- Ask a lot of questions. You’ve probably never done this before so it’s OK to ask what something means. You’re spending a lot of money on your dress so make sure that you get all the information.
- Decide what you think before you get the opinions of your friends and family. This is your day and you have to feel comfortable. Blush Bridal Lounge actually asks mothers and friends not to say anything about a dress until the bride says what she thinks. This helps the bride chose a dress for herself rather than getting pressured into something that someone else wants.
- Ask more from your vendors. Vendors sometimes get stuck in a rut and it’s up to you to push them to do the best job possible. That goes for all vendors.
Please go visit Blush Bridal Lounge. If you haven’t figured this out already, Erica and her team know how offer good customer service, which is extremely rare in the bridal industry. As we walked through the bridal lounge she answered many questions without ever making me feel inferior. One last bit of advice from Erica: I asked what it was like opening a business in this economy and Erica said “If you have an idea, JUST DO IT!” She assured me that this is really a great time for new businesses, because it’s much easier to negotiate on things like rent. Erica is truly an inspiring person and her store is filled with beauty. If you’re in the market for a wedding dress or even a cocktail dress, then please check them out.
“There are no bridezillas—just momzillas and friendzillas.”
Erica has lived in Austin for 14 years now and has worked in the bridal industry for nine. Through her experience she noticed that shopping for dresses had become stuffy and intimidating for brides. After seeing just one dress by Enzoani, Erica was inspired to open her own shop. Most non-bridal-industry folks don’t know this, but larger gown designers give exclusive rights to sell their gowns to one store in an area. This fact cleared up so much confusion about my dress shopping experience. When Erica came across the Enzoani dress she knew that her dream of opening a bridal lounge could become a reality and her reality is beautiful.
The store is located in an old house that Erica decorated with a mixture of beautiful old and new accessories. The modern gray lovebird wallpaper complements a pink chandelier and an old armoire that Erica bought at a consignment shop and had refinished (Can you see why I love this girl?). Erica chose to open a bridal lounge rather than a salon or boutique, because she wanted girls to feel comfortable hanging out. When you walk into this old house you can sense that they’re having fun and that instantly puts you at ease. Amanda Heptner, one of the two other members of Erica’s team, told us that shopping for dresses is intimidating for brides, because it’s a major purchase and it’s something that they’ve never done before. Vendors are condescending, so girls are afraid to try to get the information they need. Erica told us that Blush Bridal is different because they’re excited about what they’re doing and they want to make brides comfortable and happy. Erica said that she will find a bride a dress no matter what her budget is. She just wants girls to be happy. She told us about one bride who came to Blush in tears because she was so frustrated with the experience that she’d had. Erica and her staff spent thirty minutes hanging out with the girl and searching the web to find something that she could afford. The perfect dress for this girl wasn’t at Blush but Erica sent her to a local vintage store and even called ahead to ensure that the store was expecting her. Doesn’t that sound like someone you would want to do business with?
I asked Erica and Amanda what advice they had for brides looking for their perfect wedding dress. Check back in a bit to see what they told me.
