WE’RE ENGAGED! | My Proposal Story and How He Asked

Photography: Kelli McAbee

We’re Engaged!

Oh my goodness guys. After almost 5 years of dating, the time has come! WE. ARE. ENGAGED. I know, I can’t believe it either. It was the most beautiful, emotional moment I’ve ever experienced (hence the crazy amount of tears)! I couldn’t imagine anything different. It was the perfect proposal for both of us. Just as ostentatious as my extroverted–self needed and intimate enough for Will to enjoy too. Except for the occasional feature on Instagram stories, he rarely gets in front of the camera. I’m so glad he planned for us to have this post-proposal photo shoot! Of course he made me laugh and smile just like he always does. Will’s honestly the funniest person I know and that’s definitely what drew me to him in the first place (I’ll save that story for another day).

After about a year of dating, we were sure of 2 things: we’d get married once I was done with school and we didn’t want to be engaged for longer than 18 months. Since I’m graduating in the spring, I’ve pretty much been on edge since 2017 haha. The Lord was definitely teaching me patience! Will not only designed the ring himself but planned the entire proposal from start to finish! You can skip to the proposal below, but keep reading to see the backstory leading up August 25th, 2018 AKA the best day of my life!

Backstory

I hadn’t seen my sister for almost a year. Which if you knew us, you would know how crazy that is. Lola is in her final few weeks of med school in Chicago and I’m in grad school at Clemson. Between our demanding school schedules and the distance, our time together has been so limited the past couple of years! We’ve always been super close and after I had gotten sick and left my internship in San Francisco early, I figured it’d be the perfect time to see her. I begged my parents to pay for her to come to visit me in Greenville before school started and it all worked out! Which of course I realize now was feeding directly into their plan.

We were giddy for weeks thinking of all the things we were going to do: Sister photoshoots, Hair appointments with my favorite stylist in Greenville, watching Crazy Rich Asians, enjoying drinks at a rooftop bar, and just taking in this cute little town that has been my home for the past couple of months. She flew in Thursday night and we planned out our weekend from there. Everything revolved around Saturday and our sister shoot! I should probably explain that we do a horrible job taking photos of just the two of us, so this definitely wasn’t an odd request! In fact, it was ME who even offered the suggestion!

Saturday (day of the engagement)

Saturday morning came and we met with our photographer Jordan. She took some headshots for Lola’s residency applications, I shot some blog photos, and we ended with our sister pics. As we left to go order some brunch, she mentioned that she wanted to take more photos. Like, WHAT? Sis never has full-on shoots and now she’s thinking she’s Beyoncé? But who am I to question it right? Lol this obviously should’ve been a red flag. At first, I questioned it, but I just assumed it was because she was loving her new hairstyle. Or maybe she genuinely wanted photos where we were more dressed up before we went to the bars that night. I agreed because of course your girl never turns down an Insta-tunity!

We headed to the mall afterward to grab some stuff from Sephora and was getting my foundation matched by an employee. She was constantly checking her phone which AGAIN made me question everything. I asked Lola point blank, “Should I get some lashes while I’m here, ya know just in case?” *insert intense stare into my sister’s soul. She hugged me in looked into my eyes sadly and said, “I’m sorry girl it’s not happening.” Honestly, give this woman an Oscar. Between that and not rushing me to leave when we headed back out for dinner, I was convinced I was getting engaged the next time I’d see him.

The Proposal

We arrive downtown at Falls Park and we both look around for a place to take photos. She takes a couple of “test shots” for me before taking my bag and turning me around. “Sorry for lying, Tomi!”

My initial confusion went away when I saw my mom walk up the path with a single, red rose. We hug, she prays over me and says, “This is the day the Lord has made and that we’ve always prayed for”… I become teary-eyed and stroll further down the walkway to be greeted by my dad, then Will’s family, and my 3 best friends (2 of which live in Florida)! I definitely cried the most when I saw them because it just showed how much time and planning he’d put into this. *On the bright side, I now know which makeup brands to avoid wearing on my wedding day. My eyes were burning so much I almost ran back to my mom to ask for a tissue! Haha

And then walks out my handsome fiancé with a bouquet of flowers. I’m not going to share everything he said, partly because it was such a blur and also because I want that to be something special for only us to know. He gets down on one knee and says those four special words I had looked forward to for almost 5 years. And of course, I said, “ YES!…DUH!”

all of them waiting to surprise me one by one!

I can’t wait to be a wifey! Even saying the words “fiance” and “engaged” is so crazy to me. I’m overjoyed to be sharing this beautiful season in life with you all. Let me know your biggest piece of wedding advice below or what you’re looking for when it comes to wedding content on the blog!

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