Engagement Photos

We had our engagement pictures taken yesterday, and I am crazy-excited. When Matt bought my engagement ring, we were given a thing for a free engagement session with a local photographer. Under other circumstances, we would have skipped the whole engagement picture thing, but since they were free, we decided to go for it. I'm so glad we did.

Matt and I decided to get our pictures taken at the Art Museum, because it's always been kind of important to us as a couple, plus I've always loved that area. And I thought it would offer up a lot of great picture-taking scenarios. So we met up with our photographer (Ben Weldon from the Roggio group) yesterday down at the base of the steps. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but it ended up going really well. I definitely thought Matt would be awkward and uncomfortable, cuz he doesn't usually like to get his picture taken, and he definitely doesn't like to be the center of attention. But Ben made both of us feel really comfortable and it went quite smoothly!

We took a couple of pictures at some spots around the side of the Museum, and then headed out back and walked down Kelly Drive. We stopped at a bench outside one of the boathouses, and a guy came out to see what we were doing. When we told him, he offered to take us into the house to get some pictures there! It was the original boathouse on Boathouse Row, and we were really excited about the opportunity to take such unique pictures! I cannot wait to see how they turn out. The guy who had let us in was totally hammered, so it was pretty funny; it definitely helped to cut whatever tension and awkwardness there had been with Ben.

After the boathouse, we kept walking down Kelly Drive and got some pictures of us with the Schuylkill River in the background. I think they're going to be really pretty. We headed back down Kelly to get some more pictures at the Art Museum, since the sun was starting to go down. We stopped at the gazebo overlooking Water Works Restaurant and the river, and there was a bridal party in there. One of the bridesmaids was so excited to see us - an engaged couple - that she made Ben take a picture of us. Ben said it should be the one we put on our wine labels - ha ha! We took a few pictures in this really structural gazebo that I think are going to turn out awesome, and then headed back around to the front of the Museum for a few pictures with the skyline and the sunset.

I definitely think the pictures are going to turn out great. The few that he showed us (on the camera) were gorgeous, so I'm sure that once he "fixes" them on the computer, they'll look even better.

Links to come soon!!

**Update: here is the link to our engagement pictures on the photographer's blog.
**Update: here is the link to our photo album on Snapfish with some of our favorite pictures.

Wedding Blog

So this will be my wedding blog. As I've been planning my own wedding, I've seen a lot of these out there, and I think they're such a great idea...and awesome inspiration for me! Sometimes I feel like my thoughts are all over the place, and I have to write them down somewhere before I lose them all, and this would be such a great place to keep them all. I can catalogue them and come back to them when I need them. Yay!

So Matt proposed on New Year's Eve. I had a hunch the ring might be coming, but certainly was not trying to get my hopes up. God knows the last thing I wanted was to be disappointed come midnight! I had to work that day, but Matt was off, so when I was able to leave work, I called him and he came to pick me up at the train station. We had dinner reservations that night for a very fancy dinner in the city, but they weren't until 9:30pm, so when he picked me up at 4pm and was already all dressed up for dinner, I thought it was a little strange but didn't really think much of it. Until we walked in the front door of our house...and there were rose petals all over the floor! I immediately knew, "this was the moment!" I looked at Matt, and asked him what was up, and he just smiled and told me to follow them. They led me up the stairs to our bedroom, where there was a full bouquet of roses and a card waiting for me. I read the card, and the last line read, "So I just have question to ask you...," at which point I turned to look at him, and he was down on one knee with the ring in his hand, and asked me if I'd marry him. Through my tears and nervous laughter I think I managed something like "Of course I will," and then he stood up and we hugged and laughed and kissed and enjoyed the moment...

A few hours later we were off to our dinner at Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse in the city. What a perfect way to start off a New Year!!!

More to come soon on the progress we've made on the wedding plans and all of my crazy ideas!!