5. engagement/bridal pictures: let’s see them!

We had our engagement pictures taken 2 months before the wedding. Way too late, I know but we wanted our pictures taken in Arizona not New York. Also it was just the perfect timing since our really good friend was a photographer at the time and did our pictures with his sister.

Since we had just moved back to Arizona, we didn’t really have that many friends at the time so my mom hosted a wedding shower for us. It was nice since it was just a small get together with family friends. Tyler didn’t know some of them so it was a perfect time to introduce him to them before we got married.

3. Proposal: how it happened, how long you were engaged for, was it a total surprise? pictures of that….etc.

We both were living in New York and Tyler had just graduated and I still had 1 more year left to go. At the beginning of the summer we both went home to see our families. After 4 weeks at home I came back to NY because I had signed up for summer classes so I could graduate on time. Tyler stayed home for a few more weeks.

The night before Tyler came back to New York, we were both online and a few days earlier, I sent him a surprise through email with 100 reasons why I love him. So that night, he sent me an email back with 100 reasons why he loves me. He was slow at responding my IMs and I automatically assumed it was because he was busy with his family and packing. Little did I know that he was on the phone with my parents to ask my dad for my hand in marriage.

Tyler’s flight was not coming in until around 11 that evening so I hung out with my roommate at our apartment until it was time to go pick him up. My mom was texting me constantly asking me when I was going to the airport, if I was already there, to tell Tyler hi and to ask if I was by myself or if my roommate was going with me. I thought it was a bit weird since it takes a while for Mom to text me back and why does she care about all the small details!? I ignored it and just answered all her questions.

So I left for the airport and I remember it was raining. As I was parking in the garage, my mom was still asking me more questions “It’s raining? Be careful!” and “Has Tyler arrived yet?”

I was so excited to see Tyler so I kind of ignored my mom’s text messages at this point as I walked into the airport.

I was at the security checkpoint gate waiting for Tyler to arrive. We hugged and kissed and walked together to the baggage claim area. I kind of noticed that he was quiet but I didn’t think much of it though because I knew it was late and he was probably tired.

We got 1 of his bags and as we were waiting for the other bag he seemed to be so focused on finding his bag. Then I saw a duffel bag come out and only caught “Steph V” on it and I immediately thought how cool it was that this bag belonged to another girl here with the same name as me and I looked around to see who this “girl” was then looked back at Tyler to find him on his knees.

Right there it clicked in my head that the bag was Tyler’s. He asked me to marry him and of course the first thing I said was, “are you serious?” over and over and he assured me that he was serious! So obviously I said YES!

As we were walking out to the car, I texted my mom to tell her the news and then realized that was why my mom was texting me like crazy because my family knew. I was definitely surprised and had no idea what he was up to!

We got engaged on July 14, 2007 and got married on November 24, 2008 so we were engaged for 14 months. 14 months was the perfect amount of time for us since we started planning our wedding quickly after the engagement while I was finishing college.

Engaged: July 14, 2007

We both were living in New York and Tyler had just graduated and I still had 1 more year left to go. At the beginning of the Summer we both went home to see our families. After 4 weeks I came back to NY because I had signed up for summer classes so I could graduate on time. Tyler stayed home for a few more weeks. A few weeks later, Tyler was coming back and I was excited to see him again and spend the rest of the Summer together. His flight was not coming in until around 11 that evening so I hung out with Nicole at our apartment until it was time to go pick him up. My Mom was texting me constantly asking me when I was going to the airport, if I was already there, to tell Tyler hi, to ask if I was by myself or if Nicole came with me. I thought it was a bit weird since it takes a while for Mom to text me back. I ignored it and just answered all her questions.

I was at the security checkpoint gate waiting for Tyler to arrive. As he arrived, we went to the baggage claim. I kind of noticed he was quiet since he’s usually excited and catching up after being away from each other for a while. I didn’t think much of it though because I knew it was late and he was probably tired. We got 1 of his bags and we were waiting for the other one and he seemed to be focused on waiting for it to come out. I saw a duffel bag come out and only caught “Steph V” on it and I immediately thought it was cool that this bag belonged to another girl here with the same name as me and I looked around then back at Tyler to find him on his knees. Right there it clicked in my head that the bag was Tyler’s. He asked me to marry him and of course I said, “Are you serious?” over and over and he assured me he was serious! I said Yes!

As we were walking out to the car, I texted my Mom and then realized that’s why my mom was texting me earlier because my family knew. Tyler called my Dad the night before to ask for my hand in marriage, and my Dad said he would love to have him in our family. I’m surprised my Dad didn’t tell Tyler No as a joke since my Grandpa told him No when he asked him if he could marry my Mom. My parents had to threat my sister not to tell me and that if she did she would be in trouble. It was nice to come home to e-mails from relatives and my Grandma congratulating us since my parents had called everyone.

Engagement Photos by Jason Gervase

We got married on November 24, 2008 and I’d do it all over again if I could.