Weddingbee bios

I get asked about Carl and my story a lot. Well, not a lot… But it’s been asked of me numerous times. So here it is. The official unofficial edited for time and formatted to fit your computer screen story of when Katie met Carl.

In 2000, when I was an angsty 15 year old, I found him on HotOrNot.com while aimlessly clicking through pictures with some friends at a sleepover. His photograph stopped me – maybe it was the blue shirt or the spikey punk hair… But I took notice right away. I selected him as a potential 'match' for me. I didn’t really expect him to request a match back, seeing as it was the interwebs and “way back then” this kind of site was weird and new.

He matched me back. Lots of giddy, heart-fluttery goodness was felt as we started to communicate. We were both in relationships at the time, but the internet was a safehaven where flirting was still innocent. Quickish messages on the site turned to lengthy emails back and forth about nearly any topic you can think of. Messages got longer and longer. Excitement to hear from each other grew.

As happens… Life got in the way and messages were less frequent. Then MySpace was invented. I imported my email contacts and guess who appeared! A year had passed but we excitedly got back to communications immediately. School and life and relationships made communication dwindle again. Then Facebook was invented and once again I found Carl in the magical interwebs. Once again we were beyond ecstatic to hear form each other.

In a letter sent almost five years ago, Carl admitted he had feelings for me and that they haven’t ever really gone away. The distance between us scared me, so I chose to ignore his outburst. I figured the relationship had been romanticized a bit through letters and long phone calls, so there was no reason to give it any real merit.

In 2008, we finally met. We spent four days together that were horribly confusing but also incredibly blissful. There was that spark. That connection. On his last day there, we held hands and giggled a lot. We kissed at the airport and both of us admit to feeling like we were hit over the head with a ton of bricks. It was dizzying. It was… that ‘it’ moment.

We were scared. We weren’t ready. So we ignored these feelings. We both did. And two years later, we couldn’t ignore it anymore. Carl, always the more upfront of the two of us, broke his silence first. A Hoover Dam of emotions came pouring out of the both of us for the next few months. Lots of happy tears and confusing nights and a whirlwind of emotions… And then we agreed.

There is no one in this world we would rather be with. What were we waiting for?

So we leapt.

 

This is the first picture of Carl and I that exists. I was too nervous to try to get an actual photo of us!

I think that it finally hit me today… Holy crap. I’m engaged! Carl and I are going to get married! I get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend. How did I get to be so lucky?

Before the craziness of planning sets in, I want to write about the proposal. I don’t want to forget any detail of it, since it was really perfect.

Friday, July 8th, was Carl and my one year anniversary. We had been planning to go out to a fancy dinner and splurge a little bit to celebrate. We talked about where we wanted to go and came up with two plans, one indoor (in case of a freak rainstorm) and one outdoor (because summers in Minnesota are wonderful!). As our anniversary got closer, weather looked in our favor, so we went with our outdoor option: W.A. Frost & Company in Saint Paul. W.A. Frost has the number one rated outdoor patio, and for good reason. Neither of us had ever been there before, so walking into the backyard for the first time was really breathtaking. It’s a brick patio that is tiered in places, full of trees, artsy bird houses and hanging string lights all over. It was simply beautiful.

Our waitress seated us and we began to peruse the menu together. Carl had been a little more quite than usual on the drive over to the restaurant, so I tried to engage him a bit in discussing the menu (a subject that always works, since he is a foodie and has culinary training). I asked him about what wines we would order, what entrée looked best… We agreed very quickly on the Pork Belly Strudel for an appetizer (I know! It sounds awful… but it was more like a wanton and it was DELCIOUS). I picked a sauvignon blanc, he picked a Riesling. After talking over a few selections on the menu, we agreed to get the two that stood out most both to us and we’d steal bites from each other.

We made small talk, drank our wine, ate our appetizer, and enjoyed the evening until our entrées arrived. Carl had grilled all-natural dry aged top sirloin broccoli-cheddar gratin, roasted shishito peppers, garden chive oil, black pepper agrodolce. I had Moroccan spiced Iowa lamb chops medjool date and pistachio fregula, rapini, house made merguez sausage, dill-yogurt sauce. (No I didn’t remember all of that… I copied it off of their website!) When our plates came out, we were both very happy. Our food was amazing! We shared, we stole extra bites, we nom’ed our food and savored each little bit.

Then it happened. To be honest… I can’t tell you what I said, or what happened just before hand. It’s a total black out in my brain… I remember saying that it was crazy to think we had been together for a year already… As we had been talking, he was really fidgety, something that struck me as odd.  He set his knife and fork down, took his napkin from his lap and just sat back.

“Do you think you want to be with me forever?” He said.

This is when my brain pretty much shut down. I remember laughing a little and saying “Of course!” But when he got up and came to my side of the table, my heart was already in my throat. I was already shaking when he got down on one knee, little white box in hand, and opened the case.

By the time he said “Will you marry me?” I was already screaming “YES!”

Ok. That’s a lie.

I was screaming yes on the inside, because back in the real world, I was speechless. I couldn’t do anything other than kiss him. A lot. Like… a lot. Like Grandma would have been disgusted has she seen me make out with my man like that in public.

After what felt like a year, but also like a millisecond, I gasped out “of course!” or maybe it was “yes” or “certainly” or… Know me “d’uh!” I really can’t remember. I can remember that I was shaking so hard that I could barely hold my wine glass without sloshing its remains onto the table.

As I sit here thinking about it again… I’m shaking all over with a HUGE smile plastered on my face. And yes… there might be a few tears welled up… But I’m just a sentimental kind of gal.

I don’t know when… but Carl made it back to his side of the table. I had the box in hand and I was just staring at the ring. I was laughing out of sheer joy, tears finally started to prick at my eyes, and did I mention… I was shaking.

I can’t describe much more from dinner. We finished our meals (or, I tried… I was so giddy I could barely muster keeping food down!), the restaurant sent us champagne on the house and we laughed and smiled and talked while I made the slow journey from somewhere 1000 feet in the air back into my body. Through out dessert, I randomly kept bursting into tears and having laughing fits. My cheeks have never hurt so bad!

Before we left, the table next to us sent over champagne. We went over to toast with them and thank them. One of the gals said “we saw crying and a box… so we didn’t think it was a break up!” The kindness of strangers is so amazing, sometimes.

As we stood to leave, the tables around us all applauded. I don’t think I have ever had a more memorable dining experience in my life.

In the car, I sent a photo of the ring to my best friend (and MOH!), Chrissy. She responded with squeals of delight and excitement. The whole ride home I was so anxious to see my mom and dad and tell them all about it. At dinner, Carl had told me that everyone in my family knew , so they were just as excited for me to come home.

I came home, hugged my mom like crazy (and we both started to cry!) and hugged my dad. They were so incredibly cute and had gone out to buy a Dairy Queen ice cream cake to celebrate. It was so nice to have that moment with my family… My brother and his girlfriend even came over to celebrate and enjoy.

I really don’t think I’ve come down yet… and I hope I never do. I am so excited to spend the rest of my life with Carl. I can’t imagine anyone else in the world more perfect for me.

 

 

A little about my ladies:

Chrissy is my Matron of Honor and we have known each other for almost 14 years. At least since homeroom in 8th grade. Isn’t that a little freaking to think about? Chrissy has always been a wonderful friend to me and we have stayed close, even through all of life’s changes throughout those 14 years, including high school, college, marriage and baby Tegan! She will always be the Pookie to my Honeybear (or vice versa...)

Sarah is my second cousin and the biggest sweetheart in the entire world. Sarah and I have always had a really special bond. I call her my sister-cousin, and for good reason. She’s fun, funny, and my partner in crime (especially while growing up and playing make-believe at the cabin!) Sarah is an extroverted version of me, and I love any time I get to spend with her.

Stacey is also a close friend of mine. I have known Stacey through my brother since high school, but we also worked together for five years at the mall in Carlton Cards, mostly just drawing cartoons for each other on our long Sundays in the summer. Stacey has been a very and honest, true friend to me over the years and even though we don’t see each other as often as we used to, I’m always glad that we’re still close. I know I can count on her honesty for just about anything from fashion to the big picture things in life.

Samantha will be our awesome Groomslady :) Samantha is a long time dear friend of Carl’s and I love her to pieces, too! I have to say that I know the least about Samantha, but have enjoyed the time I have gotten to spend with her during visits to New York quite a bit. I’m looking forward to lots more… especially if it include Bomber’s Burrito Bar in Albany (amirite, or amirite?).

As I posted before, we have four bridesmaids -- one of which will be standing on Carl's side as our Groomslady.

Carl's Best Man will be his best friend since college, Matt. These two act like kids around each other! I have refered to Matt as Carl's boyfriend before -- they're incredibly close. Well, as close as two guys let themselves be.

Matt (left) and Carl (right) in NYC on Carl's birthday

 

And our second groomsman will be my older brother, Scott. Scott and I were never close as kids. We didn't fight, we didn't hate each other... we just didn't have anything in common. Now, as we have gotten older, we have realized how much we really do have in common. We spend lots of time together and I am so thankful for the bond that has developed between us. Better yet, Carl and Scott get along greatly!

My brother, Scott, at a friend's wedding

She's got a little growing to do between now and August, but this is Tegan, our flower girl! She just started crawling the other week. I have some great ideas for a little flower girl basket for her. Since her mom is my MOH, she will serve as the carrot on the end of the string that will get Tegan to make her way down the aisle, I'm sure :-D

Something about the vintage feel of my dress makes me want to have my hair in a really whisical, light braid. I think all back might be too formal for my personality and my style, but adding something simple like a braid would really compliment my dress. Here is my first hair inspiration board. A few of these I love, a few I like... but I think I can really get some good inspiration to show my hairstylist when I book my hair appointments!

 

Already ordered these comfy puppies! They're simple and pretty and won't distract from my awesome dress! And there are brown ones for the Bridesmaid dresses, too :-D

 

Update: these came back alllll wrong :( I'm back to searching for shoes again! Good thing I have plenty of time! I just have to stay with a kitten heel, so that my dress won't be too short.

Once my real bouquet is here, I'll replace this inspiration board with it! I am in love with Princess Lasertron's felt flowers. Here is one of my favorite LIVE flower bouquets and a few of her felt flower bouquets that have the same feeling. Rustic and simple. I'm in love!

We agreed on a color scheme! I think it's kind of funny that my FI's reaction was "Why do we need more than two colors? Brown and green... Right?".

I coothly explained how we needed accent colors or the overall feel of the wedding might be too neutral. I also added more color made for better pictures. I think he just smiled and nodded at that point!

So after looking through a few schemes I drew up, here are the colors we choose. Main colors being ivory, brown and green with a rustic/vintage feeling for the overall wedding:

I'll bring on the details soon, but here are a few photos to wet your whistle with while I'm composing!

Ceremony:
Our ceremony site is a pergola. Right now it is in a different location than it will be in spring. We had the choice between a gazebo or this pergola, and it wasn't a hard choice for us at all. It's so beautiful! The ivory wrapping! The willow trees and pond! It will be the perfect backdrop for our ceremony.

Reception:
Our reception will be in the Fireside room. We have a gas fireplace and a breezeway to use as well as a built in bar for our bartending. I love the idea of having the guestbook and faux-to booth in the breezeway. I think people would have more fun with the booth if it isn't in the middle of the dancing!