Buy or Sell New & Preowned Wedding Items

I am so excited to officially introduce you to our newest blogger, bride-to-be Gabi G., from Minnesota. Actually Gabi has been working with BravoBride for well over a year but now she’s the bride! Gabi will be chronicling her wedding planning for us, so stay tuned for all the trials and triumphs that lead to her big day!

For over a year, I have interned with BravoBride as a marketing associate and have seen amazing offers and ideas roll in and out of this website in efforts to inspire brides all over the world. Now, I am planning my own wedding and have been asked to share my experience of planning on a budget with the BravoBride community. It is a great opportunity to, not only share ideas, but to also gain insights from other brides from all over the world. I would like to start off by letting you get to know my fiancé and I a little better.

How Jack and I Met:

Jack (my fiancé) and I met in 2008 while attending the University of Minnesota. We worked together, which meant we spent a lot of time together. For two years, Jack and I built an incredible friendship; a friendship that eventually turned into the foundation of our relationship. He is, by far, the most amazing person I have ever met and I am so lucky to be able to spend the rest of my life with him.

The Proposal:

Jack and I had only been dating several months before he popped the question. On a beautiful September day in 2010, he took me on a date to the rose gardens in Minneapolis. At this point, I was only a week away from moving to Seattle, WA to live with my sister and we were trying to spend as much time together as possible. He had been particularly “lovely-dovey” all day and I didn’t think too much of it since he had been acting that way for some time. After taking pictures by all the beautiful fountains and flowers, we started to walk up a near-by hill. I noticed that Jack started breathing heavier when we started up the hill and all I could think was, “He can’t be that out of shape….”.

Once we got to the top of the hill I started to suggested places to sit or areas to go, but with every suggestion he said no. I was a bit confused until finally he asked if he could take my picture. He had me go down the hill a ways so that he could- supposedly- get the rose gardens in the background (where in actuality he was getting the ring ready in his pocket). When I came back to him, we embraced and I could feel him shaking. The next thing I knew, he was down on one knee asking me to marry him. I was totally shocked but absolutely thrilled. Of course I said yes and we went on to call everyone we knew.

I left for Seattle that next week and for the following year, Jack and I carried on a long distance engagement. Although difficult, it only strengthened our relationship. Now I am back in Minnesota and am diving head first into wedding planning. Both Jack and I hope that you enjoy our future posts through BravoBride and encourage you to share your ideas and experiences along the way! Be sure to catch our first official post about what we plan to do for catering on our big day. Thanks for reading and until next time, have a great week!

Photos by Sarah Meneely Photography