Our Engagement Story + The Ring

I've been working on Corey and I's wedding website, particular the proposal section, and I realized I never shared with you exactly how the proposal went down... And everything that lead up to it! Plus I never even shared photos of the beautiful, custom-made ring Corey gave me when he got down on one knee! It deserves to be shared. I still catch myself staring at it all throughout the day... I wonder if my awe of it will ever go away? I hope not.

So here it is. The whole story. I don't blame you if you don't want to read it. But in case you do...

Corey and I had planned a romantic little getaway to the Willamette Valley wine country for our two-year anniversary. I was SO excited. We were going to stay in a gorgeous bed and breakfast, go wine tasting and just enjoy each other’s company. Unfortunately, about 2 weeks before our anniversary I was asked to go to Amsterdam for work and had to cancel our romantic getaway. What I didn’t know was he was going to propose at the B&B and I had totally just ruined his plan! Fast-forward two weeks and I’m about to leave. I was a wreck, I was really going to miss him. We live together, work at the same company and pretty much do everything together and never get sick of each other (gross, I know. Haha).

The first night in Amsterdam I cried and told him I never wanted to leave him AGAIN (pathetic, right? But that’s just me!). Corey and I talked three times a day at the same time and by the end of the first week I was finally starting to feel better about being on my own…. Until all of a sudden Corey disappeared… He didn’t show up for our skype dates, his phone was turned off, and didn’t answer any of my emails. This was really out of character. After what felt like an eternity of silence (and a few panicked phone calls to my Mom and Bestie) I received an email from my hotel telling me I had an urgent envelope waiting for me at the front desk. They asked that I come retrieve it immediately. My heart dropped. What could it be? I was a 20 minute train ride away. I dropped everything and left.

It was most definitely the longest 20 minutes of my life!! When I got to the front desk, the man handed me an envelope. On the front it said “Liz”… In Corey’s handwriting. I can’t explain exactly how I felt in that moment… Confused, excited, shocked… I had to sit down. I walked over to a sofa in the lobby and opened the envelope. I had just started reading the card when I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Corey!!! “Did you get your urgent envelope?” he asked with his cute little smirk. He flew all the way to Amsterdam to surprise me! I was in so much shock I completely forgot to ask “What are you doing here?” In our hotel room, about an hour after he showed up (and just as the shock was finally starting to wear off) Corey shocked me once again and got on one knee and asked me to marry him. We spent the rest of the weekend strolling along the romantic canals and cobblestone streets in Amsterdam and even took a quick train trip to Antwerp Belgium (seriously one of the most quaint, romantic cities ever-- we highly recommend it!). Wasn't a bad way to spend one of the most exciting weekends of our lives!

Of course, better than anything he could have ever done to propose, I am beyond words excited to exchange vows with Corey in August... My heart swells and I get a huge smile on my face every time I think about it. He is the most amazing man I've ever known and he makes me feel special, safe and most importantly makes me laugh. I've never been more sure of anything in this life than trusting Corey with my heart.