As most of y’all saw on social media last week, my favorite boy popped the question.. and I said Y E S! It was a perfect evening surrounded by family & friends… and lots of food. I’ll *quickly* answer some of the most common questions a gal gets once her man gets off his knee:

1. DID YOU KNOW? the short answer is no… of course, after nine years of dating we had talked about marriage and our future together.. but I did not see it coming that day in particular!

2. WHAT DID HE SAY? it was a total blackout.. I turned around and he was on his knee– it was all a beautiful blur after that (probably due to all the happy tears).

3. HAVE YOU SET A DATE? YES– more to come on that in the *near* future, but it’s in 2018 and we are laying some pretty perfect plans.

Now, this is where it gets good for y’all– I am going to *try* and chronicle all of my planning and preparations here.. everything from beauty prep to floral inspiration and all the good stuff in between. Let me know all the things you’re wanting to see in this special season. Are you planning yours, too? Let’s chat and share war stories. Have you planned a wedding in the past? Send a sister your must haves and don’t needs. I want this to be a place where y’all get inspired, but also feel a little more capable of planning your own big day. So, let the fun begin!

BONUS: HOW/WHEN/WHERE DID YOU START PLANNING? The morning after our engagement I jumped right in. I promised myself I would take a week and enjoy the bliss, but honestly– I just want to marry my best friend, so I started right away. I turned to our photographer first and then reached out to our wedding planner. I’ll share details on who they are and why we chose them at a later date, but let me tell ya– they are both the most calming and honest beings.. two V E R Y important character traits for this sort of thing. I really feel like we are collecting THE dream team of vendors and we couldn’t be happier. I could (and do) cry sometimes thinking about it all– its the happiest and most special time of our lives and we’re enjoying every single second of it.

More importantly, I feel so blessed to get to spend the rest of my days loving my best friend. God is good.

It was all very emotionally overwhelming to see such a gathering of our family and closest friends.. I’ve never felt so loved and celebrated in my life. This is the face of a girl with a full heart and a boy who who pulled it all off… and a lot of REALLY proud parents.

Our forever people. There is something so special about being surrounded by a group of friends who pray with you and for you. Blessed by their friendship and love.

and sometimes you get E X T R A lucky and get best friends as siblings… growing up with y’all has been the best.