A Wedding Unlike the Galaxy Has Ever Seen!

Believe it or not, We met at what was supposed to be a murder mystery Halloween party in 2011 (We say "supposed to be" since the murder mystery didn't quite work out and we just played board games all night). This Halloween gathering was hosted by a mutual friend of ours; he will also forever claim the bragging rights of introducing us. I was dressed as Poison Ivy and he was dressed as Gomez Addams (he was actually supposed to be the counterpart to my friend Savannah, who was dressed as Morticia Addams). We did all the things people do when they meet new people - laugh, talk, play Apples to Apples, etc. We became Facebook friends and chatted off and on until July 2012 when he asked me to hang out with him when I returned home from visiting my family to which I happily agreed. We lovingly refer to this as "The date that wasn't a date"; I was under the impression it was a date while he was not. Multiple dinners, a pool party, video calls, and a hurricane later, he told me, "I would very much like to be your boyfriend." To which I happily accepted. We will have spent 7 years together in August of 2019.

For Christmas of 2017, Nathan's mother gifted Expedia points to her children in order to help pay for a vacation for themselves and their friends/significant others. Fast forward to May 17, 2018, Nathan's 27th birthday, and we take off to Orlando for four days of magic. (This was also Nathan's first plane ride.) On the evening of our second day in Disney World, Nathan asked me, "How would you feel about taking a picture tomorrow?" At first, I thought this request was a little weird considering we had been taking pictures this whole time, but I agreed after figuring he meant using a Disney PhotoPass photographer. We eventually settled on taking a picture in front of Cinderella's castle in the morning since we were planning on revisiting Magic Kingdom. To me, the plan was to arrive about an hour before the "rope drop" ceremony and take a picture in front of the castle while the crowds were low. Now, I am going to be honest, I had a slight inkling of a feeling that Nathan would propose in Disney World before we went on vacation. To Nathan's credit, he gave away nothing about how he was feeling or anything. He didn't act the least bit nervous; so I was genuinely surprised when he pulled the ring box out of his pocket when we went to pose for the picture. Those are some of the pictures I will always cherish. I honestly don't remember if Nathan said anything other than "Will you marry me?" I remember me saying phrases such as "No!" and "I hate you so much right now!" (I was put on the spot and people were looking...that's a lot of pressure!) and then eventually nodding, "Uh huh!" as Nathan slipped the ring on my finger. Above all I remember feeling, as Elizabeth Bennett put it, incandescently happy. Everyone within ear shot and line of sight was cheering and applauding... and then a couple at the photographer behind us had their proposal moment. Nathan said he would always feel kinda bad that he stole that guy's thunder, but I couldn't care less.