WEDDING WEDNESDAY: LOVE RAINED DOWN.

Coincidence or nah that Wedding Wednesday is also hump day? I kid, I kid. Welcome to a brand new series over here on GILTY! Not interested in wedding planning? Neither was I, girlfriend. We’re in this together! Let’s pop the champagne (splash of OJ) and get started, but first, here’s how I ALWAYS dress to talk all things wedding, obviously.

PHOTOS BY KELLY LANE PHOTOGRAPHY | SPRAY TAN BY SOUTHERN GLOW ON THE GO

‘WEDDING DAY VIBES’ SHIRT DRESS / GARTER BY LA GARTIER

WELL guys, I am a bride-to-be planning a wedding! How crazy is this!? MY wedding! I can’t even say ‘my wedding’ without feeling a little giddy. Feel free to buy me this tank top. If you have been following me since the beginning, you had probably almost fully given up on me. HA! Same girls, sameee, BUT I held out for Mr. Right, aka Mr. White, and we are SO excited to be in this phase together. It has been so much fun!

OUR ENGAGEMENT:

I guess we should start with how it all went down?! Will proposed to me (on HIS 30th birthday, mind you! Sweet thing) at Lake Summit in North Carolina where my family has been spending summers since before I was born [fun fact: I learned to water ski when I was 5, what an athlete]. Actually, my family has been going even since before my mom was born! It’s my favorite place on Earth and it meant so much to me that he chose to do it there, and include my family, who by the way, were ALL in on the secret.

The plan was to go out for a sunset boat ride before dinner, BUT it ended up pouring down rain mid-cruise! Will got on one knee, as we both got totally soaked (although at that point, neither of us even noticed the rain), and proposed while my whole family watched from the dock. It was absolutely incredible and so special.  It wasn’t the ideal sunset photo-op he had imagined, but it ended up being even better!

BEST night of my entire life.

SWIM COVER-UP | SIMILAR HERE

When we got back to the dock, my family had set up an entire beautiful party in the 15 minutes we had been gone. There was champagne…lots of champagne, string party lights, a cake, fresh flowers, fruit and shrimp cocktail. My mom had even gotten a black and white striped tablecloth to match my GILTY logo. She’s good. It was such a sweet surprise and we drank champagne and danced (they had even made a special playlist!) for two hours while it poured down rain right outside of the covered dock. It truly was magical and we coined the phrase ‘love rained down on Lake Summit,’ which could not have been more true.
Most gorgeous thing I have ever seen! (Solomon Brothers)And finally, back home with the one whose approval mattered most, Baby Coco Chanel.

After getting engaged, we were on cloud nine thousand and basically just living in a total blur. When we left the lake to drive back to Atlanta, we started talking about possible wedding plans. I’ll be honest, at first it was very overwhelming.

I started to slightly freak out when I made a list of all of the things we needed to get done. Engagement photos, an engagement party, a registry, a venue, will we live in my 1 bedroom apartment forever!? And so on, and on, and ON. That was enough to send me into a spiral, so we regrouped over a glass (read: bottle) of wine and started discussing what was most important to US. I think when it comes to weddings, it is so easy to lose sight of what really matters most…YOU TWO!

I turned to the one person that I just KNEW would have the answers…Google. I think I literally googled ‘wedding planning HELP’ and came across a checklist that saved my life. If you haven’t heard of WeddingWire, it is basically one-stop shopping for your entire wedding-planning process, from shopping for vendors, to finding a dress, to tips for organizing your budget. They even have their own Snapchat filters…need I say more? This instantly made me feel better. You KNOW my affinity for a good list. The limit does not exist.

ENGAGEMENT RING KOOZIES (c/o my cousin Meg, I die)

Last, but not even close to least, the weekend after we left the lake we had planned to go to Florida to visit Will’s family. In true Will fashion, he wasn’t done with the surprises. He had secretly invited my mom to come with us AND planned a private sailboat tour! Did I mention he was good? I think I shall marry this man.

BLACK MESH BIKINI TOP / BLACK MESH BIKINI BOTTOM / DENIM SHORTS / PANAMA HAT

The point of this very long, very emo, very picture-heavy story is that being engaged is such a sweet and fleeting time, do NOT let the weight of the planning process get in the way of your happiness! Soak it up, enjoy every minute and use the tools that are out there for you, because it is 2017 and we really don’t have to do anything alone anymore. Ahhh, the internet. It’s a beautiful place. #TilDeathDoUsPart